On importe le sucre qu’on boit
Quand vous mettez deux cuillères de sucre dans votre café ou votre thé, ne pensez pas que ce produit vient de nos champs. Il est importé, ce depuis des années.
Si vous jetez un œil de près a ce sucre que nous buvons tous les jours, vous constaterez qu’il est différent que le sucre que nous produisons dans les champs de cannes. Il est doux, certes, mais sa texture est complètement différente que notre sucre. Pour nous, les pépites sont des petites bulles presque rondes et douces au toucher. Prenez le sucre que nous achetons en sachet, il est longiligne et transparent. Pas une once de fangourin et son doux parfum. Rien de rien.
On a approché Kreepalloo Sunghoon, secrétaire de l’association des petits planteurs, qui a des explications à couper le souffle. « Maurice n’arrive plus a produire le tonnage requis pour l’exportation vers nos marchés traditionnels. Les champs de cannes sont abandonnés faute de bras ou alors la main-d’oeuvre est trop onéreuse. La relève n’est pas assurée, les planteurs actuels deviennent vieux et sont fatigués, ayant travaillé de longues années dans des conditions difficiles et déplorables. Puis, il y a le prix du sucre sur le marché mondial qui a drastiquement baissé », nous dit-il.
Autre point qu’il soulève est la production de sucre à travers des betteraviers en Europe. « Les betteraviers obtiennent d’immenses subsides de leurs gouvernements respectifs. Ils en produisent pour noyer de sucre a base de betterave l’Europe et à moindres frais. On ne peut ‘compete’’ avec eux en termes de prix », ajoute-t-il.
Autre facteur qui affecte le sucre mauricien est que la durée de vie pour une bonne récolte est de 6 à 7 ans, alors que pour les betteraviers la période est de 6 mois seulement : « «Si le prix du sucre a base de betteraves baisse sur le marche mondial, les planteurs peuvent changer de culture en 6 mois en passant aux céréales et n’ont pas à attendre 6-7 ans comme pour le sucre à base de la canne qui est un ‘fatak’ ».
Un autre point saillant qui découle de notre importation de sucre pour la consommation locale est la présence de deux distillerie de raffinage : Alteo et Omnicane. « Si notre production est faible, les deux raffineries sont obligées d’en importer, car leur production est plus forte que ce que nous pouvons les offrir.
Entre en jeu alors le Mauritius Sugar Syndicate qui achète le sucre roux de l’extérieur pour les raffineries qui les exporte en sucre raffiné vers l’Europe.
L’Europe était un continent nettement importateur de sucre de la canne. Avec les betteraviers, ces pays sont devenus des exportateurs de sucre à base de la betterave. Il y a aussi le fait que l’Union Européenne a donné une enveloppe d’aide à Maurice pour les petits planteurs de canne pour compenser. Mais, dit Kreepalloo Sunghoon, cet argent est allé dans des ‘capital projects’ et non dans les champs.
Le temps de piété
S’il y a au monde une communauté qui prie pour se fortifier, ce sont les hindous du monde. Maurice est connu comme ‘Little India’. Ce n’est pas rien. C’est une gloire. À Dieu. Alors, une unique chose : prions…
C’est pour cette raison que les hindous de notre pays prient ces temps-ci. Ils le font pour notre pays. Pas d’hypocrisie, pas de hantise, pas de colère. C’est de l’amour simplement.
Certains se demanderont pourquoi ils ont si foi en Dieu, d’autres se diront qu’ils aussi prient. Il y a quelque chose d’inexplicable, d’incomprenable. Mais il y a une foi. Cela, il faut l’avoir vécue.
Des services religieux, des rites que certains ne comprennent pas, des cérémonies simples. Un seul but : c’est la bénédiction pour le pays et pour notre famille. Donc, accueillons ces temps de piété, ces moments de prière, de se laisser aller vers Dieu, le leur, car chacun a dans son cœur un petit Dieu. Quelle que soit sa religion.
Dans ces instants d’intenses prières des hindous du monde et de Maurice, respectons-les, car ce sont une source de bienfaits pour nous tous. Il y a plusieurs cérémonies, des sacrifices personnels, des dons qui sont faits, alors soyons unis. Chacun faisant sa prière. Pour notre pays, pour nous.
Happy holly hours, be it for every single prayer and festival, thanks to the Holly. God bless.
En passant, qui c’est d’entre nous qui n’a pas apprécié une jeune fille taper à notre porte nous apporter un petit plateau de friandises le jour de Dipavali ou de Diwali ? Nous, on s’en régale. Car c‘est un partage commun. C’est ce vivre ensemble que nous devrions garder, c’est notre force. Sinon, ce sera le désastre. Pire que le Wakashio.
C’est à vous de voir…
JCD
Ayodhya Ram Mandir Bhumi Pujan
Ground-breaking ceremony done by Indian PM Modi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi reached Ayodhya for the grand ground-breaking ceremony of Ram Temple in Ayodhya. Modi is among the 175 people present at the ceremony. He is sharing the dais with just four other people — RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, trust chief Nritya Gopaldas Maharaj, Uttar Pradesh Governor Anandiben Patel, and CM Yogi Adityanath. Keeping in mind the pandemic, seating arrangements are made in accordance with social distancing principles.
PM Modi has unveiled a plaque to mark the laying of the foundation stone of the temple, followed by the release of a commemorative postage stamp on ‘Shree Ram Janmabhoomi Mandir’ last week. After the event, Modi has addressed the gathering before leaving for the helipad.
Before this, the Prime minister along with Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had offered prayers at Hanuman Garhi. Modi also paid a visit to Ram Janmabhoomi.
Ahead of the ceremony, Ayodhya has been decked up. The city has been painted yellow – an auspicious colour of knowledge and learning. On Tuesday last, prayers were offered to the nishan (flag) of Lord Hanuman, revered as the protector of the city. Starting Tuesday last, all local temples started a continuous Akhand Ramayan recitation with temples and homes being lit as in Diwali.
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Ayodhya verdict: The man who helped Lord Ram win
For more than a decade, he sat in musty courtrooms, representing a Hindu God in one of the country's most contentious and deadly disputes.
In court papers, Triloki Nath Pandey is described as the "next friend" of the infant Lord Ram. The deity was one of the litigants in the long-running dispute over a plot of land in the northern Indian temple town of Ayodhya, which was decided in his favour by the Supreme Court on Saturday.
"To represent God is a glorious job. To think that I was chosen to do this job from among millions of Hindus made me proud and joyful," Mr Pandey, 75, told recently.
For centuries, a deity or an idol has been treated as a "juristic person" in Indian law because many devotees donate their land and possessions to idols who are synonymous with their shrines. A devotee or the manager of the shrine or trust typically handles the deity's possessions. In light-hearted legalese, the idol is represented by someone called a "friend" of God.
But how do you define the best interests of God? And how can you be sure that the person is acting in God's best interests?
These are tricky matters which have never been statutorily defined in the law, and have been handled on a case-by-case basis. But usually, unless another person also claims to be a "best friend" of the deity, there is no dispute. In other words, says a lawyer, God is entitled to one friend.
A Hindu mob tore down the 16th Century Babri mosque in Ayodhya in 1992, triggering riots in many parts of India. Many Hindus believed that the mosque stood at the exact spot where their deity, Lord Ram, was born and wanted to build a temple there. On Saturday, the Supreme Court acceded to their wishes and ruled that Muslims would get another plot of land to construct a mosque.
Mr Pandey spoke for the deity who millions of Hindus revere for his sense of justice and benevolence. Lord Ram is also the protagonist of a mythological epic, Ramayana, where he is a symbol of self-sacrifice and heroism for many Hindus.
Lord Ram's petitions in the court - essentially backed by a clutch of Hindu groups and meticulously written and represented in courts by some of India's leading lawyers - talked about worship, divinity, incarnations, and spirits of the divine.
They spoke about how it was "manifestly established by public records of unimpeachable authority" that the disputed plot was actually the place where the deity was born. The petitions added that the deity's spirit "can be experienced by those who pray there".
the judges also concluded that it was the "faith and belief of Hindus" that the place was the birthplace of Ram, even before the mosque was constructed.
Mr Pandey, a tall, strapping man, has actually been the third "friend" of Lord Ram after the deity became one of the litigants in the dispute in 1989. The first two were a deceased high court judge, and a retired university lecturer.
Legal aid
Mr Pandey was born to a farming family in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh. The eldest of four children, he went to a local school and college, studying Hindi and later training to be a teacher. But he never really held a job.
In high school he got involved with the right-wing Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), which is widely regarded as the parent organisation of the ruling BJP. Much later, he moved to work with the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), or World Hindu Council, which was at the forefront of the demolition of the mosque. Political scientist Manjari Katju describes the group as a "clamorous and militant sibling of the RSS".
uring the marathon 40-day final hearings in the Supreme Court, Mr Pandey, who is battling arthritis, sat on a chair. "I must have visited courtrooms hundreds of times in the last 10 years or so. I didn't talk much there. The lawyers spoke on my behalf. Remember, I am the symbol of God," he said. He would also sign papers on behalf of the deity."
Mr Pandey lives in a single-room on the sprawling dusty VHP campus in Ayodhya, where other members of the organisation have been agitating and waiting for a temple to be built since they demolished the mosque. After the verdict, he ceases to be a "friend" of God, but he is unfazed by this.
"I am with Lord Ram always. When I am with him, what is to fear? God has been vindicated."
(News source and pics : Internet)