Mauritius: Mauritian Parliament – About a Game of Dice
The Mahabharata, one of the two major epics of ancient India, narrates the conflict between two families: the Pandavas and the Kauravas, descendants of two brothers. Dhritarashtra, the eldest brother, is forced to renounce the throne in favour of his brother Pandu because he is blind.
After Pandu’s death, Dhritarashtra is appointed as the king of Hastinapur. For many years, the children of the two brothers argue over the succession to the throne. Eventually, the relationship between the two clans becomes so fractured that the Pandavas (Pandu’s sons) leave the kingdom and settle in Indraprastha, which goes on to become very prosperous.
Although Yudhishthira, Pandu’s eldest son, is the rightful heir to the throne of Hastinapur, Prince Duryodhana, Dhritarasthtra’s eldest son, is desperate to be the next king. He and his brothers despise the Pandavas and do all they can to sabotage their lives. When Indraprastha prospers, Dur yodhana becomes envious and conspires with his brother Dushasanaand and his uncle Shakuni to strip the Pandavas of all they have.
They invite Yudhishthira to a game of dice in the court of Hastinapur. Shakuni insists that they can snatch the Pandavas’ wealth since he is very good at rolling the dice. Yudhishthira loves gambling and accepts the invitation. As the stakes rise with each round, Duryodhana and Shakuni win Yudhishthira’s treasures and kingdom. Eventually, they goad Yudhishthira into gambling away his and his brothers’ freedom.
In a final throw, his and his brothers’ wife Draupadi is also lost. She is dragged into the assembly where Duryodhana orders Dushasana to disrobe her in front of everyone. Sadly, all the elders, including King Dhritarashtra, remain silent during the incident even though they know full well it is an unrighteous act. Even her husbands are powerless in front of the injustice meted out to her. Draupadi prays to Lord Krishna who, albeit physically absent from the court, works a miracle to prevent her sari from running out of layers. This incident is one of the rare occasions in the Mahabharata when Lord Krishna is brought to tears.
The events which unfolded in the Mauritian Parliament on 16 May 2023 reminded me of the above story from the Mahabharata. It is clear that what happened that day was premeditated. The Speaker, who was in charge of proceedings as was Shakuni during the game of dice, bent the rules to allow one side of the house to have what they thought would be the upper hand. The Prime Minister and Hon.
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Kavi Doolub were given the freedom to discuss the private life of former Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam based on items which were found in his safe. In particular, the Prime Minister disclosed a list of medications, some of which he described as aphrodisiacs and sleeping pills. Like the helpless Draupadi, Dr Navin Ramgoolam was dragged (albeit not physically) to the centre of parliamentary debate.
He was mocked and sarcastically compared to Casanova and a beast with a high sex drive (“hyperactivité sexuelle”), in the same way that the Kauravas and their allies jeered Draupadi and called her a prostitute. As indignant as they may have been, members of the opposition were as impotent as the Pandavas were during the game of dice because their protests were immediately quashed by the President of the House. During the infamous game of dice, whenever Yudhishthira and his brothers protested that Duryodhana was not respecting the boundaries of the game, Shakuni was quick to justify his nephew’s actions.
There may have been some in the government ranks who disagreed with the collective actions of the Speaker, the Prime Minister and Hon. Kavi Doolub, but remained quiet just like the elders in the court of Hastinapur. The question which arises here is whether divine intervention saved Dr Navin Ramgoolam from humiliation. Perhaps, the best measure of this is how the Mauritian people have perceived this incident.
In the Mahabharata, the attempt to disrobe Draupadi was the straw that broke the camel’s back. It eventually led to the demise of the Kauravas and their allies at the hands of the Pandavas in the battle of Kurukshetra. Whether the above incident will be the catalyst for political upheaval remains to be seen.
