Dear Editor,
In his letter, ‘The mechanism which works to ensure the ethnic vote has been under-analysed’ (SN, September 23), Mr Abu Bakr made a claim about Indian voting patterns that is not substantiated by facts. Mr Bakr argues that in societies where Indians form “sizeable communities,” they vote “race” and that any effort by an African party to woo Indians via a leadership change should not be taken seriously.
Mr Bakr specifically mentioned Trini-dad, Suriname, Fiji, and Mauritius to buttress his argument. I have studied the politics and ethnic voting in all four societies mentioned by Mr Bakr, and his claim that Indians vote ‘race’ is not factual.
I am a frequent visitor to Fiji delivering lectures on ethnic politics at the University of South Pacific in Suva, the capital. I was in Mauritius giving lectures last August. And I am in Trinidad almost every couple of months doing research on ethnic politics. I was in Suriname last year and I regularly attend political discourses on Suriname in New York and whenever I am in Holland, most recently last August, when I attended several political discourses.
In Suriname, Indians, Creoles (Africans) and mixed have from time to time formed coalitions. In elections held last May, Indians joined other groups to form mini-coalition groups to contest the elections. The Indian party did not do well. Indians voted for the various mini-coalitions which won several seats. Indian MPs voted for Bouterse to be elected as President.
In Trinidad, a coalition of Indians, mixed and Africans won the general elections in May, and again the local elections in July. Indians historically are known to have voted in significant numbers for the African PNM party which governed Trinidad uninterrupted from 1956 to 1986. Indians joined Africans and mixed in a coalition in 1986 to contest the general elections. Mr Basdeo Panday was the official Opposition Leader with 12 seats but he made way for Mr ANR Robinson, who had two seats in Tobago, to become leader of the coalition and subsequently Prime Minister when the coalition won a landslide.
Shortly thereafter, when Indians became marginalized in the government, Panday left the coalition. Without Panday, Robinson’s party, appealing to Africans, was wiped out in Trinidad in the 1990 elections. The Africans voted for their traditional party, the PNM.
In Fiji, in 1986, Indians and Melanesians (Blacks) formed a coalition and won the general elections by a landslide under a Melanesian leader.
The government was toppled in 1987 by the Melanesian army which claimed that the government had too many Indians. In 2000, with the restoration of democracy, a coalition of ethnic groups under an Indian leader, Mahen Chaudhry, won a landslide victory. The government was toppled in 2001 with the coup-makers saying they did not want an Indian Prime Minister. The coup-makers demanded that the constitution be amended so that no Indian should be made Prime Minister, President, Minister of Defence, Chief Justice, or hold any other leading position.
In Mauritius, Indians and Creoles (Blacks as well as French Whites) formed coalitions and won elections. Whenever the coalitions collapsed, and they did after every victory, the Indian party won on its own. I was in Mauritius in 2004 and my snap survey found that Indians were unhappy with a Creole Prime Minister because they felt the government was neglecting them. Indians, who voted for the coalition, told me they would return to the Indian party which won the elections in 2005 with a landslide. A coalition of two Indian parties, as expected, swept the polls again last May. In many situations, the Creoles disrespected Indian cultural activities. Indians told me they were afraid of the Creole party because it was not sympathetic to their culture and Indians were not given leadership positions in the Creole party suggesting they would be willing to return to an Indian-Creole coalition that respects and funds their culture.
In addition to the above countries, Indians have also voted for non-Indian parties in Reunion Island, Jamaica, St Lucia, Grenada, Martinique, Guadeloupe, etc.
As the above cases show, Indians have historically voted for non-Indian parties in many societies and it is not correct to say they vote ‘race’ as claimed by Mr Bakr. They vote their interests, including for a non-Indian party or coalition if it serves them. A non-Indian party cannot expect to win the confidence of Indians if the party, while in government, alienates, marginalizes and oppresses Indians. To win over Indians, the party must reach out to them.
Yours faithfully,
Vishnu Bisram