BASHEER AHMAD SOORMALLY 1963-1964
Message to my Rector Hugh Brian Bullen and to all my Royal College and other readers.
2 EXTRACTS
"Mr.
Bullen just disappointed me saying in my face that his Hindu protégé,
Mr. Prem Burton, an Indian Degree holder, which I and you have not known
our College to hire as the quality is much lower than the English ones,
and teacher of English. The Rector told me that his protégé Prem
Burton had the right to refuse the publication of my articles for two
consecutive years, 1962 and 1963 in our yearly Royal College Magazines
because he was the Chief editor and sole manager of his own selected
editing team? A dictator, in short!
I was the only one known to have
held class debates on subjects like Christ, Muhammad, Homosexuality,
Pornography, and to have questioned Hindu Ram Prakash of the Indian
Cultural Society about the Vedas. I wrote my question on the
blackboard, but Mr. Prakash got infuriated when he came into the class,
and he wiped it out. Hindus and Muslims attended his useless talks, but
he was a Hindu Caste adept like Monsieur Prem Burton.
But, yes, I do
not have the right to express myself openly in our College Magazine or
in our College anymore! My other College friends have that dictatorial
right because their contributions complied with the system! Sounds like
Communism, Casteism or other isms, or simply the return to serfdom and
slavery?"
" But, I cannot tell this publicly, not yet, because I am
travelling to Moscow with Mr. Badry's son Varoon, for our first year at
MADI! Varoon and I used to share the same bedroom in our teens at his
father’s home. His father’s other wife was living just a couple of
houses away on Rue Inkerman, on one side of the Citadel Mountain.
N.B.
What I say or write freely is dynamite, no, TNT, and I leave you to
deal with such corruption.
Strange behaviour on the part of Monsieur
Prem Burton because at least 2 of his brothers were my close friends,
and they were all in the same College, Kamal, Vinod, and Harish. Harish
used to make me read his love letters in Greek addressed to the girl he
was in love with! My elder brother Abdool Malleck of the Royal College
received all his friends at our place. They were even given a separate
room in an annex building called “dépendance”, and they were fed by our
mother, and served by me while they were all sitting and enjoying their
chat, card (or domino?) games. I met with many of them, Chinese,
Hindu, Muslim, Christian (not Whites?), all nice, but apparently as
selfish as my brother.
But, the Burtons never invited me to their
house, not even once, although I used to pass by their house every time I
went shopping at Fokee’s. We used to live on the same street, Rue Abbé
Laval, Curepipe-Road. How can you call our region a ROAD, instead of
DOWNTOWN Curepipe? Yet, we are all called Curepipiens. The colonial
rule is: never question the authorities!"
