President Patil lauds efforts of Indians in development of Mauritius

Port Louis (Mauritius) Apr 26 (ANI): President Pratibha Devisingh Patil, who visited the "Aapravasi Ghat" here on Tuesday, lauded the efforts of Indians in the development of Mauritius.

"Persons of Indian origin have contributed a lot in the development of Mauritius," said President Patil after visiting "Aapravasi Ghat".

President Patil said that India felt delighted about the Mauritius economy being on the rise inspite of the global economic turbulence.

Its pertinent to mention here that a large-scale influx of Persons of Indian origin to Mauritius took place in 1834.

Due to the non-availability of "slaves" for working on sugarcane farms on the island, planters brought in Indian indentured labour in large numbers from 1834.

November 2, 1834 marks the day when the ship 'Atlas' docked in Mauritius, carrying the first organized batch of Indian indentured laborers. November 2 is observed in Mauritius as 'Aapravasi Day', a national holiday.

The increasing settled population of Indian labourers created a market for their specific food and clothing needs, which in turn gave rise to immigration by Gujarati traders. Over time, these traders - mainly Muslims from Surat - came to constitute an influential section of the Mauritian population.

The present demographic break up of the Mauritius population of 1.27 million is as follows: Persons of Indian Origin - 68 percent (comprising 51 percent Hindus and 17 percent Muslims); African origin Creoles - 28 percent; Chinese origin- three percent; and European origin -one percent.

The multicultural, multi-religious, multiethnic and multilingual society today represents the mosaic of the diverse yet united Mauritian society and has become a shining symbol of "unity in diversity" in the African continent. By Ravinder Singh Robin (ANI)