Final version of Statement of Principles. This October 2018 - The Reduit Declaration In the contest of the 50" Anniversary of the Independence of our Nation and the increasingly pressing calls to review our Consti ution and reform our electoral system, ‘THE MAURITIUS TAMIL TEMPLES FEDERATION (*MTTF"), have come together in pursuit of a common cause for the recognition of our history, values, realities and aspirations. We, asa. community and individual men and women, have strived and contributed to building the Mauritian Nation, prior to and afier our independence, not only in terms of our religion, culture or values, but also in terms of the political emancipation of our citizenry and of our Nation. ‘The contribution of our brothers and sisters in the socio economic development of the country cannot be denied, Our spirit of sacrifice at the time of independence is undeniable to make it happen. We, as community and individual men and women, remain determined to continue to bring our contribution in consolidating our Mauritian Nation in the context of conscotional’plural democracy: We aspire to a Mauritian Nation where every man, woman or child is treated equally and with dignity. We recognise and believe in the principle of non-discrimination and that no Mauritian should be discriminated against on account of his race, ethnic or communal group, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, fortune, birth or any status as stipulated in Section 16 of our constitution and embedded in our consensual values and principles. We recognise and believe that our unity, as a Nation, and our diversity, as communities, are not incompatible but complementary, and that our diversity should not only be respected and protected, but that we should as a Nation find foree and value in such diversity. The euro- centric understanding of the concept of Nation should be cast aside and a plural conception, more in line with Mauritian realities and international trends should be adopted. ‘Yet our reality is that we, as a community, is often marginalised, Our men and women are often discriminated against when accessing work opportunities, promotions and nominations in the public and private sectors, and business opportunities, We are also disadvantaged when accessing resources and seeking support to promote our communities, cultures, languages and diversity, The sense of grievance and injustice felt within our community is not based on perceptions, but is grounded in a stark reality and supported by empirical evidence. Our Constitution itself overlooks our specificity, whilst expressly recognising that of others. It is a stated object of our Constitution to ensure a fair and adequate representation of each community in our National Assembly and yet, we, as a community, have for long been under-represented, Today, our community are all under-represented in our National Assembly.6. Thus, our common cause is for a fairer and more adequate representation in the National Assembly, and if our Constitution continues to recognise the present ethnic and religious communities, our claim is necessarily that our community too should be recognised .In the eventuality of the phasing out of the Best Loser System, then a proper Proportional system should ensure a fair and adequate representation of our community with express mechanisms. Past experience shows clearly that verbal undertaking goes in oblivion with the test of time. Such a stance should not be perceived as undermining nation building or negating our belonging to the Indian diaspora of to the Tlindu denomination On the contrary our community through politics or musical innovation and our opening towards others have always been in the forefront of the battle to promote genuine Mauritianism .We have always been exemplary Mauritians, while championing the true values of Hinduism and upholding, the legacy of mother India where our ancestors hail from and we will continue to do so, 7. Our claim for recognition and representation is not one driven by narrow communal interests, and any attempt to depict our claim as such is not only reductive and wrong, ‘but wholly dishonest and offensive and above all constituting a breach of basic human rights and a breach of international conventions. 8. Our claim is legitimate and guided by fundamental human rights, including group rights and the principles of non-discrimination which are recognised in our Constitution and international human rights instruments such as the United Nations Declaration on Tuman- hts and the International Covenant on Civil and Poli Rights and other international conventions. 9. Our claim is grounded in the realities of our community, and of individual men and women, who value democracy, the rule of law, equality. faimess and dignity: 10 In pursuit of our cause, we are looking to build bridges. We will engage in constructive dialogue with all communities, civil society, the press and all political actors, whether it be on reviewing our Constitution, reforming our electoral model, strengthening the principle of non-discrimination, strengthening our laws, our institutions and systems for a fairer, just and more equal Mauritius. 11. TAKING INTO CONSIDERATION THE CURRENT — ELECTORAT. BOUNDARIES AND THE DEMOGRAPHIC DYNAMICS WHICH HAS TATION OF CITIZENS FROM OUR ITY IN PARTIAMENT AND ELSEWHERE, WE BELIEVE THAT FAIRNESS CAN ONLY BE ACHIEVED IN RECOGNISING QUR PERSPECTIVE, SEPARATE IDENTITY IN OUR CONSTITUTION. 12. We consider that the time has now arrived to come together and be counted as an integral part of the rainbow nation.