All Mauritius Hindu Congress
Founded1964
Dissolved1967
NewspaperCongress
IdeologySocialism

The All Mauritius Hindu Congress (AMHC) was a political party in Mauritius which existed from 1964 to 1967.[1][2]

History

The All Mauritius Hindu Congress (AMHC) was inspired by the Arya Samaj movement and was created to uplift the lives of Hindus in all fields in defiance of the caste system. As a result orthodox Hindus, who were in favour of casteism, banded in organisations such as the Brahmin Sabha and Kshatriya Sabha, even culminating in a Supreme Court trial over a caste dispute. However the AMHC's focus changed due to the rising anti-Hindu communalism as the British colonisers prepared to leave Mauritius in the 1960s, prompting the PMSD to wage an anti-independence and anti-Hindu propaganda and violence campaign against the Hindus who form the majority ethnic community on the island.[3] Notable members of the AMHC were Hurreelall Padaruth, Anerood Jugnauth, Lall Jugnauth, Rabindrah Ghurburrun, Beergoonath Ghurburrun, Premchand Dabee, and Devendra Varma who joined AMHC in the years prior to the August 1967 elections in preparation for Independence from the United Kingdom. Its electoral symbol was a wheel, inspired by the Ashoka Chakra.[4][5][6][7]

As a prominent member of IFB and of the new AMHC Anerood Jugnauth took part in the London Constitutional Conference on Mauritius, also commonly known as the 1965 Lancaster Conference. Earlier in 1963 Anerood Jugnauth had been elected for the first time to the Legislative Council as an IFB candidate.[8]

Newspaper

The All Mauritius Hindu Congress published a Hindi newspaper called Congress starting from 19 November 1964 to promote not only its political message but also published literary articles. Premchand Dabee was its editor for the English section whilst Pandit Soondar-Parsad Sharma was the editor for the Hindi section. Publication stopped after the 1967 elections.[9]

1967 Elections

Although it was pro-Independence[10] the AMHC suffered a significant defeat at the August 1967 elections as none of its candidates was elected. AMHC obtained only 0.8% of votes, whilst its rival Independence Party (Mauritius) won the majority (54%) of votes and the PMSD was second best with 43% of votes. Prior to the elections the AMHC was excluded from the coalition of Parti de l'Indépendance (IFB-CAM-Labour) due to its extreme radicalism.[11] Soon afterwards the party was dissolved.[12][13] A few months before the 1967 elections Anerood Jugnauth had already taken up a position in the civil service as a magistrate and thus he did not participate in these elections.[14]

References

  1. ↑ "Mauritius: Defunct parties". EISA. Retrieved 2010-05-15.
  2. ↑ Ramsurrun, Pahlad. "The history of Hindi journalism in Mauritius (IV)". Le Mauricien. Retrieved 2018-08-11.
  3. ↑ Shillington, Kevin (1991). Jugnauth: Prime Minister of Mauritius. London: Macmillan. p. 59. ISBN 0-333-55224-5. Retrieved 23 December 2023.
  4. ↑ "History of Mauritius: For and Against Independence". Business Mega. Retrieved 2013-03-12.
  5. ↑ Collen, Lindsay. "Last major struggle against communalism" (PDF). Lalit Mauritius. Retrieved 2005-05-10.
  6. ↑ "Results of 1967 elections". Government of Mauritius. Retrieved 2020-12-20.
  7. ↑ "Results of 1967 elections (No.7)". Government of Mauritius. Retrieved 2020-12-20.
  8. ↑ Poon, Kwang. "The Long March towards Emancipation of Girmityas". Le Mauricien. Retrieved 2020-11-07.
  9. ↑ Ramsurrun, Pahlad. "The history of Hindi journalism in Mauritius (IV)". Le Mauricien. Retrieved 2018-08-11.
  10. ↑ Kadima, Denis; Kasenally, Roukaya. "The Formation, Collapse and Revival of Political Coalitions" (PDF). EISA. Retrieved 2020-11-29.
  11. ↑ "Mythes et faits liés à l'Indépendance". Le Mauricien. Retrieved 2018-03-12.
  12. ↑ "Mauritius". Retrieved 14 December 2014.
  13. ↑ "Elections in Mauritius". Retrieved 14 December 2014.
  14. ↑ "Le parcours de SAJ en quelques dates". L'Express. 22 January 2017. Retrieved 2017-01-22.
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