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History Repeats Itself
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 GOPIO International President Mahyendrah Utchanah, a former Minister in Mauritius and a man who is immensely networked with the PIO community worldwide spoke to Editor Sayantan Chakravarty in Mauritius during the Bhojpuri Week. The grand events were organized by the GOPIO and supported by the Government of Mauritius. Excerpts from the interview:
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On the success of the events…
Without a shadow of doubt the Bhojpuri Week was a huge success. The scale of the event, as you saw for yourself, was unprecedented. It has been the talk of Mauritius. The media coverage was huge. We will turn this into an annual event. The event brought people of Mauritius closer to one another, revived the spirit of Indian-ness within them. It allowed them to touch base with their roots, languages and culture. This time the focus was Bihar, but we'll focus on other states as well in future. It was overwhelming to see Indo-Mauritians reach out with clear intent to help those in Bihar distressed by floods. They are ready to adopt villages, spend money.
What was the reaction of the delegation from Bihar…
Well, we did hear them say, after they saw the progress that PIOs from Bihar had made, that they are proud to belong to Bihar.
What was the reaction of Bihar CM Nitish Kumar…
He was thoroughly convinced that Mauritius and Bihar can work together. There is so much the PIOs of Mauritius have to offer to Bihar, are ready to do in Bihar, and the CM knows it. He was impressed.
Mauritius further strengthens its cause for being called the PIO capital of the world…
Yes. No doubts. This is the only country in the world where the President and the Prime Minister are PIOs. Our events are attended by those from large PIO countries like Malaysia, Singapore, ReUnion Islands, France, U.S. and South Africa. We provide an atmosphere of security, and there are no visa problems to come here.
Tell us a bit about how the planning for this big event took place…
Well, it all began on January 7, when Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in his speech spoke about Mauritius and its connections with Bihar. I was with my minister friends who were saying that if we can do so much in Africa, then why not in Bihar. At my insistence my friend H.E. Choonee went to Patna and met up with CM Nitish Kumar.
So after the visit of the High Commissioner the momentum gathered…
Yes. Then we together made it happen, something this big has never happened before in Mauritius. There will be follow up visits. In a couple of months, the Minister of Commerce and Trade will lead a preparatory group to India, it will be followed by the big one when our Prime Minister leads a larger delegation in February that will include among others Franco Mauritians and Africans. Truly, the synergy and dialogues have acquired a new pace now.
The PM of Mauritius is GOPIO’s chief patron…
Yes. I requested him to become our patron after 2005. He heartily accepted. He had been seeing our activities before that and knows our seriousness about connecting with India. We have been organizing large diaspora events on a regular basis. Last November, the Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi was here, he too was given a large reception attended by over 800 people.
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more...
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September 2007
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