Let me start by apologising for my name. It’s Mandy – an offensive name in the New States of Mauritius since it’s a rude word in Russian. Like all parents, my folks spent hours looking for a name that wouldn’t offend anyone. They failed. The massive Mauri-Russian community (whose billionaire parents bought passports back in 2019) lobbied for a law amendment that officially banned my name. I’m practically illegal in my own country, but don’t blame my folks. One shouldn’t speak ill of the dead.

Like thousands of Mauritians, my father was executed under the Protection Against Intolerance Act (PAIA) that was introduced in parliament shortly after the 2019 general election. Dad was foolish enough to enter the Mauritian Muslim State without a valid visa. When he hugged me goodbye before the federal government killed him, he tried to make me and my sister smile through the tears. He said that Khalid’s biryani was worth dying for. 

Khalid, dad’s childhood friend, was the reason he had crossed over to the Muslim State. I know that it sounds like something out of a science fiction novel that a girl named Mandy would have a father who is friends with a Khalid. But in the olden days, when we weren’t divided into states, Mauritian citizens were allowed to spend time with whoever they wanted, and even enjoy meals that weren’t part of their personal cultural heritage. Now, Asian food is banned in the Mauritian State of Creoles. Dad said that he craved a biryani but to be honest, I think that he just wanted to see Khalid again. They were best friends before 2019. 

I know why the government divided us, and why everyone who defies PAIA must die. After 2018, we proved that we couldn’t handle freedom. There was a massive spike in Islamophobia, more ideologically-motivated threats of violence than ever before, and cross-communal riots. To protect us, the government had to divide us.  

For now, I’m stuck in the Mauritian State of Creoles, situated right next to Mauritian Britannia, one of the country’s wealthiest New Passport Holders’ states, where my older sister works as a maid. She saved up for my studies in Europe but since Alternative für Deutschland took power there, blue eyes are a mandatory visa requirement. British universities are not an option anymore either after Woxit, the UK’s decision to isolate itself completely from the outside world. As for Trumpia, known as the United States before the president there banned democratic elections (and the use of advanced vocabulary!), its borders are closed too.

My sister tells me to delete Motherland as my ringtone. She says it was naïve of our ancestors to believe that Mauritius could remain one country and one nation in peace, justice and liberty without actively working for it. But I can’t get the old tune, and the ideals that people once believed in, out of my head.

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