Those who were disappointed that the tsunami they were expecting didn’t come roaring, relax! Admittedly, Sherry Singh didn’t seem to have lethal bullets such as the ones he fired during the first round. However, the promised tsunami was already rolling.

It was triggered, ironically, by Pravind Jugnauth himself, after Sherry Singh’s first revelations. Like a drowning man, the prime minister first denied having even contacted Singh, stating he hadn’t talked to him “for a long time”. He then tried to bring himself back afloat by deflecting attention towards the “real reasons” why Singh resigned – a desperate attempt when we are in fact talking about alleged high treason, state sovereignty and security. Then he decided to own up: he did actually talk to the former CEO of Mauritius Telecom. As it happens, he did give him clear and unambiguous instructions. He directed him to allow a team of foreign nationals to have access to a SAFE network landing station in the south of the island. But it wasn’t for spying on us – God forbid! It was for “a survey” – an apparently equally illegal activity.  

More than the very serious admission that a prime minister is knowingly allowing foreign nationals to have access to our most private data lines and those of the diplomatic missions we are hosting, it is the nonchalance with which he relates the whole episode to us that is more disconcerting. It goes something like this: “There were security issues with our internet network (according to whom, we are not told), so I asked Shri Narendra ModiJi to send a team of technicians to fix it and he told me ‘Ok’, then I told the CEO of Mauritius Telecom to allow them access and he refused…Now what was I supposed to tell Shri Narendra as I was leaving the next day for India?” It is absolutely surreal! We are talking about a prime minister in a sovereign country that has a Foreign Ministry and a Ministry of Information Technology, embassies and missions in most countries and an institution – Mauritius Telecom – employing hundreds of able and qualified people. Yet, we have one man deciding on his own, as an afterthought, that we have a problem in our network and talking to another prime minister to fix it! Over the phone! This had to be done before his trip to India as he would be too embarrassed to face the Indian prime minister otherwise…

If this revelation is not a tsunami, then I don’t know what is. It also betrays a very frivolous and reckless attitude: that of bypassing the laws, taking the citizens of this country for granted and doing exactly as one wishes as if the country belonged to one man and his family. A sad reminder of the billions spent during the lockdown on medical supplies and equipment during meetings where no minutes were taken! What do you need minutes for when you are not accountable to anyone?

The tsunami is unfurling. The high treason scandal is bigger than anything we have seen before, barring perhaps Kistnen’s murder. It is an attack on our privacy, democracy and sovereignty; it is a blot on our reputation and it has international diplomatic implications.

Why take such risks? What is being given in return? The answer to such disturbing questions may precipitate the tsunami!