Nowadays every other person seems to use
the word epic to describe just about anything. I’ve even heard TV blurbs saying
some reality show episode was ‘epic’. I don’t think so. Wish they’d look up the
meaning & give the word a break. Most of that shite is far less than
‘epic’.
Epic - 1. noting or pertaining to a long poetic composition,
usually centered upon a hero, in which a series of great achievements or events
is narrated in elevated style: Homer's Iliad is an epic poem. 2. resembling or suggesting
such poetry: an epic novel on the founding of the country. 3. heroic; majestic;
impressively great: the epic events of the war. 4. of unusually great size or extent:
a crime wave of epic proportions.
Those are the first four definitions
of epic & they all seem to apply not in the least to an episode of Hell’s
Kitchen or The Bachelor. However, the story I relate here, I believe, is truly
EPIC!
Joseph Reginald ‘Kaya’
Topize was born in the ghetto of Roche-Bois, Mauritius
on August 10, 1960 into a family of five children. His fisherman father could not afford Kaya’s education, so he
was placed under the guardianship of an uncle. Joseph
had a hard childhood. Being an Indian & Métis mulatto, he was a victim of
racism from a very young age.
At 16, he decided to learn the guitar. He was a quick learner &
was soon playing covers of songs by Mike Brant, Santana, & Deep Purple. He
began playing dances & weddings with his first band, Wind & Fire. Joseph
soon discovered reggae music. Bob Marley became his idol. He even adopted the
nickname Kaya as a shout out to the album of the same name. No more Mike Brant
& other groups for Kaya. He now devoted his musical abilities to interpreting
the songs of Bob Marley. He was asked to join the group lead by singer Stephano ‘Lelou Menwar’ (Black Hand) Honore because of his guitar skills. They
were a Sega protest band who, under the guidance of Kaya, quickly converted to
reggae. They
recorded the cassette Létan Lenfer in 1982 (Kaya first taste of studio
recording). Menwar’s music was not commercially
successful enough for Lelou to
earn a living, so he chose to go to the island of Reunion
in 1985.
At this point, Kaya decided to gather some of his friends from
Roche-Bois & create the group Racinetatan, named after a Malagasy rebel prince
exiled to Mauritius.
Heavily influenced by reggae & the message of the Rastafarians, the band is
a huge success. Kaya used his musical skills to incorporate the triplets of traditional
sega music with the binary rhythm of reggae. In so doing, he invented a new
musical style, called Seggae.
Seggae is not an instant hit with the fans, however. They
want the simple reggae beats & the new sound is complex, the pace is
anything but simple.
Another roadblock in Kaya’s path to acceptance is his pro-marijuana stance,
something that fit oerfectly with his reggae infkuences & his African
heritage. But Mauritius is not a safe or easy
place to be pro-pot. The government there does
not differentiate between different types of drugs. They impose severe
penalties on dealers, users, & activists alike, whether for hard drugs like
heroin & cocaine or recreational drugs like marijuana. Yet it should also be noted that the Indians of the Mauritius
drink a decoction of the ganja in their religions rites, without knowing any
problem. It is true that drugs are a scourge in Mauritius,
especially in the poorer Creole communities, torn by alcohol, heroin, &
prescription drug abuse. The real issue is racial, as the laws are much more
harshly applied to poor Creoles that other sectors of the populace.
In 1995, Mauritius abolishes its death
penalty, which applied to murder & drug trafficking. Valayden Rama,
leader of the Republican Movement (MR), among
others, tries to have the government set up guidelines that will make different
penalties for differing types of drugs. As a result, many musicians join to the
cause. They organize concerts to promote the decriminalization of marijuana.
On 16 February 1999, the Republican Movement hosts a free concert for the
decriminalization of Ganja at the St. Edward-VII Reduces area, close to Rose
Hill. Five groups participate, including Kaya. Valayden opens the festivities
with a speech in favor of the legalization of soft drugs. He then asked the
crowd to vote by show of hands for four resolutions calling for the
decriminalization & which appealed to Prime Minister Navin Ramgoolam, that those
imprisoned for possession of ganja
(about 2000 or 75% of the prison population, with sentences ranging from a few
months to two years) to be granted amnesty.
Getting into the spirit of the moment, a crowd of some
estimated 2,000 participants, many of them young Rastafarians, smoke joints
openly. There are Special Security forces en masse, armed with clubs, but
everything remains peaceful.
It was only the next day that the government & police forces decide to
harass five people identified as having publicly smoked or having incited
others to smoke ganja during the concert. Among the five is Kaya, who admits to
having smoked that night. He is immediately imprisoned in Alcatraz,
a detention facility traditionally intended for wholesale dealer &
hard-line criminals. His bail is set at 10,000 rupees (2500Fr), a very sizeable
amount. His wife, aided by his musicians friends & influential members of
MR managed to raise the bail, put an end to a story at once ridiculous &
discriminatory. However, due to various blunders by lawyers, there is a
red-tape delay. Kaya can not get released on Saturday, February 20 & must
wait until Monday to be released. Only Kaya was never set free. His wife &
friends never see him alive again. He was found dead in his cell on the morning
of Sunday, February 21. The official police version is that Kaya died from
self-inflicted injuries from smashing his head against the cell walls. Kaya’s
wife requests a second opinion. The examination was conducted by a medical
examiner of Réunion, Dr.
Ramstein. His findings stated that the injuries were not consistent with
someone hitting their head against the wall. He stated that Kaya was beaten.
The news spread quickly across the island, causing the tears
of many people & a feeling of revenge. Then began the first riots in the
neighborhood of Roche-Bois which rapidly spread to the rest of the country. Police
barricades were set up in the streets of the capital. The police quickly responded
to protesters by opening fire, fatally wounding many people, killing several,
including Berger Agathe, a friend of Kaya, also a musician. The violence was
fed primarily by the official version of the suicide of the singer, but the
malaise was culturally much deeper. It was actually the expression of the sense
of injustice felt by the Creole community as a whole. The death of Kaya, who
had always spoken out in favor of a multicultural society & a unified Mauritian
national consciousness crystallized all the societal tension & racial
opposition between Creole & Hindu communities.
More than fourteen years later, the memory of Kaya is still
strong in Mauritius.
The Mauritian government has continually denied any wrong doing. Yet the global
economic crisis has only amplified the social inequality & deepened the
drug problem among the underprivileged youth, still fueling the breach in the
repression. Ethnic rivalries simply suppressed by a government that continues
to exert shameless communal politics at the expense of minorities.
The Epic Saga of Kaya & Berger Agathe
Two Seggae singers, victims of the police system in Mauritius.
Arrested
for lighting
a joint on stage on February 16, 1999
at a rally-concert for the decriminalization of ganja (cannabis),
a concert organized by the Republican Movement
(young political party founded by
Rama Valaydem)
the great Creole singer
Kaya, nicknamed the
Indian Ocean,
creator of Seggae music halfway between
sega & reggae,
was found dead on February 21, 1999
in his prison cell
in Alcatraz.
Hemorrhage, head injury, traumatic or natural?
questioned journalists;
it is "to
be confirmed" by these journalists.
Mauritius is an independent state
since 1968.
In 1982, Anerood Jugnaut
was appointed Prime Minister
& in 1992 the island became a republic.
In 1995, Navin Ramgoolam
became Prime Minister.
Cannabis is strongly suppressed.
The simple act of smoking ganja is punishable by
imprisonment,
Bail set at 10,000 rupees (2,500 F).
The
day of the death of Kaya
riots took place throughout
the country.
Berger Agathe, another Seggae singer of the group Ovajaho
Succumbs to about fifteen shots
fired by police.
This
is the straw that broke the camel’s back.
The riot at Roche Bois.
In the neighborhood where the artist lived,
the police station is completely trashed.
On the island, they are shooting,
throwing stones, molotov cocktails.
Different communities live in Mauritius.
Riots turn into
ethnic conflict:
looted shops, attacked
Hindu temples, burned plants.
The island is on fire for 48 hours.
For
two singers seggae
rasta,
for the creator of seggae, singing for peace
justice, harmony between cultures,
died,
victims of police brutality.
Inter-ethnic
conflict lasts 48 hours
two days that have damaged relations between the different
communities.
Faced with an Indian population most often preferred,
Creole find themselves even more destitute
with the disappearance of their
spokesman, Kaya.
"Dan ene country
kot népli éna
control lor police
népli éna democracy"
(in a country where the police have every right, there is no democracy)
It is the government's repressive policy
which tends to favor the ethnic conflict.
Marginalizing some communities
government discredits them,
fueling racial hatred.
OFFICIAL
VICTIMS OF THE RIOTS
A policeman died of a
cardiac crisis - 2/22/99
Berger Agathe
died by bullets – 2/22/99
Leemul Goostia, 18 years old
died by bullets - 2/24/99
Michel "Gino" Laurent, 22 years old
died by bullets – 2/24/99
J.P Ravina, 19 years old
died by bullets - 2/25/99
Also, Désiré Francois the
singer of Cassiya,
wounded by bullet to thorax.
Human bones, charred,
found in the
rubble of a magazine office
destroyed & burned
during these epic ‘days of Kaya’.
decryption code in comments
Tracklist –
Simé L’alimière
Mo Lamizik
Ki To Été
Chant L’amour
Racin Pé Brillé
Chant Seggae
Fam Dan Zil
Seggae Man
Lanpir Universel
Ras Kouyon
Beware,
NØ
