The sad heroes of March 29th 1947

The lesson of patriotism according to President Rajaonarimampianina
The remembrance of the historical March 29th is an essential patriotism test for the Head of State . Hery Rajaonarimampianina did not rise to power through any kind of popular uprising, so had no reason to resort to any extravagance of any kind. The new president expressed his admiration for the nationalists as expected. “They gave their lives for the country, they should be models to each and every one of us” he said. The political declaration has no political incentive, sounds more like a call to mobilization. “The fight which you have started is not over and I am now the one to take over from you ” said the President when addressing the attending “veterans” and nationalist heroes. The President believes that ” true liberation will Malagasy will come true when victory over poverty is claimed.” Hery Rajaonarimampianina raised a new notion of patriotism, namely the federation of all forces for the common sake of developing the country. To this end, the President advocates “national reconciliation based on the acknowledgement of each other’s mistakes, forgiveness and fair distribution of the country’s wealth.” On the occasion of the remembrance, the President shared “envelopes” out to pay tribute to these seniors known to have actively taken part into the fight for independence. 2185 of their names are recorded in 2014. The former president Didier Ratsiraka once led the way into effectively showing evidence of some appreciation to those who contributed to the uprising of 1947.
appreciation found wanting
A census was first conducted in 1978, was however never complete. 67 years after the facts, the trauma has not yet withered. In their minds, many survivors of the colonists’ bloody retaliation actually never left to the bottom of the bush in which they used to crouch for life. “They still do fear the Vazaha and keep concealing their identities” reported one veteran when explaining how come their number of identified fighters could be so low. Unfortunately, no matter how much those who did come forth expect substantial compensation from France which, after all, granted funds to Malagasy governments, in the end they only had to make do with a symbolic pension. These eighty and ninety years old men who once fought through fire and blood and lost goods and beloved ones in the struggle for their country’s freedom, have bitterness and grudge, mostly directed against local leaders who pretend to care about the welfare of those  only each March 29th. By rights, Rakotomavo Edmond, president of the VTTM Association, definitely has grounds to grumble about. “We have bled into the most major struggle for this country and yet, we are entitled to mere MGA 23,000 per quarter while some others are awarded MGA 200,000 per month,” he said. The others are obviously the AV7 group members, who were rewarded by Andry Rajoelina for their contribution to the fall of President Ravalomanana following the attempt to storm the presidential palace on Feb. 7, 2009 . Long before financial assessments, oblivion turns out to be a growing threat to the events. Not even scholars do agree on what actually happened in this time. School books teach that 100,000 patriots have died between 1947 and 1949 during the colonial power’s bloody retaliation to the struggle for independence. France acknowledges only 30 000 to 40 000 fatalities. Merely 10,000 would have been executed by firing squads, most of them after their arrest. In all cases, the number is said to be not significant enough to entail apologies to the people, let alone to the nation of Madagascar. Instead commemorations and remembrance ceremonies, it would take a major political action to restore a country’s and its veterans’ lost dignity, buried somewhere in a mass grave in Moramanga.