Revolt in Madagascar
Details of the revolt that broke out in Madagascar on the night of March 29th-3oth are still confused ; but certain facts have emerged. One is that the rising was far more serious than was at first stated—a planned insurrection occurring in districts remote from each other, north, centre and south, at the same time. The party responsible was the Mouvement Democratique de la Renovation Malgache, which represents the Hova people, the ruling caste in Madagascar when the French annexed the island. There has also been contact in Paris between leaders of the Renovation party and leaders of Viet-Nam. Actually, however, as French politicians are eager to stress, the position in Madagascar and Indo-China cannot be compared, since in Madagascar only some thousand natives are involved, fighting with knives and a few guns they have taken from dumps, and European deaths have been between only eighty and a hundred. Economic causes are partly behind the revolt—shortage of consumer goods and rising prices. France, too, no doubt, has lost prestige by her reverses in the war and the British occupation of the island in 1942. French reactions have, however, been firm. The High Commissioner, M. de Coppet, has stated that the French are deter- mined to remain in the island. Senegalese and air-borne forces have been sent to deal with the sporadic fighting, and there have been arrests among Malagasy Councillors, Deputies and Civil Ser- vants. Meanwhile a new " Disinherited " party (composed of former dependants of the Hovas) seems content to accept French protec- tion for the present and the majority of the Malagasy people are taking no part. The revolt appears now to be fading out, but its repercussions on the domestic politics of France have hardly begun.
Previous page
