The title of this article is also that of a book published last
February* in which we can read: "If the[Caledonian]electorate weresignificantly modified by Parliament (...), rebellions are likely." The
riots that broke out in the Caledonian archipelago on May 13 proved Luc
Tournabien, its author, right. In addition, his easy-to-read testimony
(1) offers an interesting insight into the independence claim, supported
mainly by the Kanaks. ---- Originally from Chambéry, Luc Tournabien had
undertaken a world tour when, in 1981, he stopped off in New Caledonia
at the age of 28. Initially attracted by the "sweet life" found there by
the "metropolitans" (double pay, surfing, sailing, tennis, etc.), he got
involved in the independence movement and chose to stay in what he calls
"my country" when the violent "events" of 1984 began. The Kanak and
Socialist National Liberation Front (FLNKS) had then given the order to
"actively boycott" the territorial elections, to protest against the
government's plan to organize a self-determination referendum in 1989,
the electorate of which was not precisely defined. Roadblocks,
occupations of town halls and police stations followed, but there were
also, during this period, more than 70 assassinations of independence
activists by law enforcement or loyalist extremists. Luc Tournabien has
been an activist for four decades in the Union Calédonienne (UC). He
explains that he did not join what was already the main component of the
FLNKS for its program (he describes it as "vague" and unattractive), but
rather for its dynamic of fighting against the bad fate inflicted on the
indigenous people of the archipelago. He describes a Caledonian society
in which the "whites" from the wealthy neighborhoods of Noumea only come
across their cleaning lady as Kanaks, and where the less racist
"metropolitans" are pushed by their work or life relationships to become
so. He also insists, rightly, on the primary concern of the Kanaks,
since the beginning of French colonization in 1853: to reclaim their
lands while military repression, diseases brought from outside and the
"deliberate settlement colonization" carried out by the French state
have made them a minority in the archipelago. Before France took over,
there were at least 300,000 Kanaks; At the beginning of the 20th
century, there were 27,000 left, and last year there were 110,000 out of
a total population of 270,000. The Nainville-les-Roches round table, to
which the French government had invited the leaders of the independence
movement and the loyalists in 1983, had concluded with the recognition
that "the allochthones settled permanently by History would have their
place in independence", in exchange for the restitution of land to the
Kanaks and a restricted electorate for the independence elections. It
was the failure to keep these two promises that led to the "events" in
1984... and to the riots in 2024. Concerning land, for example, in 1987
the Minister of Overseas Territories Bernard Pons transformed the
Caledonian Land Office responsible for "rebalancing[their]belonging"
into an Agency for Rural Development and Land Management (Adraf) "which
distributed 80,768 hectares to Europeans and 576 hectares to Kanak local
special law groups (GDPL)". And, concerning the "special" electorate,
there was no shortage of state attempts to modify or eliminate it -
until the "thaw" that Macron recently wanted to apply to it and which
led to the current deep "crisis" in the archipelago.
The experiences of the independence struggle
Tournabien's book shows the FLNKS "from the inside" and exposes concrete
problems that its activists have faced. Thus, when the EPKs, the Kanak
popular schools, were launched in 1985, out of a desire to revalue a
marginalized Kanak way of life and preserve a threatened identity,
Tournabien, who had put away his degree in dietetics to become a maths
and English teacher in a private college (2) in Thio, participated in an
attempt at a "parallel" school. But in which language should we teach,
when there are 27 Kanak languages? And don't we risk "cutting ourselves
off from everything, if we no longer have French"? Having also worked to
create a cooperative, he reports the difficulties encountered: trade is
"an area that is still quite culturally foreign to the Kanak world" -
not only is it a society that practices barter, and not exchanges with
money, but in a tribe an "elder" can tell a store manager that he will
pay "tomorrow" without ever doing so... And, more broadly, how can we
find people with skills in a particular sector - such as accounting -
when very few Kanaks are still studying?
Finally, Luc Tournabien talks about the Camp-Est prison, because his
militant commitment earned him a stay there: on November 15, 1986, while
the end-of-year party was taking place in the college where he worked,
the National Front came to provoke by marching in Thio, and young Kanaks
threw stones at their cars. A few weeks later, Tournabien was arrested;
he spent months in preventive detention and was sentenced to 15 months
in prison, 12 of which were firm.
What are the options for an independent Kanaky?
Luc Tournabien does not dwell in his book on the disagreements between
the UC and the Palika (the other "big" pro-independence party),
preferring to highlight their points of agreement. Nor does he mention
the pitfalls that arise from participation in institutions, sticking to
the advances that, in his eyes, they have allowed for the independence
claim. While he is quite critical of Mitterrand - believing that he was
determined to "circumvent the desire for independence while allowing it
to be glimpsed", and recalling that he gave his agreement for the
military assault on the cave in Ouvéa - Tournabien is rather sparing of
the "left". And if he has harsh words for political leaders such as
Gérald Darmanin, he says that Edouard Philippe understands the
Caledonian issue better than others...
His story helps in any case to establish parallels between the situation
of yesterday and that of today, in particular on the gap existing
between the expectations of independence leaders and those of the youth,
or on the importance of nickel for the independence supporters:
* In 1988, the young Kanaks no longer agreed with the non-violence
advocated by the people of Larzac, or by José Bové, with leaders like
Jean-Marie Tjibaou. The FLNKS therefore had to call for a "muscular
mobilization" between the two rounds of the presidential election where
Mitterrand faced his Prime Minister Chirac. On the island of Ouvéa,
activists wanted to replace the French flag with the Kanak flag in a
gendarmerie, but there was a shootout during which four gendarmes were
killed, and the activists had to flee, taking 15 others hostage. The
result was a "shameful butchery," in Tournabien's words, in the cave
where they had taken refuge: on May 5, 19 Kanaks were massacred there by
350 gendarmes and special forces during "Operation Victor." Tournabien
admits to having been, like other independence activists, made to feel
guilty because the Kanak activists murdered at the time "had been too
isolated to follow the call for an active boycott, and because leaders
had hesitated to go and negotiate for them given the scale of this
unprecedented hostage-taking." Today, pro-independence leaders are
criticized by the "scattered and poorly controlled Kanak desperadoes"
mentioned by Tournabien (3), but also by many young people,
pro-independence activists or "rioters" without any label.
* In 1998, the leadership of the pro-independence movement had set a
"mining prerequisite" as a condition for signing a "global agreement"
(proposed by the leadership of the loyalists) that would make it
possible to avoid the referendum planned that year by the Matignon
agreement. It had requested mining titles from the State (owner of the
subsoil), as well as the construction of a pyrometallurgical plant to
process nickel on site. At least 51% of the capital had to be under
pro-independence control, so that its increased dividends could be
invested in the development of the country (instead of being dispersed
among shareholders around the world). To support this claim, there were
roadblocks, demonstrations, and the "Kanak" factory in the North region
(the SMSP, Société minière du Pacifique Sud) was created - but it has
just been closed.
Tournabien considers that now the "Kanak versus non-Kanak duality" no
longer exists or has faded (Kanaks have studied and lead non-Kanaks,
independence activists are not Kanaks, etc.), but he notes that the
desire for independence has not weakened, contrary to the expectations
of the French state. In 1985, he notes, the idea was circulating that it
was necessary to break the economy of the territory to encourage enough
non-Kanaks to leave and thus reverse the majority. In Thio, for example,
the Kanak component of the population became the majority with the
departure of non-Kanaks linked to the "events". Could such a choice be
generalized to the entire territory if the social climate there remained
"unstable"?
Similarly, the state of the nickel factories raises questions about
their usefulness for the development of an independent archipelago, and
about the need to promote a particularly polluting mineral - especially
since until the beginning of 2024, according to Tournabien,
three-quarters of the country's electricity production (by oil, gas and
coal) went to the three factories processing it.
In conclusion, this activist calls for not relying on France "like idle
welfare recipients", while transfers made from mainland France to the
archipelago only serve wealthy incomes. "Our lands, our sun, our beaches
and the treasures of a million and a half square kilometers of ocean are
reaching out to us," he writes, "but the kings of import reign, because
France pays for our dependence and our drowsiness.» And he considers
that the «Kanaky / New Caledonia» of tomorrow should sign cooperation
agreements with France... and other countries.
Vanina
Notes
(1) For example, Tournabien often accompanies the figures he presents
for the archipelago with their equivalent in proportion for France.
Thus, the 8,800 gendarmes who were stationed in 1986 on the territory
(i.e. 1 for 7 Kanaks) were equivalent to 9 million in metropolitan France.
(2) Until the 1990s, the private sector provided more education in the
tribes than the public sector, and very few Kanak children went beyond
primary school.
(3) Regarding the «delinquency of the underprivileged», he deplores the
length of a preventive measure which encourages repeat offending... and
defends the use of TIG (community service).
P.-S. * To purchase this self-published book (272 p., EUR16), see the
lindependant-knc website
4)http://oclibertaire.lautre.net/spip.php?article4325
_________________________________________
A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C E
By, For, and About Anarchists
Send news reports to A-infos-en mailing list
A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
Geen opmerkingen:
Een reactie posten