The inaccuracies and fantasies of Sharmila Seetulsingh-Goorah

[Rafic Soormally]

The inaccuracies and fantasies of Sharmila Seetulsingh-Goorah

In her article « Prêt à tout pour porter le nom de ‘Seetulsingh’», l’Express 16 April 2009, commenting on the case of « Sen Seetulsingh » (my wife) referred to in my article « The government’s boycott of “ l’express” and misuse of power », l’Express 10 April 2009, it is clear that Sharmila Seetulsingh-Goorah (SSG) is not speaking contemporaneously as she was not even born when Sen Seetulsingh was adopted by Ramduthlall Seetulsingh. She is merely regurgitating the prejudices passed down to her. Sen Seetulsingh’s official change of name is none of her concern. However, the inaccuracies in her article must be corrected.

First of all, SSG is the biological daughter of Harry Seetulsingh, and Sen Seetulsingh is the adopted daughter of Ramduthlall Seetulsingh, biological father of Harry Seetulsingh. When Sen was adopted, she was orpheline de mère. She was an orphan none the less, and she always called her adopted Father « Papa ». SSG does not know her late grandfather and cannot, by any stretch of the imagination, understand the bonding that exists between Ramduthlall Seetulsingh and Sen Seetulsingh. Sharmila is no child psychologist either! Ramduthlall Seetulsingh was not running a humanitarian centre in his home. Hence, Sen Seetulsingh was not merely offered ‘shelter’ out of charity as SSG makes out.

Sen was adopted because she was loved by Ramduthlall Seetulsingh (then a widower) and his other sons and daughters, perhaps not by Harry Seetulsingh. There were no babies in the family at the time and Sen Seetulsingh was the jewel of the family. Four of Ramduthlall’s daughters never married, and they loved Sen to bits and also received all her love and affection which is searched for by thousands of families around the world. Her school and exercise books, as well as all the letters she wrote all bear the name of Sen Seetulsingh, and not simply ‘Sen’ as alleged by SSG. Sen was brought up as a Hindu and part of the Seetulsingh family. Although Ramduthlall Seetulsingh passed away when Sen was still seven, she lived with her family for nearly 25 years until her wedding, and her wedding invitation card clearly stated her adopted name of “Sen Seetulsingh” by which she was better known. Before the wedding ceremony, Harry Seetulsingh raised numerous objections based on religious grounds as he did not want an Imam to set foot in or any Muslim wedding customs (such as the mehendi) to be performed in Sen Seetulsingh’s home, and he made alternative arrangements against Sen’s wishes. He would not even allow a balloon to be inflated in Sen’s home to celebrate her wedding. For my part, I arranged for the wedding ceremony to take place at Mandarin Hotel on 15th August 1980 and my home was well decorated. On a separate note, after the death of Ramduthlall Seetulsingh, it was Sen’s other brother Ravindranuth Seetulsingh (and not Harry Seetulsingh) who became her responsible party but he was sidelined during the wedding because the “pharmacien” Harry Seetulsingh hijacked everything.

SSG’s allegation that there was a so-called ‘promise’ between the adopted and the biological Fathers of Sen Seetulsingh to the effect that Sen would have to marry a Muslim because her biological family are Muslims is inaccurate, unsubstantiated and utterly false, and has no basis in morality, decency or law. SSG effectively alleges that such ‘promise’ has been passed on through generations and binding upon Sen, myself and the whole world. This is pure fantasy in order to get rid of the adopted child. After all, prejudices know no bounds! Is Sharmila, who I have always known as Sen’s niece, saying that if Sen wanted to marry a Hindu, Harry Seetulsingh would have locked her up? My marriage with Sen Seetulsingh was a love marriage. By Harry Seetulsingh’s behaviour throughout, it is clear that he preferred her to marry a Hindu as she was brought up. In any case, it was not up to anyone to decide whom Sen should marry.

SSG also alleges that I ‘decided’ for Sen to use the double-barrelled surname of Seetulsingh-Soormally after Harry Seetulsingh’s daughters decided to use double-barelled surnames after their weddings. The truth is quite the opposite as Sen Seetulsingh was married well before them. When she says that people are « Prêt à tout pour porter le nom de ‘Seetulsingh’ », she is merely deluding herself. Sen’s case has to do with her adoption and upbringing, and nobody can destroy that. It will survive forever and transcends all prejudices and fantasies. This has nothing to do with any « eruption soormalienne », which I find quite insulting and offensive. There is also no law which prevents anyone from taking any name one chooses.

Although her desire to defend her biological father is understandable, SSG is both ill-advised and cruel to pay lip service to the adopted daughter of Ramduthlall Seetulsingh and to drag the names of Sen’s biological family, who are no relations of hers, into the ingrained prejudices of Harry Seetulsingh, prejudices which, contrary to her character, she has decided to share.

On a final note, in all cases of adoption, whether in fact or in law, it is always the interests of the adopted child which prevail. Lawmakers should rationalise laws of adoption in order to protect the rights and interests of adopted children. This has always been a hallmark of justice, equity and fairness in great religions, such as Hinduism, Christianity and Islam. In Hindu mythology, Sita (Rama’s wife) was an adopted child.

M Rafic Soormally
London
Edited 24 April 2009

Note : Reply sent to l’express but clarified in places for this forum.