I was in Fiji on an extended visit recently.
I took a day trip to the island of Viti Levu via Kings Road and returned by Queen’s Road.
The completion of Kings Road is a landmark for Fiji and I was enamored by the pristine beauty that unfolds as the newly tar-sealed road cuts through villages and sugarcane fields, Cama and follows the Waidina River for a considerable distance.
Along the road, a large number of stalls sell jackfruit, pawpaw, cucumber, cabbage and many other fruits and vegetables at bargain prices.
I had often used the Kings Road to travel between Suva and Ba in the 1970s.
It was then filled with gravel, carrying heavy vehicular traffic. Accidents, punctures and breakdowns were common, and the dust left behind by vehicles was obnoxious.
The Road has undergone gratifying changes today but memories tormented me.
However, despite the luxury of traveling on the tar-sealed road, something that had changed could not be ignored.
Unwelcome changes
Along the sugarcane districts, from Ba to Rakiraki, there was uneasy quietness.
The sugarcane fields had lost the allure of the early days, when farmers were seen working on their farms or grazing their cattle along the edges of roads and drains.
The fringes of the roads and farms were unkempt and prized grasses that the cattle relished were spreading uncontrolled.
The villages along Kings Road that sparkled with human activity were silent.
A large number of cattle that farmers kept for farm work or cows for milk had diminished.
There was no expansion or extension to farmers’ homesteads, as aged buildings stood withered and wilted.
The unbroken greenery of sugarcane fields from Ba to Rakiraki was badly scarred.
Large chunks of good productive sugarcane land were reserved and Indo-Fijian farmers were evicted. Agricultural land, cultivated and maintained, reflects Nature’s pride, whereas fallow land, overgrown with bush, show Nature’s grief.
Those evicted were good and productive farmers, but their misfortune was that they were a despised race and those who owned the land disliked them and collaborated in their eviction.
Indian exodus
There is no doubt that there is a paucity of homes compared to the pre-coup era.
Families have shrunk in size. School rolls have decreased dramatically.
Since the first coup of May 14, 1987, more than 140,000 Indo-Fijians have left Fiji and there is no evidence that this tide of exodus can be stemmed.
The changing landscape of Fiji is rapid but not necessarily for the better.
Traveling along further into Tailevu, the heart of dairy farming, the number of dairy cows is miniscule. In the 1970s, the fields on either side of the road were teeming with dairy cows, gorging the rich pasture that the rich farmers provided for them.
The dairy industry is as sick as the sugar industry, as a consequence of coups.
In both these sectors one thing is obvious –Indo-Fijian farmers are gone, tired of state-sponsored terrorism and. Fiji has lost and is losing astute sugarcane and dairy farmers.
Gross injustice
Can the Bainimarama Government reverse the trend?
It would be very difficult. Indo-Fijian pain and suffering since May 14, 1987 cannot be easily obliterated.
The injustices inflicted on them by the British are deeply etched in the collective memory of Indo-Fijians. They had been led through the garden path many times with false promises on their rights and equality only to find themselves pushed to the edge of cliff.
They spent their lives on the fringes. The indigenous leaders discriminated against them and their own leaders failed them. Collectively, the democratically elected leaders of Fiji were anything but democratic.
I left Fiji in May 1987, immediately after the coup.
Dramatic changes
Changes since the last coup of December 5, 2006 have been dramatic.
It was called ‘Mother of all coups,’ when the Fijian Army, the most powerful arm of the Fijian Administration, turned against the establishment, resulting in changes that rooted out the Great Council of Chiefs and the indigenous elites who were the peddlers of most virulent form of racism.
The Fijian Army is armed to the teeth and is a feared fighting machine.
It comprises mostly indigenous Fijians and has served the UN in many troubled spots of the world. It has earned plaudits for discipline and gallantry. Many soldiers lost their lives serving abroad, defending the rights and lives of people.
At home, its duty was a contradiction.
It became the tool of the indigenous elites to demolish democracy in Fiji whenever they lost power through democratic elections.
This was evident in 1987 and 2000, when Indo-Fijian led political parties won the elections. The indigenous elites leaned on the Fijian Army to depose the Government and restore them into power.
In 1987, the Fijian Army was at the forefront but in 2000 and its Counter- Revolutionary Warfare Unit (CRWU) joined those who led a civilian coup, necessitating the ultimate intervention of the Fijian Army.
Since then, there has been a change of heart and direction by the Army, which came to comprehend the viciousness of indigenous politics where racism was used as a ploy to entrench the indigenous elite hegemony, which included the Chiefs.
The Methodist Church hierarchy somehow provided spiritual justification for this group.
Racists neutralised
The peddlers of racism have now been neutralised.
Today, unity and goodwill among people of differing ethnicity and cultures are evident.
“Fijian” is now common term of reference for all citizens and its impact on race relations and sense of belongingness has been magical.
Indigenous Fijians and Indo-Fijians speak in each other’s language and exchange light- hearted jokes. Indo-Fijian following for Rugby, particularly the Sevens Tournament draws them in droves.
They write to newspapers expressing their joy or sorrow as avidly as indigenous Fijians.
There is revival and there is hope, faith and expectation.
Fiji may soon qualify to reclaim and restore its legendary song, “Fiji, the way the world should be!”
Rajendra Prasad is a thinker, author (‘Tears in Paradise’) and our regular columnist. Email: raj.prasad@xtra.co.nz
