Thakur Ranjit Singh
Auckland, March 29, 2024
The euphoria and chants from Shri Ram mandir in Ayodhya are ringing in all corners of the world: “Ram aayenge, mere Raghuul Ram aayenge (My Ram of Ragukul will come).”
Very well done.
My only lament is that while we have been able to invoke life in a lifeless stone statue through Pran Prathista over many decades, we have been unable to invoke such knowledge of Ram in the hearts of many who claim to be His devotees.
The Pride over Heritage
During His time on earth, Ram always referred to himself as ‘Raghuvanshi Ram’ or Raghukul Ram, taking immense pride in his ancestry and heritage. Among his ancestors were Harishchandra, who was a learned and noble King.
But such love, respect and reverence for the heritage of Fiji Indians appear to have missed many of our people who do not seem to know much about their stolen history while claiming to be devotees of Ram and ignoring their ancestry.
We should be thankful for the sacrifices of our forebears. Let us remember them on 14 May, in some small way, as we mark other days in the USA, Canada, New Zealand, Australia and Fiji.
Let us remember them by dedicating every 14 May as Girmit Remembrance Day to commemorate, celebrate and respect them. That was the day in 1879 when the first ship carrying indentured labourers (Girmityas) arrived in Fiji to begin a long-drawn era of exploitation, abuse, torture and death.
From our Archives
Indo-Fijian values face extinction
Girmitya descendants honour Professor Brij Lal in Auckland
Girmit Foundation honours Roy Krishna in Auckland
Girmityas are best remembered by connectivity
Fijians remember Girmityas with reverence
A Salute to Fiji’s Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka for declaring Girmit Day (May 14) a Public Holiday from 2023.
We are also grateful to the Fiji Girmit Foundation NZ, which has been relentlessly seeking this recognition from the Fiji government since 2015 and succeeded with a change in leadership in 2022.
The Foundation has played a major role in promoting and enlightening Fiji Indians about Girmit in New Zealand and across the world, including Fiji where the Fiji Girmit Council seems to be inactive.
As we approach May and Girmit Day, some living in wealth and power as migrant Fiji Indians in developed countries question whether Girmit is a day for celebration when it was denoted slavery and suffering.
Commemoration and Celebration
It is good to have such enlightenment on Girmit.
Following is my response differentiating ‘Celebration’ and “Commemoration’ of Girmit.
When we initiated the Girmit Remembrance Day in Auckland over a decade ago, we were doing exactly that- crying, lamenting and blaming the British for the treatment of our forebears while wallowing in the wealth and comforts to which such “slavery and suffering” delivered us.
We no longer suffer those conditions now; Girmit has liberated us.
What an irony – we have been crying, lamenting and putting blame on people who were responsible for delivering us into the prosperity from which we have been throwing stones at them and realising that the suffering and torture that they talk about were collateral damage beyond our control.
This thought was reformed when the Fiji Girmit Foundation NZ invited the late Professor Brij Lal as the Chief Guest and Keynote speaker to commemorate Girmit Day on May 17, 2014 in Auckland.
Fiji Indians are Pacifica
While we commemorate the historical incidents, we celebrate the ordinary people who did extraordinary things in extraordinary times. We celebrate the heritage and legacy of perseverance. We celebrate the resilience of our people. we celebrate the birth of the unique identity and culture of Fiji Indians. We celebrate the seniors who receive the Awards for carrying the baton from Girmityas and maintaining our culture and cultural traits. We celebrate the achievements of our descendants through Awards.
We celebrate the entrepreneurial spirit of our people. That includes many Fiji Indians who have status, power and wealth but no time for their heritage.
So, we hope that people can differentiate between the historical events of commemoration and celebration of the cultural, economic and social development of a unique race of people with unique cultural traits. A tree that has grown out of seeds from India to the soils, environments and atmosphere of Pacifica Fiji has become Pacifica people.
We Fiji Indians are Pacifica people in New Zealand.
Professor Brij Lal’s quotes
I take the liberty of publishing some of the remarks of Professor Brij Lal.
“One of my life’s ambitions has been to remember what others have forgotten or chosen to forget – to give our people a voice and a modicum of humanity, to give them a place at the table of history. We need to remind the new generation about our history: history doesn’t only belong to the victors but to the vanquished as well.
“One thing I have done in life before I go is to give these voiceless people a voice – a sense of place, a sense of purpose. People will remember this aspect by history. I do not celebrate the struggles and sacrifices and sufferings of our people. What I marvel at is how ordinary people do extraordinary things in extraordinary circumstances.
“We, their descendants, have inherited those traits and legacy of our forebears. And that is that even in difficult circumstances, we never give up and we never compromise. There is a kind of dignity within us, where did it come from? It comes from people who travelled thousands of miles in difficult circumstances but never gave up. This is the legacy of Girmit that I think we are celebrating, not those horrible things we read in books many years ago.”
Quotes from Tears in Paradise
I now wish to quote the violence and atrocities of Girmit, from Rajendra Prasad’s ”Tears in Paradise.”
“Pain from the wounds of Girmit resided in the hearts and minds of its victims and their families, but it failed to find expression publicly or in history books. …the Indo-Fijians, who were a significant part of Fiji and had made an enormous contribution towards its economic, social, cultural and political development, had escaped the history books.
“What that effectively means is that there is a vacuum as far as the contribution of Fiji Indians to Fiji’s or Pacific’s History is concerned. I hope when we are gone, our children will remember the sacrifices our generation made for a brighter future. To awaken the dead conscience of Fiji Indians towards their Girmityas.”
I add the following powerful quote from Tears in Paradise:
“Even in the stillness of cane stalks, one can almost feel the powerful presence of the spirits of sorrow and grief exuding from these sugarcane fields. they are the spirits of our ancestors. The desperate cries of the Girmityas echoed from 1879-1919 in the fields, but it was not until later that the outside world came to their rescue. when their white masters turned away their faces and the victims seethed in agony, the Girmityas found comfort in relating their anguish to the trees and plants around them. a folk song called Bidesiya, a lamentation, composed under these traumatic circumstances by one of the Girmityas, reflects the depth of their suffering:
“Churi, kudaari ke sung, ab bitay din aur ratian, ganne ki hari hari patiya, jaane hamari dil ki batiyaan.”
In these couplets, the lyricist tells of the widespread suffering of the Girmityas’ work in the sugarcane fields, saying that the knife and hoe are their companions day and night. Atrocities against them are so blatant that even the green leaves of sugarcane bear witness to the flames of anguish that consume their heart.
Let us all Fiji Indian Girmitya descendants mark 14 May as Fiji Girmit Remembrance Day this year and every year.
We salute our Girmityas- Koti Koti Naman (Millions of Salutations).
Thakur Ranjit Singh is a third-generation descendant of Fiji Girmitya Bansi who came to Fiji from Karouli, Rajasthan, India in 1915. He is a journalist, a media commentator and a regular contributor to Indian Newslink. Email: thakurjifj@gmail.com The views expressed in this article are his own and do not reflect those of any other person or institution.
