Issue 414, May 1, 2019
In two weeks from now, the world will quietly add yet another year to the Girmit Period that rocked the lives of more than 60,000 men and women from India for 40 years, immersing them into a subjugated state of slavery and deception.
We have been carrying articles on the subject for 20 years, as our tributes to those great men and women who endured brutality for the sake of their ensuing generations.
The story of the Indo-Fijians as indentured labourers is one of betrayal, torture, sacrifice and death. Successive generations have heard how their ancestors suffered the brutality of their colonial masters, whipped like animals and were pushed towards suicide- many of them ended their lives either hanging at home or falling into the nearby river; many others simply perished as a natural outcome of physical and mental abuse.
The world has scoffed at slavery and those who drove them but has seldom cared for the victims, unless the latter fought for their rights in strange lands and asserted themselves politically, socially and culturally, winning a rightful place in the society.
Slavery scoffed
Africans in Europe, the US and Canada are prime examples of such self-determination but in the case of Fiji, people of Indian origin remained marginalised and relegated to secondary positions.
There are undoubtedly a number of success stories of people who have established their presence commercially and lifted Fiji’s economy in later years, especially after the country gained independence in 1971.
But they did not achieve success overnight; they too struggled, alongside their compatriots, risked their fortunes and promoted businesses. It is said that without an Indo-Fijian enterprise, the country’s economy would be far more impoverished and regressive than it is today.
Indo-Fijians are among the most hardworking and enterprising people in the world. With diffidence, devotion and dedication as their attributes, they are never known to moan and groan about not being able to obtain employment. Their spirit of adventure encourages them to seek gainful employment and if that fails, be self-employed.
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