Thakur Ranjit Singh
May 14 is a significant and historical day in the Fijian calendar.
Apart from Sitiveni Rabuka’s first coup, its foremost significance was the arrival of the first Girmit ship ‘Leonidas,’ with 479 Indian indentured immigrants, who we call Girmityas. That significant year was 140 years ago, in 1879.
This followed 82 other ships that transported over 60,000 Girmityas to Fiji. About 35,000 of these people decided to settle back in Fiji, and their descendants now make a distinct race of people with their own culture, language and achievements.
Ignorance of the Diaspora
While May 14 2019, marks 140 years of the arrival of the first group of Girmityas, many may not be aware of its importance. I do not blame them, as our school history fails to recognise and acknowledge this fact, which appears to have been stolen from successive Fiji Indian generations.
To fill this vacuum of Girmit history, a group of Fiji Indians in Auckland have taken steps to reconnect, reclaim and restore Indo-Fijian history. ‘Fiji Girmit Foundation New Zealand’ was formed six years ago, to commemorate Girmit regularly and become an advocate representing the interests of Fiji Indians in New Zealand.
We have been regularly marking May 14 as ‘Girmit Remembrance Day’ and enhancing this knowledge not only in New Zealand but also among the Indian Diaspora in Fiji.
The Foundation is already gearing to mark the 140th Anniversary in Auckland on Friday, 10 May 2019.
Sir Anand Satyanand
Former Governor General Sir Anand Satyanand will be our Chief Guest.
A New Zealander Lawyer, District Court Judge and Ombudsman, he became our country’s 19th Governor General for a five-year term from August 23 2006, to August 31, 2011.
On both sides of his family, his links are with Fiji and India and he has continued to maintain them. His maternal and paternal grandparents came to Fiji from different parts of India (Uttar Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh) under the Girmit System.
Sir Anand has always been proud to acknowledge this background. He is an excellent and eloquent speaker and we are honoured to have a Girmitya grandson as our Chief Guest.
The evening’s Programme will have other speakers, and we will remember sacrifices, progress and the vision of our forebears through oratory, poems, quiz, music and achievements of Girmityas and their organisations.
The growing generations
The Trustees of the Girmit Foundation of New Zealand have also ventured on a culture that is now prevalent in New Zealand-the new generation, or Millennials (like Prime Minister Jacinda Arden) who should be given opportunities to lead.
In that spirit, the older Trustees have passed on the baton to a young executive team, led by its youth Trustee Krish Naidu, as President, assisted by Kirti Singh and Nikhil Kumar as Vice Presidents. Ashfaaq Khan is the Chairperson, with Anji Naidu as Marketing and Communications Officer.
The youthful team has Krishneel Prasad as Secretary with Radhika Priya as Assistant Secretary and a very able Executive Members and an Organising Committee.
We are aware that there are at least five other organisations in New Zealand who will commemorate this day. The Foundation is honoured to bring this enlightenment to Fiji Indians, and others as well.
We are what the Girmityas wanted us to be. In commemorating their memories, let us keep the flame of desire and gratitude burning in our community, particularly in our children. And that spark is that they are able to consciously and appreciatively inherit the legacy of the Girmityas – a legacy of struggle, endurance, resilience and achievement.
Thakur Ranjit Singh is a Journalist, a Blogger and a Media Commentator. He is a Founding Trustee of the Fiji Girmit Foundation New Zealand. He runs his blog site ‘Fiji Pundit,’ that can be accessed at www.fijipundit.blogspot.co.nz
(Pictures from Indian Newslink Achieves)
