A Majority of Fiji Indians Are the Descendants of the Indentured
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AD Patel Sub-Index
Bandranaike, SWRD 27 Index Bannerji, Surendranath 27 Barker, Ray 186 fn Barrett, WM 239 Agent General of Immigration 13 basic tax 177 Agent, of Government of India 15-16 Bayly, JP 133, 137, 139 Agreement 24 July 138-139 Beattie, Hamilton 38 Agricultural Bank 143 Ben, Leela 105 Agricultural Landlord and Tenant Bill Bennett, JM 145 174-176 Besant, Annie 28 Agricultural Landlord and Tenant Bhajan mandalis 119 Committee 176 Bharat Mata Day 110 Agricultural Landlord and Tenant Bhindi, PK 230 Ordinance 237 Bill of Rights 199, 206 agricultural production, Second World : in Federation Party manifesto 234 War 84 Blunt, Edward 8 AJC Patel and Company 36 Book Box Scheme 168 Akhil Fiji Krishak Maha Sangh See Maha Bowden, Herbert 226 Sangh boycott of Legislative Council, 1929 39 Ali, Ahmed 242 Brennan, Sir Gerard ix-x, 242 All-Fiji Indian conference 1929 46 British Council 168 Alliance Party 219, 249 British India Association 13 : by-election 1967 230, 236 British Phosphate Commission 224 : formation of 207 Brown, Doug xix : response to Federation Party Buksh, MS 108 manifesto 235 Buksh, Nabi 40 Amery, Julian 143-144, 161 Buli 47 Amery, LS 41 Bull, PJ 142 Andrews, CF 11, 28, 38 Burns Commission 220 Anthony, James 129 Burns, Sir Alan 184 Archibald, Fred 204 Burton, JW 11, 28 Arya Samaj 12, 33, 37 See also education, bus industry 162 Indian by-election 1967 229-230, 231 : Deo’s influence 109 : Fijian response 237 : elections 1937 49 : results 236-237 : elections 1963 160 : in 1950s elections 111 Cakobau, Ratu Edward xv, 203, 227 : prohibition debate -
The Case of Fiji
University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform Volume 25 Issues 3&4 1992 Democracy and Respect for Difference: The Case of Fiji Joseph H. Carens University of Toronto Follow this and additional works at: https://repository.law.umich.edu/mjlr Part of the Comparative and Foreign Law Commons, Cultural Heritage Law Commons, Indian and Aboriginal Law Commons, and the Rule of Law Commons Recommended Citation Joseph H. Carens, Democracy and Respect for Difference: The Case of Fiji, 25 U. MICH. J. L. REFORM 547 (1992). Available at: https://repository.law.umich.edu/mjlr/vol25/iss3/3 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform at University of Michigan Law School Scholarship Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform by an authorized editor of University of Michigan Law School Scholarship Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. DEMOCRACY AND RESPECT FOR DIFFERENCE: THE CASE OF FIJI Joseph H. Carens* TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction ................................. 549 I. A Short History of Fiji ................. .... 554 A. Native Fijians and the Colonial Regime .... 554 B. Fijian Indians .................. ....... 560 C. Group Relations ................ ....... 563 D. Colonial Politics ....................... 564 E. Transition to Independence ........ ....... 567 F. The 1970 Constitution ........... ....... 568 G. The 1987 Election and the Coup .... ....... 572 II. The Morality of Cultural Preservation: The Lessons of Fiji ................. ....... 574 III. Who Is Entitled to Equal Citizenship? ... ....... 577 A. The Citizenship of the Fijian Indians ....... 577 B. Moral Limits to Historical Appeals: The Deed of Cession ............. ....... 580 * Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Toronto. -
Review Articles
In the wake of the Leonidas 93 Review Articles In the Wake of the Leonidas reflections on Indo-Fijian indenture historiography Doug Munro Abstract The historiography of Indo-Fijian indenture came into its own with the publication of Ken Gillion’s Fiji’s Indian Migrants in 1962. A work of ‘balanced’ scholarship, it contrasts with the more ‘emotional’ A New System of Slavery (1974) by Hugh Tinker, which places greater stress on the iniquities of the indenture system. These two texts set the terms of discussion when the centenary of the arrival of Indian indentured labourers in Fiji, in 1979, gave impetus to further study by historians from the University of the South Pacific, notably Ahmed Ali, Vijay Naidu and Brij V Lal. This article evaluates the ongoing state of scholarship and asks why the momentum has not been maintained. Keywords Fiji; historiography; indenture; Indians; Indo-Fijians; plantations The Journal of Pacific Studies, Volume 28, no.1, 2005, 93–117 © by JPacS Editorial Board (SSED,USP) 93 94 The Journal of Pacific Studies Vol.28 no.1, 2005 NEW ZEALAND OBSERVED 1940 as a centenary, Australia marked a bicentenary in 1988, and 1992 was remembered with flourishes as the Columbus quincentenary. Temporal markers such as these are celebrated and, additionally, they serve to provide the impetus for historical research. That is what happened in Fiji in 1979 with the centenary of the arrival, on the Leonidas, of the first 463 Indian indentured labourers (girmitiya) to Fiji. The centenary celebrations included a round of festivities and commemorations, as well as special issues of newspapers. -
The Abolition of Indian Indentured Migration to Mauritius C. Bates, M
The abolition of Indian Indentured Migration to Mauritius C. Bates, M. Carter & V. Govinden ABSTRACT The passing of a bill in 1917 in the Indian Legislative Council to abolish the use of contracts of indenture to recruit Indian migrants to work overseas has been hailed as a great achievement for Indian nationalists, helping to raise the status of Indians overseas, and improving the working lives of Indian labourers. However, there was a large gap between the passage of this bill and its implementation, which has been overlooked by historians. In Mauritius, the last ship carrying indentured workers arrived as late as 1924 and the last contract of indenture did not expire until 1929. The delay was justified in terms of allowing employers time to ‘adjust’ to the new ‘freer’ labour market conditions. In practice, this adjustment had already begun two decades earlier. Falling sugar prices and the growth of the settled population on Mauritius, had already led to a dramatic reduction in the number of indentured workers being recruited from India compared with the hey-days of sugar in the nineteenth century. Time- expired labourers and their descendants working on short or informal contracts had become the back-bone of the economy. In successive years in the 1900s no migrant ships set sail at all for Mauritius and a growing proportion of Indians who did arrive in the late 19th and early 20th century were traveling as ‘free passengers’. Indians had already found their niche within the economy and rather than look to the colonial government for recognition and enfranchisement, were busy enfranchising themselves. -
History of Inter-Group Conflict and Violence in Modern Fiji
View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Sydney eScholarship History of Inter-Group Conflict and Violence in Modern Fiji SANJAY RAMESH MA (RESEARCH) CENTRE FOR PEACE AND CONFLICT STUDIES UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY 2010 Abstract The thesis analyses inter-group conflict in Fiji within the framework of inter-group theory, popularised by Gordon Allport, who argued that inter-group conflict arises out of inter-group prejudice, which is historically constructed and sustained by dominant groups. Furthermore, Allport hypothesised that there are three attributes of violence: structural and institutional violence in the form of discrimination, organised violence and extropunitive violence in the form of in-group solidarity. Using history as a method, I analyse the history of inter-group conflict in Fiji from 1960 to 2006. I argue that inter- group conflict in Fiji led to the institutionalisation of discrimination against Indo-Fijians in 1987 and this escalated into organised violence in 2000. Inter-group tensions peaked in Fiji during the 2006 general elections as ethnic groups rallied behind their own communal constituencies as a show of in-group solidarity and produced an electoral outcome that made multiparty governance stipulated by the multiracial 1997 Constitution impossible. Using Allport’s recommendations on mitigating inter-group conflict in divided communities, the thesis proposes a three-pronged approach to inter-group conciliation in Fiji, based on implementing national identity, truth and reconciliation and legislative reforms. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This thesis is dedicated to the Indo-Fijians in rural Fiji who suffered physical violence in the aftermath of the May 2000 nationalist coup. -
Chiefly Leadership in Fiji After the 2014 Elections Stephanie Lawson
3 Chiefly leadership in Fiji after the 2014 elections Stephanie Lawson ‘Chiefdoms are highly variable, but they are all about power.’ (Earle 2011, p. 27) Introduction The last quarter century has seen a significant decline of chiefly influence in Fiji’s politics, albeit with some periods of enhanced status for the paramount symbol of indigenous Fijian traditionalism, the Great Council of Chiefs (GCC). This body, however, was abolished by decree under the military regime of Commodore Josaia Voreqe (Frank) Bainimarama in March 2012. The September 2014 elections held prospects for the restoration of chiefly authority and the role of traditionalism through the Social Democratic Liberal Party (SODELPA) led by Ro Teimumu Vuikaba Kepa, holder of a prominent chiefly title. A victory by SODELPA would also have seen the restoration of the GCC. With SODELPA’s resounding defeat by Bainimarama’s FijiFirst Party, such prospects have received a significant blow. This chapter provides an account of chiefly leadership in national politics, beginning with a survey of Fiji’s colonisation, the role of chiefs in the British colonial regime generally, and their domination 41 THE PEOPLE Have SPOKEN of national politics up until 1987. The second section reviews the political dynamics surrounding chiefly leadership from 1987 until the Bainimarama-led coup of 2006. The final sections examine chiefly involvement in national politics in the lead-up to the 2014 elections and prospects for the future of traditional chiefly political leadership which, given the results, look somewhat bleak. British colonialism and chiefly rule In contrast with many other parts of the world, where colonial rule was imposed by force, the paramount chiefs of Fiji petitioned the British to establish a Crown Colony. -
C:\Users\User\Desktop\Dr Hasan Colgis\Kertas Kerja\MOHD FO'ad
Politics of Accommodation, Power Sharing and Consociational Democracy Dr. Mohd Foad Sakdan Dr. Oemar Hamdan Political of Accommodation The concept of accommodation refers to pragmatic solution to divisive conflicts by abandoning the principles of unilateral majority decisions and including representatives of the main group in the organs of government and decision marking. The political of accommodation is based mainly on a recognition of the need for political stability, and not necessarily on a recognition in principle of the right of all group in society to participation, representation and equal status. Therefore, the more societal and political a particular group has, the more willingness there will be to consider it as a partner to the politics of accommodation.1 The political potential of a group is not determined exclusively or even mainly by its electoral achievements or even its coalition bargaining position. Other important factors are recognition of the legitimacy of the value and interests represented by group and acceptance of the group as part of the social and cultural consensus. Meanwhile, political stability in the country has been attributed to the political system that could be called `an elite accommodation model' or `consociational model' in which each ethnic community is unified under a leadership that can authoritatively bargain for the interests of that community. The leaders of each community, in turn, have the capacity to secure compliance and legitimacy for the bargains that are reached by elite negotiations. Under such circumstances, there exists sufficient trust and empathy among the elite to be sensitive to the most vital concerns of other ethnic communities. -
Kasturba Gandhi an Embodiment of Empowerment
Kasturba Gandhi An Embodiment of Empowerment Siby K. Joseph Gandhi Smarak Nidhi, Mumbai 2 Kasturba Gandhi: An Embodiment…. All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publishers. The views and opinions expressed in this book are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the organizations to which they belong. First Published February 2020 Reprint March 2020 © Author Published by Gandhi Smarak Nidhi, Mumbai Mani Bhavan, 1st Floor, 19 Laburnum Road, Gamdevi, Mumbai 400 007, MS, India. Website :https://www.gsnmumbai.org Printed at Om Laser Printers, 2324, Hudson Lines Kingsway Camp – 110 009 Siby K. Joseph 3 CONTENTS Foreword Raksha Mehta 5 Preface Siby K. Joseph 7-12 1. Early Life 13-15 2. Kastur- The Wife of Mohandas 16-24 3. In South Africa 25-29 4. Life in Beach Grove Villa 30-35 5. Reunion 36-41 6. Phoenix Settlement 42-52 7. Tolstoy Farm 53-57 8. Invalidation of Indian Marriage 58-64 9. Between Life and Death 65-72 10. Back in India 73-76 11. Champaran 77-80 12. Gandhi on Death’s door 81-85 13. Sarladevi 86-90 14. Aftermath of Non-Cooperation 91-94 15. Borsad Satyagraha and Gandhi’s Operation 95-98 16. Communal Harmony 99-101 4 Kasturba Gandhi: An Embodiment…. 17. Salt Satyagraha 102-105 18. Second Civil Disobedience Movement 106-108 19. Communal Award and Harijan Uplift 109-114 20. -
1. JOHANNESBURG Monday [April 11, 1910]
1. JOHANNESBURG Monday [April 11, 1910] SENT TO DELAGOA BAY Mr. Achary and 37 other satyagrahis were sent from Pretoria to Delagoa Bay on Saturday. Six of them were certainly not satyagrahis. I cannot say whether they have become so by now. All of them who bear Tamil names are satyagrahis. Thus, the Tamils have been keeping the flag of satyagraha flying. I have given the Tamil names in the English section1 and therefore do not give them here. SHIPS REFUSE I reported in the English section2 last week that some ships had refused to carry those persons who have been deported. I cannot say how far the report is true. But it appears that they have failed to get a ship so far. If India exerts sufficient pressure, no ship will dare carry the deportees. There is strong reason to believe that those who have been deported this time will rouse the whole of India to protest. CHETTIAR 3 [He] was today ordered to be deported and was taken to gaol. Mr. Chettiar is about 55 years of age. He suffers from a chronic ailment, and yet he is facing deportation with the utmost courage. He is to be deported to Natal, from where he will return immediately. OTHER ARRESTS Mr. Chinan Diala4 and Selmar Pillay were arrested and they, too, have been ordered to be deported. 1 Vide “From ‘Transvaal Notes’ ”, 12-4-1910 2 Vide “From ‘Transvaal Notes’ ”, 4-4-1910 3 V. A. Chettiar, respected old Chairman of the Tamil Benefit Society, who had been arrested on April 5. -
Brij Lal's Biography of AD Patel
18 Fijian Studies Vol 13, No. 1 tory cannot be written without some bias and selective emphasis. The book well illustrates historian David Lowenthal’s dictum: ‘History is per- suasive because it is organised by and filtered through individual minds, not in spite of that fact. Subjective interpretation gives it life and mean- Brij Lal's Biography of A D Patel - A Vision for Change: ing’ (1985: 218). A.D. Patel and the Politics of Fiji Chapter 1, Retrospect, sketches the emergence of Indian society and politics in Fiji - the setting into which Patel stepped at the age of only 23 Robert Norton in 1928, soon to join the leadership of the campaign for political equality with the minority European community under a common roll electoral 3 system. The common franchise campaign was abandoned in the early A.D. Patel and Ratu Kamisese Mara were the outstanding political 1930s and not revived until the 1960s, this time with Patel in the lead. leaders and adversaries during Fiji’s transition from colonial rule to inde- Chapter 2, Child of Gujarat, is one of the most illuminating sections pendence. People who can recall the Fiji of the 1960s will have vivid of the book, describing aspects of life in Gujarat early last century which memories of Ambalal Dayhabhai Patel, Ratu Mara's resolute but not un- profoundly influenced Patel's outlook and dispositions. He was the pam- sympathetic opponent on the political stage. India-born Patel (1905-1969) pered first-born in a landed farming family of the Patidar group, the most was the leading advocate for the common franchise and the founding economically and politically powerful class in the Kheda district. -
5. Fragments from a Fiji Coup Diary
DIVERSITY, IDENTITY AND THE MEDIA 5. Fragments from a Fiji coup diary ABSTRACT Fiji has endured four coups in the past 22 years. On 10 April 2009, President Ratu Josefa Iloilo suspended the Constitution, sacked the judi- ciary, postponed any general election until 2014 and appointed himself as head of state. He reinstated 2006 coup leader Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama as interim Prime Minister, who in turn reappointed his cabi- net in defiance of international condemnation. A censorship crackdown on the media and civil society followed. The author is a media educator and journalist who worked for a total of 11 years at the University of the South Pacific, including experiencing both the 2000 and the 2006 coups. He later returned to Fiji as social media educator for the National Council for Building a Better Fiji (NCBBF). The Council was critical of the media during the period it developed a draft of the People’s Charter. It recom- mended changes to the law to establish a Media Tribunal, which was also planned to encourage qualified local personnel for editorial, subeditorial and publisher positions; provide a wide diversity of local programmes for television media and develop community radio and community television through a media tax. While the People’s Charter was seen as a neces- sary and constructive contribution to the future of Fiji, the leadership of Bainimarama was questioned after the repeal of the constitution. This arti- cle, opening with the author’s open letter to Bainimarama after the Easter putsch, offers reflections from a coup diary. PATRICK CRADDOCK Media educator, New Zealand AN open letter to the interim regime leader of the Republic of Fiji: ear Commodore Voreqe Bainimarama, So—only good news can be reported. -
Elections and Politics in Fiji
i ii iii Co-Published by ANU E Press and Asia Pacific Press The Australian National Unversity Canberra ACT 0200 Email: [email protected] Website: http://epress.anu.edu.au National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry Lal, Brij V. Islands of turmoil : elections and politics in Fiji. Bibliography. Includes index. ISBN 0 7315 3751 3 ISBN 1 920942 75 0 (Online document) 1. Fiji - Politics and government. 2. Fiji - Social conditions. 3. Fiji - Economic conditions. I. Title. 996.11 This work is copyright. Apart from those uses which may be permitted under the Copyright Act 1968 as amended, no part may be reproduced by any process without written permission from the publishers. The views expressed in this book are those of the author and not necessarily of the publishers. Editor: Bridget Maidment Publisher: Asia Pacific Press and ANU E Press Design: Annie Di Nallo Design Printers: University Printing Service, The Australian National University Cover photo, Nukulau Prison, is copyright and used with permission (www.fijilive.com). Author photo by Darren Boyd, Coombs Photography. First edition © 2006 ANU E Press and Asia Pacific Press For the people of the Fiji Islands There is a dawn at the end of the darkest night v Contents Abbreviations vii Preface viii 1. The road to independence 1 2. Continuity and change 24 3. Things fall apart 49 4. Back from the abyss 77 5. Rabuka’s republic 100 6. Charting a new course 126 7. A time to change 155 8. George Speight’s coup 185 9. In George Speight’s shadow 206 10.