Extracts from the Welcome Address by Professor Srinivasiah Muralidhar - Girmit Smriti 2009, The University of Fiji, 15 May 2009
Distinguished visitors, friends of the University, and members of the University community: It gives me great pleasure to welcome you all to the University of Fiji to commemorate with us the 130th anniversary of Girmit in Fiji. Some of our friends who could not be here with us this afternoon have sent us their best wishes. I wish to thank Judge Dr Ajit Swaran Singh from Auckland, Interim Cabinet Minister Mr Filipe Bole, Pro-Chancellor Pandit Bhuwan Dutt, and our High Commissioner in Canberra, Mr Kamlesh Arya, for their kind words and messages. Girmit evokes a variety of emotions and thoughts in people depending on whether they were direct participants in that system, whether they are descendents of Girmitiyas, or whether they have just read about it somewhere. The Girmit experience itself has been well documented by many, including our own scholars such as the late Dr Ahmed Ali, Professor Brij Lal, and more recently by Satish Rai using film as the medium to tell the stories. There are those who argue that the Girmit experience is best forgotten, and that it is time to move forward. To me this is denying ones history, ones origin, and ones memories. I would go so far as to say that May 14 should be declared Girmit Day to be celebrated across the country because those who came to Fiji under Girmit, and their successors, have greatly influenced the socio-political, agrarian, educational, business and economic landscape of the country. And there are other justifications: As diplomat Kamlesh Arya puts it, Girmit is a day for reflection not only on the atrocities that our forebears were subjected to but also on their unwavering resilience in moving towards a better future that lay ahead. We must also reflect on the positives that have come out of the Girmit System and not dwell overly on the negatives that are bygones. The location of the University itself takes us to the beginning of a story, the story of Girmit: the magnificent hills and the cane fields on one side reminding us constantly of why our ancestors came to be in this country, and the great ocean on the other side telling us of the path that led them here. Ladies and gentlemen, Girmit is about dislocation, suffering, uncertainty and pain. But it is also about assimilation, hope,
Professor Srinivasiah Muralidhar renewal and celebration, and for the younger generation, it is about acceptance and a new identity in Bainimaramas united Fiji. I urge the young women and men of all persuasions present here today to make a commitment to realizing that noble vision. This afternoon you will experience the story of Girmit through songs, readings, reflections, journeys, remembrance and writing. I am sure you will enjoy the experience. Thank you all once again for joining us today, and on behalf of the University, I wish you a very pleasant afternoon. Vinaka, Dhanyavaad.
Extracts from Ms. Nazhat Shameems Book Launching Speech: Remembrance & Writing
I read Professor Nandans collection and selected prose in Between the Lines with fascination, not only because each piece reflects a piece of Fiji, our country, but also because each reflects facets of a writer deeply committed to the essential goodness in each human soul. But here is no glorification of the weaknesses, the greed, and the opportunism of human nature. He lays bare the racism, the humbug of religious fundamentalism, the lack of commitment to the truth and the lack of commitment to principle or ideology, all of which has featured in our nations development since 1987. He writes about corruption-that the cholesterol of corruption is politically and morally a most damaging aspect of a developing nation and about the relationship between corruption and the fear of the absence of power. He links this same fear to the most shameful parts of colonialism, to racist ideologies and to fundamentalist religion. He says in his essay on Corruption and Society, that what corrupts in Fiji is this fear of the absence of power. And he links corruption to politics, to culture, and to racism, saying that corruption is more, much more than the World Bank definition of it as the abuse of power for public gain. In Fiji with its complex social matrix it encompasses the falsification of history, in the use of language, in the laws and statutes and in the institutionalized racism that is such an entrenched part of Fiji. These selections of Professor Nandans writings show us the link between the fear of the loss of power, the coups of 1987 and 2000, the use of racism and political dishonesty by religious leaders and the deliberate manipulation of religion.
Ms. Nazhat Shameem And these are the reflections of a former government Minister, an academic, a politician who has lived these experiences. A lover of the country of his birth, an exile from the country of his birth, a critic of the country of his birth and a son of the girmitiyas. How appropriate then, that this collection of prose should be launched on the 15th of May on Girmit Day, a day set aside to celebrate the girmit dream.
Writing then is your inner home: a struggle, a journey into the self. It is a clarification of the convulsions and confusions of history. It is also an art of hope even when one is writing about despair sometimes so deep that you could simply die. And of the impact of coups on the Fiji Indian writer: We know we were a banished people even from Mother India but home was where ones heart was, where one was born and bred and had broken bread with people who later betrayed with such casual brutality. The coups, I think became the defining moments for the Fiji Indian writer. We had not realized that the innocence and evil were so closely intertwined in our paradise There is nothing like a bloodless coup. How much blood do you see in the breaking of a heart? Or in the inward death of a country? These writings, the beauty of their language and the poignancy of the subjects, will inevitably move the reader. They moved me. It gives me great pleasure to launch this publication today.
Survival and hope, with the dream of dignity, equality, and peace. It is that message that is expressed most poignantly in this collection of essays. Professor Nandan acknowledges that even as he writes about writing in Writing Fiji in Asia-Pacific:
Extracts from Mr. Aiyaz Sayed Khaiyums Book Launching Speech: Reflections & Journeys
As I sat down this morning to put together a few words for the launch of Shifting Location, I thought it best that I should situate or locate myself in relation to the West as I was after all coming here. Coming to the West is always a home coming for me. Suva is where I live. In fact I was born in Suva but only because they did not have proper medical facilities in Sigatoka. Some would argue that even though I was born in Suva through force of circumstances and stayed there only for a few weeks I cannot be a Westerner. Shifting Location - Indo-Fijian Writings From Australia edited by Professor Subramani is another milestone - For him and indeed for the consolidation of such writings on identity, belonging, patriotism and defining the individual self. He is well known amongst the literary and academic circles and really needs no introduction. He along with those such as the pioneer Dr Nandan is a field apart. The compilation of these writings provides an insight from those who have some connection with Fiji. Many lived in Fiji as adults, some left when they were very young and others were born in Australia. When Professor Subramani edited his IndoFijian Experience in 1979, some 8 years before Rabukas coup, it provided the opportunity to start compiling voices that were pushed to the periphery or indeed did not even feature on the radar prior to that. Of course since then IndoFijian writing has taken a new turn if you like, because of the socio-economic changes. It has had to. This collection of writings is important and significant. As I said when I had the pleasure of launching Dr Kamlesh Sharmas book in Suva about 2 years ago, such narratives albeit it from Canberra, Sydney or elsewhere, are essential because amongst other things it contributes to the development and maturity process of the nation-state of Fiji. Such narratives are essential to continuously challenge and question where we are going as a nation, who we are, and more importantly who we should be as defined by ourselves. The maintenance of the connection and connectivity between the homeland and the Indo-Fijian Diaspora through such literary initiatives are imperative for all citizens of our beloved Fiji, not just Indo-Fijians.
Mr. Aiyaz Sayed Khaiyum I wish to thank you for inviting me here this afternoon. It is always a pleasure to come back to the West and of course the University of Fiji and its academics. Ladies and gentlemen I now have much pleasure in launching Professor Subramanis Shifting Location Indo-Fijian Writing From Australia. Vinaka.
Dr. Asinate Mausio Have soared to heights in this new age A living legacy befitting kings! Rest in peace O precious Aja, For no more shall I dismiss you As a figment of this islands history, They say that the dawn of wisdom Is in the reckoning! So until we come full circle To acknowledge your pain And pay sincere tribute To your gifts and sacrifices, This islands dreams In the shifting sands of time May remain drab, Incomplete And unfulfilled
Ms Rejieli Racule
parents, teachers and other significant adults in our lives, as our role model of success and achievement in the face of much hardship. Today I remember the Syria: in my youth it was a landmark in a turbulent sea; today I think of this ship as a symbol of a group of people, the Girmitiyas, who had traveled across the seas of life, their journey a turbulent one as a sacrifice for their descendents, to whom they have left a rich inheritance. For all of you who are in any way connected to the Girmitiyas, and for all of you here today, I wish you all fair weather in your own journeys as you pursue your dreams.
Associate Professor Cliff Benson In conclusion, ladies and gentlemen, I quote the simple but moving key words of hope in J S Kanwals novel and on which the title is based. I will first read the quotation in Hindi and then a translation by Ms Vijayta Singh, Part-Time Assistant Lecturer in Hindi at this University. Savera aayega. Jeevan mein kabhi to suraj chamkega. Tab raaho ke rodhe hat jayenge. Tab bikhare kaante udh jayenge Aur saare bandhan kat jayenge ************************* Morning will come Some time in life the sun will shine. Then the things that hinder your path will disperse. Then thorns too will fly away And the chains of bondage will break. Vinaka, Malo, Shukria and Dhanyavaad.
Extracts from Dr. Jyoti Nandans Reading: A Remembrance Day in May (From Between the Lines)
Fourteenth May is an iconic date in Fijis history: the date of our first coup; and it merges into 15 May, Girmit Day. And in May theres Ratu Sukuna Day. For some it is a day of betrayal; for others of dispossession; for yet others historys deception, and a peoples resilience and resistance; and the celebration of Leadership in a single life: soldier, statesman and man. But the person who changed Fijis political landscape most radically was not the Colonel with a gun but Timoci Bavadra with a new, alternative political vision for Fiji, whether we admit it or not that vision is still alive for a Fiji people care for. The Colonels entry into Parliament may have been more dramatic; Bavadras legacy will be more enduring. In Fiji one electoral defeat and the traditions of tolerance, the customs of our civilization, the ceremonies and protocols of respect, collapsed. The Colonel marched in with his masked gun men; the mask of multi-racialism slipped. A culture of violence and violations was introduced into Fijis political world, as if we had been infected by an alien disease for which we had no remedy. Many institutions and individuals felt violated to the core of their being. None of the coups that followed the 1987 coup would ever compare with the betrayal, the breaking of faith, the shattering of dreams, the shock and grief of many men and women, most of whom had known no other home, no other country. The brutality of 1987 was calculated and callous. Its shock sharp and deep. Its consequences festering. So 14 May merges into 15 MayGirmit Day. It took 40 years to get 60,000 indentured Indians to Fiji. In 20 years after 1987, more than 120,000 citizens of Fiji have gone to other countries, and not Fiji Indians alone. It is, I think, the largest migration from a South Pacific nation. The hemorrhage continues. Despite the immense suffering, the sense of betrayal, exile from homeland, most of our migrants have gone to free societies where they are respected as citizens, rewarded as workers, and where all share a common identity, whatever other problems they and their children may face in the future. They come from many cultures, but they belong to one nation. A generation of men and women have gone. Dr. Jyoti Nandan Despite their differences, their ambitions, they, I feel, had a sense of nationhood. There was an element of nobility in their struggle for equality, dignity and political recognition. The Prime Minister was first among equals; the Leader of the Opposition was the alternative Prime Minister. All that changed on 14 May: a day can be so devastating. What 14 May should remember is Dr. Timoci Bavadra. His decency, laughter, generosity and the dignity born of human painand what we do to each other for petty ambitions. It is a sad reflection on us that there isn't even a memorial Lecture in his honour. Perhaps we can choose a day in May as our National day of Remembrance and Reconciliation in the memory of so much we share, both the grief and the glory of belonging to Fiji.
Joji Uluinakauvadra The fact remains that the two major races will determine the trend of our governance to our destiny. I wish you both- the Attorney General & Ms Nazhat Shameem success in all your future endeavors. Please convey our best regards to the Prime Minister and others in your government. We pray to our heavenly father to equip you with wisdom & knowledge and lead us to peace and prosperity. We now bid you farewell, Ni sa moce, Thank you, Dhanya bhad, vinaka vakalevu.
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