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Topic: Indo-Fijian

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Indo-Fijian - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Indo-Fijians outnumbered indigenous Fijians from 1956 through the late 1980s, but by 2000 their share of the population had declined to 43.7 percent, because of a higher ethnic-Fijian birthrate and particularly because of the greater tendency of Indo-Fijians to emigrate. Differences between ethnic Fijians and Indo-Fijians complicated preparations for Fijian independence, which the United Kingdom granted in 1970, and have continued to define Fijian politics since. The party currently favoured by Indo-Fijians is the Fiji Labour Party, led by Mahendra Chaudhry, which received about 75 percent of the Indo-Fijian vote in 2001, and won all 19 seats reserved for Indo-Fijians. en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Indo-Fijian

A deeper look at Fiji The Fijian natives as well as the Indo-Fijians have to equally share the blame for failing to promote ethnic assimilation through joint schooling for the children and a feeling of "we, the people of Fiji" instead of "we, the Fijian natives" and "we, the Indo-Fijians". Small sections of the Fijian natives are calling for the proclamation of Fiji as a Christian State and there has been criticism by sections of the Indo-Fijians of alleged attempts by Methodist missionaries to convert poor Hindus to Christianity. Whenever they become active, the military, on its own or on a nod from the Chiefs, tends to act against Indo-Fijian political leaders, lest the Chiefs be overtaken from the right by these movements and their own traditional authority weakened. www.saag.org /notes/note98.html

Migration Information Source - Fiji Islands: From Immigration to Emigration A constitution imposed by a presidential decree in 1990 effectively disfranchised the Indo-Fijian community. Fijian nationalists applaud their departure as a necessary first step in the "Fijianisation" of their country, a price the country "must" pay to reclaim its indigenous soul. Gordon prohibited indigenous Fijians from commercial employment so that they could enjoy their traditional lifestyle undisrupted by contact with outside forces, and thus escape the fate that befell other indigenous communities that came into contact with the outside world. www.migrationinformation.org /Profiles/display.cfm?ID=110

Trade and Environment Database: Fijian Sugar Plantations An interim government of native Fijians was in power in Suva and after heated discussion of revisiting the constitution, the Fiji High Court of Appeals upheld the legality of the 1997 Constitution which grants Indo-Fijians the right to hold office. At the time of the coup, the Indo-Fijian farmers were being evicted from their plantations as Fijian landowners chose not to renew the leases that had been drawn up by the British some thirty years ago. In the 1996 census 50.8% of the population was Fijian and 43.7% was Indian. www.american.edu /TED/fiji.htm

Bharat Rakshak MONITOR: Volume 3(2) The Fijian armed forces have shown themselves to be incapable of acting impartially and have twice removed democratically elected governments simply because Indo-Fijians have exercised their legitimate democratic rights and formed governments. Fijians and Europeans joined, but the Indians, perhaps stupidly in retrospect, did not join because they were to be paid less than Europeans - something that did not trouble the Fijians. This attitude is a clear indication that the Fijian Military Forces are neither defenders of the rule of law nor defenders of the nation's constitution, but are merely the military arm of ethnic Fijian interests, ignoring democratic principles whenever they chose. www.bharat-rakshak.com /MONITOR/ISSUE3-2/sanjay.html

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2000 - Fiji Of the 46 communal seats, 23 were allotted to indigenous Fijians, 19 to Indo-Fijians, 3 to "general voters" (for the most part Caucasians and East Asians), and 1 was alloted to the Rotumans (an ethnically distinct Polynesian group), roughly proportional to the different communities' representation in the population. The Government also successfully raised the proportion of ethnic Fijians and Rotumans in the public service to 50 percent or higher at all levels, but most significantly at the senior level: Indo-Fijians represent only approximately 10 percent of the highest levels of the civil service. Women in both the Fijian and Indian communities have functioned primarily in traditional roles, and are underrepresented in government and politics. www.usemb.se /human/2000/eastasia/fiji.html

INDOlink - Diaspora - Mutual Disrespect Underscores Fijian-Indians And Native Fijians The Fijians, on the other hand, saw Indians as usurpers likely to take away their land, which for them was the source of their existence and survival. Fijians, though they distrust the Indians ambitious outlook, recognize and sometimes even acclaim the economic contribution made by the Indians in Fiji. Few Fijians had anything positive to say about the Indians, except that they are wealthy and clever people, descriptions that do not necessarily connote admiration for the Indians. www.indolink.com /displayArticleS.php?id=032505075855

The fault-lines in Fiji The indigenous Fijians found it difficult to accept their loss of power in their homeland, especially to a coalition of Indo-Fijians and Fijians who did not belong to the traditional Fijian hierarchy of tribal chiefs. The Fijian Association Party served to split the ethnic Fijian vote and this forced the majority section of the Fijian representation to seek the help of one of the Indo-Fijian parties. A racially biased Constitution which reduced the number of parliamentary seats for Indo-Fijians was adopted in 1990. www.flonnet.com /fl1712/17120110.htm

ILW.COM - Asylum for Fijian who Refused to Participate in Indo-Fijians Tagaga" as it was "apparent he has very democratic beliefs and does not agree with the tact[sic] the current Fijian government has taken against the Indians and other minorities in Fiji," the IJ concluded that Tagaga had failed to establish a well-founded fear of persecution and rejected his application. In support of this application, Tagaga submitted letters from four Fijian military officers stating that _________________________________________________________________ 6 Tagaga told embassy officials that he wanted to apply for political asy- lum, but was given visitor visas and instructed to apply in the United States. In July 1989 he was transferred to serve in the Fijian division of the United Nations peacekeeping forces in Lebanon. www.ilw.com /lawyers/immigdaily/cases/2000,0922-Tagaga.shtm

Asia Times: Fiji going nowhere fast Majority of sugar farmers are Indian Fijians farming on land leased from indigenous landowners. The army is in hot pursuit of his armed rebels, and five Fijian chiefs are under house arrest. However, despite the progress made in bringing order to Fiji, Indian Fijians say they are becoming the scapegoats for all of the country's ills. www.atimes.com /oceania/BH19Ah01.html

Freedom in the World 1999 - 2000 The 1990 constitution created separate indigenous Fijian and Indo-Fijian electoral constituencies, required the prime minister to be an indigenous Fijian, and guaranteed indigenous Fijians a perpetual parliamentary majority by reserving for them 37 of the 70 seats in the house of representatives. At independence in 1970, the indigenous Fijian and Indo-Fijian communities were roughly equal in population. Backed by hard-line indigenous Fijians alarmed at the emerging political influence of the economically successful Indo-Fijian community, Lieutenant Colonel Sitiveni Rabuka took power in the Pacific’s first coups in May and September 1987. www.freedomhouse.org /research/freeworld/2000/countryratings/fiji.htm

G21 ASIA - FIJI: Nation at Pointblank The population of Fiji is 44% Indo-Fijians (Fijians of Indian origin) and 51% native Fijians. The Army Chief revoked the multi racial constitution of 1997, which gives equal rights to Indo Fijians and native Fijians, and the constitution of 1990 has been reinstated which gives more power to native Fijians. The new constitution provided for 31 parliamentary seats for indigenous Fijians and 27 seats for Indo-Fijians. www.g21.net /asia24.htm

Surita v. I.N.S., 95 F.3d 814 (9th Cir. 1996). In May 1987, the ethnic Fijian dominated military "overthrew the [Indo-Fijian] dominated government of Prime Minister Timoci Bavadra, elected one month earlier." Stan Ritova, Fiji President Promulgates Constitution, Elections Next Year, Reuter Library Report, July 25, 1990. She was robbed by ethnic Fijians on her way to and from work every day for about one week; she was thus robbed a total of ten to fifteen times. The ethnic Fijians never told Kamla Prasad why they detained him; the soldiers specifically told Surita that she was being robbed because of her ethnicity. www1.umn.edu /humanrts/refugee/Surita_v_INS.htm

Fiji (07/03) The native Fijians live throughout the country, while the Indo-Fijians reside primarily near the urban centers and in the cane-producing areas of the two main islands. Indigenous Fijians are a mixture of Polynesian and Melanesian, resulting from the original migrations to the South Pacific many centuries ago. It is established under the Fijian Affairs Act and recognized by the Constitution. www.state.gov /outofdate/bgn/f/27208.htm

Café Pacific: Asia-Pacific Network: Fiji However, he further illustrated that Indo-Fijians were different in all respect from their indigenous Fijian counterpart and as a result they had to be removed entirely from the political scene. Educated indigenous Fijians are also part of a growing middle class while a large number of Fijian families, mostly from the islands, continue to struggle in urban slums of Suva. If for any reasons indigenous Fijians were unhappy with the Mahendra Chaudhry government, then they certainly should have waited and voted as a bloc and defeated Chaudhry in the general elections of 2004. www.asiapac.org.fj /cafepacific/resources/aspac/fiji11.html

An analysis of the current political crisis in Fiji There are Fijian provinces, and traditional Fijian confederacies, but the two military coups of 1987 and the current hostage crisis illustrate with disturbing insistence the erosion of indigenous Fijian social order and the fragmentation of indigenous Fijian leadership. It is the result of thirty fraught years of modern indigenous Fijian leadership that have sacrificed the economic and cultural well-being of a people for the advancement of a few. Although his eligibility to stand as a Fijian was challenged by other indigenous Fijians, Ah Koy won his case in court, and has represented his maternal constituency of Kadavu in parliament ever since. www.melanesia.org /views/teaiwa22May2000.htm

Café Pacific: Asia-Pacific Network: Fiji These issues are conveniently deflected by Fijian leadership by a clever but misleading argument that the economic and social condition of the indigenous Fijians persist because Indo-Fijians control the economy and have placed systemic barriers for anybody outside their community to excel in business. The SDL has mistakenly argued in favour of indigenous Fijian Provincial democracy in response to the argument that Fiji continues to move away from upholding the constitution and the rule of law. At the centre of the accusation was the interim government's agricultural assistance scheme for indigenous Fijian farmers. www.asiapac.org.fj /cafepacific/resources/aspac/040602race.html

The Hindu : Many Indo-Fijians prepare to leave An Indo- Fijian policeman, who chose not to identify himself, was open in expressing his fears. As some prepare to leave and others are resigned to stay, the ground realities dictate that Fijians and Indo-Fijians must live together as part of a process of give and take. In the military, ethnic Fijians number 99.3 per cent, in the police force 75 per cent, and in civil bureaucracy, 70 per cent. www.hinduonnet.com /2001/09/10/stories/03100005.htm

India must play an assertive role The office of President is reserved for ethnic Fijians and several special rights and privileges of the ethnic Fijians are enshrined in the constitution. Acutely aware of the racist elements in the Fijian society, he persuaded his Labour Party to join a People's Coalition comprising parties representing all major ethnic groups in the country. It was 131 years ago, that the British rulers took about 65,000 Indians as indentured labour to work on their sugarcane plantations in Fiji presumably because the Fijian tribals were not up to the mark. www.hvk.org /articles/0900/22.html

globalinfo.org - Dec 1, FIJI (#26711) Qarase and Mahendra Chaudhry, the country's first Indo-Fijian prime minister and head of the Fijian Labor Party (FJP), are locked in a bitter court battle that will not be resolved at least until May next year. Much of Fiji's land is been farmed by Indo-Fijians, who farm on land leased from traditional indigenous Fijian landowners under the Agricultural Landlords and Tenants Act. SUVA, Dec. 1 (IPS/GIN) -- Three and a half years after the country's first Indo-Fijian prime minister was deposed in a coup by nationalist indigenous Fijians that triggered anarchy here, this Pacific island nation is showing an air of stability even though a constitutional row continues to simmer. www.globalinfo.org /eng/reader.asp?ArticleId=26711

The Hindu : Indo-Fijians put woes behind for 'Holi' At one point, the mandli wanted to proceed with their chautal singing only to be told by an ethnic Fijian, who owned the land on which the little Kali temple is situated, that they should not do so since it was a Saturday and involved religious observances for his family. www.hinduonnet.com /2001/03/12/stories/03120007.htm

Club Kaindia Committed to Uniting Indo Fijians Worldwide " To foster Fijian and Indo Fijian solidarity as a unity in diversity among all sects and lineages; What started in 2003 was a simple thought by the co-founder for a virtual place online where Fijians and indo-fijians can meet and share their ideas, opinions, experiences is now one of the most popular and entertaining Fijian Site in this world. " Share and learn the opportunities about Fijians and Indo Fijians World wide. www.clubkaindia.com /about.php

The NFP has trapped Indo-Fijians into a Bottomless Past Some Fijian politicians, who set the stage for Rabuka to overthrow the Bavadra-Sharma Coalition Government in 1987, thus manipulated the lingering fear and loathing of the Indo-Fijian leaders to the extreme. In the 1987 elections, the Fijian nationalists, in a similar language that they deployed against Chaudhry last year, had claimed that Jai Ram Reddy was the ‘bullet’ and Bavadra, the late husband of Adi Kuini, was a ‘gun’. It is time the NFP came out of the bridal underpants of the so-called moderate Fijians, some of whom have blood on their hands and racial exclusivity feelings in their hearts. www.fijihosting.com /pcgov/docs_o/victorlal_aug01.htm

Fiji Postcards V: Indo-Fijians The area where Indian and Fijian cooperation such as this is most common is the hinterland of Ba, which may be where this photo was taken. From the scenery and the modified-Fijian-style thatched house, this appears to be the Ra coast, northern Vitilevu The man in the background, left, is wearing the loose skirt that was also very common, often caught up between the legs as a dhoti loincloth. www.justpacific.com /fiji/fijiphotos/cards/Indo-Fijians

Articles - House of Representatives (Fiji) Indigenous Fijians and Indo-Fijians were each allocated 12 communal constituencies and 10 national constituencies; a further 3 communal constituencies and 5 national constituencies were set aside for ethnic minorities. Ethnic Fijian nationalists blamed the national constituencies for the election of an Indo-Fijian dominated government in 1987, and following two military coups, they were abolished by the new republican Constitution of 1990. The elections of 1992 and 1994 saw all 70 members elected from communal constituencies; this system was widely resented by many Indo-Fijians, who complained that only 27 seats were allocated to them as opposed to 37 to ethnic Fijians, despite the near equality of their numbers at that time. www.gaple.com /articles/House_of_Representatives_(Fiji)

Kulacoco New Fiji Goodchat - A Bravenet.com Forum Racial tensions and grievances over low rents for agricultural land resulted in several alleged illegal evictions of Indo-Fijians and re-occupations of land by native Fijian landowners. The State Department's worldwide human rights report for 2004, said that senators appointed by the prime minister continued to make racial slurs against Indo-Fijians and "the ruling Soqosoqo ni Duavata ni Lewenivanua (SDL) government worked to ensure the political supremacy of ethnic Fijians." THE United States has highlighted tension between indigenous Fijians and Indians as a major problem in Fiji, and said the Indian community was under-represented at all levels of government. pub30.bravenet.com /forum/2554844873/fetch/405110

The World Today Archive - Indo-Fijians live in fear One cane farmer managed to deter some young Fijian hoodlums who came to pillage his house and assault his wife and children by telling them he'd have no hesitation in using a razor-sharp cane knife to cut off their heads if they came one step closer to his house. See, just like last night, the one Fijian policeman died, somebody shoot him and the other fellow died by himself, heart attack. Sometimes they want to rob our money, and I heard on the radio one Fijian family, one Indian [indistinct]. www.abc.net.au /worldtoday/stories/s132070.htm

INDOlink - Diaspora - Brij Lal’s ‘Bittersweet’ Reveals Trauma of Indo-Fijians As Padma Lal concludes at the end of her interview with Aisha the woman cane farmer, “Indo Fijians are innocent people caught in a tragedy not of their making, living in a world over which they have no control, living in vanishing hope and on the sufferance of others.” In essence, Bittersweet reveals the complexity of the Indo-Fijian experience, the fears and fractured hopes that have been forced upon ordinary men and women from India — and their resilience in the face of tremendous odds; the extraordinary lives of ordinary Indian folk. Vijendra Kumar explains the Indo-Fijian predicament thus: “through their blood, sweat and tears, our forefathers transformed this South Pacific backwater into the most prosperous and progressive nation in the region. www.indolink.com /displayArticleS.php?id=052605031933

Developments in Fiji: Mahendra Chaudhry should review his policy Of the four issues the last one is the most crucial and important for the Indo Fijians. First is the alleviation of the sufferings of his fellow Indo Fijians. Facilitator and chairman Dr. Sitiveni Halapua said that the meeting was very "successful." Chaudhry on his part made no commitment on any of the specifics in the discussion but said that the talks were a "step forward" but discussion was needed on land and the economy. www.saag.org /papers4/paper392.html

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