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LoginThe forgotten Girmitiyas – Fiji’s indentured ‘slavery’ marks 132 years
Fiji's Girmitiyas ... design adapted from Professor Vijay Naidu's book Violence of Indenture in Fiji. Graphic: PMC
Pacific Scoop:
Opinion – By Thakur Ranjit Singh
“The woman turns around in fear, and puts her hands up in entreaty. The whip comes down upon her half naked back and legs.
“The child is struck also. Both are crying and screaming and the mounted brute almost puts his horse’s hoofs upon her….”
This is an account of violence and atrocities of indenture, referred to as Girmit, as recorded by former Ba Town Clerk Rajendra Prasad in his book Tears in Paradise.
Thakur Ranjit Singh ... vacuum in Fiji history.
In his historic account of personal anguish, Prasad adds:
“Pain from the wounds of girmit resided in the hearts and minds of its victims and their families, but it failed to find expression publicly or in history books. …the Indo-Fijians, who were a significant part of Fiji and had made an enormous contribution towards its economic, social, cultural and political development, had escaped the history books.”
What that effectively means is that there is a vacuum as far as recording the contribution of Indo-Fijians to Fiji’s history is concerned.
Those who came through Fiji’s education system would recall that in primary and secondary school history, you learnt about the early history of the indigenous Fijians, about provincial tribal wars and their legends.
Seafarer glory
You would have also learnt about the prowess and courage of various European explorers and seamen like Captain James Cook, Captain William Bligh, Vasco da Gama – who ventured out to seek new lands – the history of the British royal family, contributions of the British in developing the earth, the virtues of Commonwealth, the penal history of Australia, and so on about the glory of white men’s contributions in carving out the destiny of the world.
However, as far as Fiji’s development history is concerned, apart from some contributions about indentured labourers from India brought to work on cane farms, there are few accounts about what went on in the whipping, punching, kicking, suicides and and rapes in the cane fields of early Fiji.
They were largely missing from the radar of Fiji’s the history books, written by the British and the Europeans.
Tears in Paradise also raises this issue. Prasad enquires, for example, why despite enormous contributions to Fiji’s development, Fiji Indians were largely left out of the history books.
A former Prime Minister of India, Pundit Jawaharlal Nehru, aptly summed up this phenomenon in his book, The Discovery of India, as quoted by Prasad in his book:
“History is almost always written by victors and conquerors and gives their viewpoint; or, at any rate, the victor’s version is given prominence and holds the field.”
Concealed crimes
In case of Indo-Fijians, history has concealed the crimes of British colonials and early masters at the Australian Colonial Sugar Refining Company (CSR).
Since the British were the colonial rulers of Fiji for about a century, they had a distinct advantage in manipulating history.
That is why we learnt in history lessons about British or indigenous Fijian history. The little history of India that we learnt in schools covered the perspective from British side, missing out the real treachery of the coloniser, both in India and Fiji.
In some opinion, writers have likened indenture or Girmit to slavery. In fact, some have dubbed slavery as being better, because, at least in slavery, people got better food and shelter.
The author, Rajendra Prasad, laments the lack of history of Fiji Indians and wonders what happened to the account of indentured labourers.
The supposed custodians of Girmitiyas, the British colonials, owed a duty of care to record history as it really and actually unfolded rather than how they wanted it to be told.
Wounded nation
Instead, the history of Girmitiyas was manipulated, thus leaving a community wounded.
Tears in Paradise was an attempt to fill that vacuum and tell the new generation of Indo-Fijians about the suffering and sacrifices of our forbears from India.
On May 15 (some claim it to be 14th), 1879, the first batch of 497 Girmitiyas (indentured labourers) were brought to Fiji by the British on board the vessel Leonidas. This cargo of labour continued till 1920 and by then an estimated 60,357 Girmitiyas had been brought to Fiji.
Thakur Ranjit Singh's grandfather Thakur Bansi ... he came to Fiji among the Girmits in 1915.
This weekend marks 132 years of the first arrival of Indians.
While Indo-Fijians in Wellington, Melbourne, Sacramento and Surrey (Vancouver) have their plans to mark this day, one wonders what is the fate of Fiji Girmit Council which is supposed to be the representative body of all Indo-Fijians vested to uphold the heritage of Girmit .
Nevertheless, it is pleasing to see the Fiji Museum and Fiji government taking the initiative in marking this day that the history books of Fiji have ignored.
During ANZAC day on April 25, this event was marked in New Zealand with the solemnity and sanctity the day deserved.
Sacrifices marked
The New Zealand community marked the sacrifices of their forbears during the two world wars and even the young ones woke up early in the European winter for dawn services at 5 am.
One wonders whether the Indo-Fijians, both in Fiji and those who have migrated in search of greener pastures, possess that same passion and desire to remember the sacrifices of their forbears.
We hope that the next generation will somehow learn about the sacrifices of the Girmit era and pay homage to those who delivered us to the comforts of Australia, New Zealand Canada, USA and other developed nations.
To awaken and jolt the conscience of Indo-Fijians towards their Girmitiyas, I end with the following powerful quote from Prasad’s Tears in Paradise:
“Even in the stillness of cane stalks, one can almost feel the powerful presence of the spirits of sorrow and grief exuding from these sugarcane fields. They are the spirits of our ancestors.
“The desperate cries of the Girmitiyas echoed from 1879 -1919 in the fields, but it was not until later that the outside world came to their rescue. When their white masters turned away their faces and the victims seethed in agony, the Girmitiyas found comfort in relating their anguish to the trees and plants around them.”
May the soul of our departed Girmitiyas, our forbears, rest in peace.
Thakur Ranjit Singh is a second-generation Indo-Fijian whose grandfather Bansi arrived in Fiji in 1915 from Karouli, Rajasthan, India, and served his five-year indenture in Ba. Thakur visited India in 2003 to trace his roots to Rajasthan. He is a media commentator and a community worker who now lives in Auckland.
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Great informative article for all Fijians and others to relect upon as we descendants of the brave and courageous Girmitiyas (slaves) are standing on their shoulders and owe so much to them.
My great-great grandfather Rahnmatullah Khan was on board the fourth ship Poona II that brought the workers from the Central-South East- Asian Indian sub-continent to Fiji on June, 19, 1883.
Mr, Rahmatullah Khan was 20 years old did his girmit (slavery) and became a successful and wealthy person, community leader, benefactor, first Indian to hold the post of President of the Indian Cane Farmers Association and one of the founders of the famous Lautoka Mosque.
The Rahmatullah Khan School in Maro, Sigatoka was build with his contributions and other donors and in his honor for the education and well of the people of Fiji.
We will always remember, cherish and honor them.
Alton Shameem JP
President
Fiji Club of New Zealand (FCoNZ)
All Ethnic Congress (AEC)
Fiji Council New Zealand (FCNZ)
New Zealand Association of Certifed Public Accounts (NZACPA)
Could we have more of such recounts on Girmitiyas from their descendants lest such knowledge is assigned to the graves of those who carry them? Alton’s recount is a remarkable tribute to his great-great grandfather. I am sure there are thousands of others who treasure the memories but have never publicly shared them. We have built our lives on the strong foundation of the Girmitiyas who sacrificed their lives so that successive generations may not suffer the tragedy that consumed their lives. But where is our gratitude to their sacrifices? We are so engrossed with building our future for prosperity and comfort that we have ourselves, in a way, helped the British in erasing our history – a history of one of the greatest sacrifices made in the history of humanity.
Each generation has an obligation to leave a legacy of history of its community to successive generations – we have abysmally failed to uphold this obligation. We must reclaim and restore our history and ensure its teaching in schools, Fiji along with history of Fiji.
I have paid my tribute to the Girmitiyas through my book, Tears in Paradise.
I am still haunted by the horrific pain and suffering of my ancestors and what I claimed in my book still retains relevance in my personal life -
” I have constantly been drawn to this sorrow and to this solitude. In the stillness of the night and the deep peal of thunder I have heard the mufffled cries of my ancestors of our ancestors, imploring us, their descendants, to ensure that their pain and suffering during the indenture period in Fiji, was not lost in the mist of time and that those who destroyed their lives were made to realize and accept their inequities and to express their remorse”.
I will take these memories to my grave.
In my above article please replace as follows:
* relect to reflect
* New Zealand Association of Certifed Public Accounts (NZACPA) to New Zealand Association of Certified Public Accountants (NZACPA).
In the signature please also include Young Executive Club (YEC).
Thank you.
Alton Shameem
And add being after well in the fourth paragraph to read well-being please. Thank you.
Thanks Rajendra for your valuable feedback, much appreciated and valued.
We throughly enjoyed reading your popular book Tears in Paradise www:tearsinparadise.co.nz and find it to be factual, historical and inspired and motivated us to better understand what really happened in Fiji during the slavery period and make our families, friends, members, colleagues, well-wishers and all others aware of what really happened.
We are now doing reseach of our ancestors that were not told to us for various reasons or hidden from the authorities in power.
Your great book is indeed a gem filled gift to all our us and all the future generations to come.
Keep up the excellent work.
Thank you so much.
God bless.
Alton Shameem JP
President
Fiji Club of New Zealand (FCoNZ)
All Ethnic Congress (AEC)
Fiji Council New Zealand (FCNZ)
Young Executive Club (YEC)
New Zealand Association of Certified Public Accountants (NZACPA)
I was so moved, touched and inspired after I read this article about the forgotten Fiji’s Girmitiyas. It got my attention because it happened in the Pacific and also I had never heard of such an historical event in the history books. So thank you Mr. Prasad, author of Tears in Paradise, for sharing and bringing up this issue, and also thanks to this article’s writer.
I am pure Samoan, a descendant of ancestors from both Independent Samoa and American Samoa. I cherish and have pride in my culture, heritage and traditions and why I engage myself in learning about my geneology and my people’s history and significant events. I’ve discovered that my people too were treated unfairly in their own country (Samoa) by first the Germans, and later the British who gave New Zealand full control. Germans were very strict and they denied my ancestors certain freedom. One was forbidding families from having burial sites in front of their yards or be visible from public roads. My ancestors were informed to bury loved ones far back in the jungle, where they cant be easily seen, and that’s a total disrespect in my tradition. Germans also took huge family properties without fair compensation. It was now British’s turn, then NZ and they really messed things up. NZ wanted to abolish the matai(chiefly) system which could eventually wipe out our ancient culture and traditions. NZ administrators thought less of my people, viewing them as uneducated, unskillful, and incapable of making critical policy decisions impacting their lives. But my people/ancestors proved them wrong, we had for a long time had our own political matai system that was complex and required special knowledge/training/preparation. My people organized the Mau Movement pushing for Independence. Some died including a royal High Chief during the protest, and their sacrifices will never be forgotten and we owe them for their huge sacrifices.
Agree 100% with Author Prasad that we need to make sure that history books reveal actual accounts/events that really happened. We owe it to our ancestors to teach new generation about facts and truths regarding historical events and make us all aware of the significant sacrifices our ancestors made which have led us to better opportunities and a better future. We need to be courageous and advocate for making corrections to history books that reveal the facts and actual events and we also need to share/teach our new generation about stories/accounts passed on to us from our ancestors.
I’m sorry to hear about this tragic historical event and also the fact that it was not told or revealed in history books. That’s just wrong, hiding the “truth” because our descendants and new generation need to be taught the truth and learn from others’ mistakes so history is not repeated. Further, we owe it to our ancestors to bring out the truth and make public aware about their stories and what they’d gone through.
Thank you and appreciate very much Mr. Prasad your book and feedback. Even though I’m not Indo-Fijian, I feel a sense of connection and can relate to your personal story. We’re all humans and were created with “unalienable rights” and should be treated fairly and equally, regardless status, color, or gender. Humans should never be viewed/regarded as properties or be assigned “dollar value.” And I hope your book will move and stir our hearts and minds to be proactive within our communities and speak up for what’s just, fair and right and also make us all not forget the suffering/pain our ancestors went through so we could have a brighter future.
When I read this article, it reminded me of how much my people and ancestors have sacrificed and what they’ve lost. For example, the Samoan island chain had a King named Tui Manua for a very very long time, his history goes back ancient time and he was well respected and regarded as sacred. But when US took over, it was forbidden to have any royalty titles. So our last King Tui Manu’a had to make a tough choice and he decided out of his compassion for his people to vacate his royal thrown and bury his ancient royal title with him forever. He basically sacrificed everything, turning from a well known royal King to just a simple commoner. He exemplified qualities of a true King and a true leader who loves his people by sacrificing all he had so many could have better opportunities. I’ll never forget that and all of us new generation owe it to our ancestors.
Vinaka Legi for your contribution.
You said: When I read this article, it reminded me of how much my people and ancestors have sacrificed and what they’ve lost.
And that is exactly why we, the indigenous peoples of Fiji believe that we have to preserve our history, our cultural values and our traditions, which includes our LANDS, that is communally owned and will be distributed for the good of all, BUT will not be sold and be lost forever, even to those who (not of any doing of us CURRENT FIJIANS) came to Fiji as indentured labourers and their ancestors.
Hi Alton,
”
I Love Sigatoka commented on your link.
I Love Sigatoka wrote: “Wow, you are a decendant of Mr. Rahmatullah Khan. He must be looking down on his school and his decendants and feeling very porud. The school he helped make is still going strong and his great-great grandson is now a very well known member of the fijian community.
“We are indeed humbled that Rahtmullah School is still going on strong for the benefit of the community, our country Fiji and all Fijians” – Alton Shameem JP
Talofa Vueti Viti. My earlier comments were mainly to share my view that humans, regardless of race, color, gender should be treated fairly and equally, not be viewed as properties/slaves. I also wanted to point out the importance of history and the necessity for new generations to learn from the past and pay respect to their ancestors’ sacrifices.
I am aware of the on-going conflict between indigenous Fijians and Indo-Fijians, and am very sorry to both groups. I feel that way because I know it’s not either group’s fault that have created this sort of mixture and confusion. And it makes me sad when I hear my fellow island neighbors fight while those who are really to blame long ago and their descendants are living peacefully and not realizing the enormous damage they’ve caused.
This conflict as I’ve mentioned above is a very sensitive issue. And I hope all Fijians will come together and discuss this matter in a civilized and Christian way in order to reach a resolution.
Let me say that in my personal view as someone who was born and raised in the islands, I do strongly believe that communal lands should be preserved at all costs. We have very limited land space and our land is basically our treasure and connects us to our culture, tradition and heritage. If we lose our land, we basically lose power/authority/true culture and end up with almost nothing, just like the native Hawaiians. This is why it’s important to have “laws” put in place to protect the native population, and I believe “leases” should be encouraged especially for foreigners. For land sale, it should be limited to those having maybe 50% native Fijian blood or whatever percentage the majority people votes for. And there should be certain areas designated for land purchase. I cant stress enough preservation of our lands, because if you think about it that’s all the treasure we have.
I dont have all the facts/details to form an opinion on this conflict issue in Fiji. But I suspect it has some similarities to the mixture now seen largely in Independent Samoa, where you’d find what we commonly called an “afa-tasi” or half-caste. This describes a person having one parent who’s Samoan and another who’s either European or Chinese. You’d find a lot of half-castes there as a result of laborers and foreigners brought over during the German & British/NZ rule. And what’s amazing is that full-blooded Samoans and half-castes have worked alongside each other having no major problems. I believe one main reason is common denominator of having Samoan blood and thus a strong connection to native roots. Further, many half-castes identify themselves as Samoans and they participate in cultural traditions/events. The land in Samoa is largely communal land belonging to families who are led/guided by their chiefs. Laws are put in place to protect communal lands and hope it’ll remain this way forever.
Fiji is truly paradise, and I hope it’ll soon come to enjoy lasting peace and harmony. I wish you Fiji the very best. Let me end with this saying: United We Stand, Divided We Fall.
Thank you Legi for coming up with solutions, ideas and showing, love, compassion, peace, progress, kindness and understanding. Those are indeed good human values.
To understand the Fii situation please read the book Tears in Paradise www:tearsinparadise.co.nz and spread the word around to all your contacts.
God bless.
Alton Shameem
Thank you Alton for your kind words and for providing the website. I did check it out and I was deeply touched and even cried reading the summary about the book and its author.
It’s just plain wrong and inhumane what this sugar company did with the support from the British govt. It’s upsetting to hear that the current British govt refuses to accept its wrong and offer an apology. And I hope that you and the rest of Indo-Fijians worldwide will support Prasud’s mission for British to listen and offer a public apology. It took the work of Mr. Prasud to reveal this horrible truth, and it’s time the world should hear your ancestors’ story. The Aborigines, Native Americans, Hawaiians, Maoris, your ancestors and many others were treated badly by the westerners and they need to own up to their mistakes and do what’s right.
Best wishes and God Bless.
Legi
Forgot to mention that glory be all to God who created each of us with a heart to love and feel compassion for other human beings. I know slavery is all Satan’s work through people who have neglected to do justice and respect the rights of other humans. They’re more concerned with greed and enriching their pockets regardless the costs to other human lives. This is the problem facing today’s world and is the cause of all global financial crisis and global warming. People are becoming very competitive, selfish and greedy and forgetting that we all have equal shares/rights to resources on this planet. Big corporations are exploiting small villages and third world countries paying very little wages and at the same time polluting the environment. I believe it’s just not right, and these companies should consider the Pope’s advice to incorporate “ethics” into their business planning and models.
May the Lord have mercy on us and help us make better and wise choices for the benefit of the human race but not just a few.
- Legi
does any body know if golfer Vijay Singh’s ancestors were indentured labourers as well.
I hope, people of British ancestry read this book as well. I am an immigrant from Austria to NZ and am surprised how much dirt on their stick the former colonial masters had. My wife is Fiji-Indian and I am just starting with the family tree of her parents. Let’s see how far we can reach back to the former situation in the area of Madras from where her grand-parents where lured as slaves to Fiji.
[...] had been brought to Fiji. This weekend marks 132 years of the first arrival of Indians.” Read more…from Thakur Ranjit [...]
Hi,
My name is Sunita Gounder, i thank my great grand father who came to fiji with his three children and i lift them up highly for all they had to suffer and i am still looking for my ancestor to this day. May God bless you all for this bless remembrance day for our heritage.
Bless you
Sunita
It is so pleasantly surprising to hear praises of their forbears by Indo -Fijians because most have forgotten them. Just to prick that memory, Waitakere Indian Association is marking Girmit Memoriam day in Auckland for the first time on 20 May, 2012. Keep listening to Radio Tarana for details. We mark 133 years on 14 May, 2012. Lookout for my another article in the Pacific Scoop to mark that day.