The Girmit Day celebrations will ensure the hard lessons of girmitya, their struggles and the hard work of their descendants will be passed on to future generations, says India’s Minister of State for External Affairs Rajkumar Ranjan Singh.
He officiated at the inaugural celebrations at the Albert Park in Suva yesterday.
Mr Singh said he was touched to listen to the struggles and sufferings faced by the girmitya and that it was a heartbreaking experience for him.
He said the resilience, grit, and determination showed by the girmitya at that time was something that must be treasured.
“When you look back after all these years, what you remember is the grit, resilience, resourcefulness, determination and eventual success of the ultimate communities recognise all while retaining your culture identity,” Mr Singh said.
He mentioned that girmitya descendants around the world have contributed immensely to their new homeland.
He added that the government of India recognises and appreciates, to see that Hindi was recognised as one of the three official languages of Fiji.
“It is heartening to see that it is already recognised as one of the three official languages of Fiji and has also now been reinstated as a parliamentary language in Fiji on this occasion.”
