A prominent Labasa personality Surendra Lal believes the proposed Fiji Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) should also investigate issues dating back to the indentured labourer period.
Mr Lal said the era saw the arrival of Indians who came to Fiji to work in the sugar plantations under harsh conditions.
“They may not have received the justice they needed due to the treatment they received,” he said.
However, the commission’s steering committee chairperson Sashi Kiran said many who lived through these times had died.
“If we go to the indentured labourer period then we will need to go 140 years back,” she said.
In addition, she said the primary mandate of setting up the commission was to address issues stemming from events from 1987 onwards.
“The 1987 past, it seems like people can’t get past and over about it. Also, we do not know the whole truth of what happened.”
She said a challenging aspect of the commission’s work was addressing the historical injustices that have left deep scars in the Fijian society.
