Part V
There are so many other internal Indo-Fijian racisms which are rarely discussed publicly in Fiji. This article puts them on the record, as more social ill which festers out of sight in Fiji.
North Indians and South Indians
Another largely ignored internal Indo-Fijian racism is that by North Indians against South Indians (called “Madraasis” in Fiji), also exhibited in discouragement of marriages across this divide.
I belatedly noticed the resurgence of South Indian identity and pride when I became part of the “Tata Golf Club” with their greetings of “namaskaaram” (not the usual “Ram Ram”) and in which a Gujarati golfer was renamed “Wardana Narsaiya”.
Some of my South Indian friends engaged in heated discourses about North Indian cultural imperialism against South Indians in India and Fiji. One dear departed friend (Kisor Chetty) even going back to India to trace his South Indian roots.
I also became aware that some challenged the famous Rama and Sita mythology in Hinduism, in which the “good” northern Hindu God, Rama battles the evil raakshas king Ravan from southern India (Lanka).
In the inverted South Indian version, Ravan becomes the “Good Guy” battling the northern Aryan invaders (more historically appropriate).
The resurgence of the South Indian identity also took root amongst USP South Indian academics, some of whom took prominent roles in South Indian organizations, such as the various Sangam organisations which ran schools and cultural events.
While the North Indians at USP joked about the USP “Madraasi mafia” and “khatta paani” (the sour tamarind taste loved by South Indians), the South Indian gatherings made equally contemptuous references to the North Indian “kurvi”.
For the older generations, the North Indian prejudices against South Indians continue in full force, despite the respect for South Indian fire walking, and their unique curries. Thankfully, the young North Indians and South Indians, could not care less about this divide.
Castes and colours
Then there are the historical complexities and continuing pervasive racism by the Indo-Fijian upper castes (Brahmins) against the lower castes, expressing itself in all kinds of exclusiveness, including marriage and religious barriers (all too complex to treat here).
Thankfully, these “caste” distinctions are also becoming less important to the younger IndoFijians, although they prevail in many families. Also continuing strongly today is the pervasive racism by light skinned Indo-Fijians against dark-skinned Indo-Fijians, very visible in the dominance of Bollywood images by fair Indians who could be virtually Caucasians. I addressed this topic in a 2002 article.
Muslims, and Hindu sects
At a religious level, there is a huge gulf between the supporters of Sanatan Dharam and the Arya Samaj (the main Hindu sects) who have done great service to Fiji and students of all races through the quality schools they manage.
Ironically, the leading lights of both sects have been prominent Bainimarama supporters.
A sad development since 2006 is the worsening of the gulf between Muslims and Hindus (and indigenous Fijians), largely contributed by extraordinary “inyour-face” media presence of one Bainimarama Deputy.
Of course, there are Muslims beating a path to the Regime’s door with money-making schemes, just as businessmen of all other races are also doing. Of course, there are a number of prominent Muslim appointments being made to high places, some good, some weak.
Yet for every prominent Muslim being appointed, there are three times as many Hindus or ten times as many Christian Fijians, also being appointed by the Bainimarama Regime without any comment from the diehard Regime critics.
Just as there always were appointments of “friends and colleagues”, some good and some weak, in the days of other Prime Ministers like Ratu Mara, Rabuka, Chaudhry and Qarase.
It is a tragedy that many anonymous cowardly bloggers are inciting anti-Muslim sentiments with outrageous claims that the “Taliban are taking over Fiji” when the ordinary Muslims have no particular role in the Bainimarama coup as Muslims.
I remind that the horrible incidents of religious strife around the world should teach us that there will be no winners from strife caused by religious bigotry. It is unfortunate also that all our coups have encouraged other religious divides.
The Methodists supported the coups in 1987 and 2000, while the Catholics, Sanatan Dharam, Arya Pratinidhi, and the Islamic organizations, by association of their leaders, are perceived to have supported Bainimarama’s coup.
In the last few years, the Bainimarama Regime has come down quite unfairly on the Methodists, while the other religious organizations have looked on with indifference (and some with vengeful delight). But two “wrongs” will never make a right.
The failure of our religious organizations to take the opportunities to end the cycles of religious intolerance is quite sad. There are many PhDs waiting to be written about the changing nature of the religious divides in Fiji.
Lessons for future leaders: using diversity to unite rather than divide
Our people, and Fiji’s political and social leaders, continue to face the enormous challenge of breaking down the all pervasive racial compartments, stereotypes, and prejudices, that have plagued us for decades, and build a genuine united nation.
It would help if we did not sweep expressions of our ethnic and cultural difference under the carpet or into shadowy corners. It would help if the media were not prevented from reporting such dissonance, by a pugnacious MIDA Chairman.
It would help if there was a cleansing national acknowledgement by our leaders, of ALL the racial prejudices within ALL our ethnic communities, and not just a targeted few.
It would help if we continued to strengthen the trend towards the greater appreciation of each others’ cultures and religions.
This is clearly happening to a greater extent with national celebrations of Christmas, Easter, Eid, Ram Naumi, Holi, Deepawali, and other rich cultural events.
One may disagree with Bainimarama’s strategy of trying to create a national identity and unity by decreeing that everyone should be called “Fijians”.
But all indigenous Fijian leaders could learn from the wily Bainimarama that continuously telling Indo-Fijians, kaivalagi and kailomas that the State is going to treat them as equal to the indigenous Fijians, is likely to get their votes.
This should not preclude Fijian political leaders from also calling for affirmative action for indigenous Fijians where they systematically lag behind others, such as in education and commerce, and nothing precludes the State from legitimately implementing such affirmative actions.
Note also that Bainimarama has not actually ensured even a semblance of racial equality in numbers of Indo-Fijian Ministers in his Cabinet, or numbers of senior civil servants or the Fiji Military Forces (or gender balance).
It is unfortunate that Fiji has also not explored fully how we can gain economically from our rich cultural diversity.
For instance, our tourism industry still does not project the many Indo-Fijian cultures and cuisines that our tourists might like to pay to be exposed to, as suggested in my 2004 article.
The kaivalagi, kailoma and others
Most major communities in Fiji do not fully appreciate the wonderful contributions that kailoma have made to the history of Fiji, the music, the food, the arts and literature, sports, and as bridges between indigenous Fijians and kaivalagi.
There are also other interesting cultures in Fiji such as Rotuman, Banaban, and increasingly, Tuvaluan, Kiribati and Nauruan, which could all be given greater national prominence, just as the minority Chinese are quite prominent now.
One of these days, some Fiji government will put their money behind their frequent but generally empty rhetoric of wanting to preserve and strengthen Fijian culture, by ensuring that there are national venues and events which bring out the great diversity of indigenous Fijian culturessuch as mekes, songs, and dialects.
Note that the foremost authority on Fijian language and culture continues to be a nonindigenous Fijian, Dr Paul Geraghty, who occasionally suffers resentment from some Fijians. So also did my old mathematics and snooker playing colleague Ross Renner, another kaivalagi expert on Fijian dialects, who used to correct the Fijian gramma of the high chiefs playing snooker with us at Union Club in the early seventies.
Political leaders have a choice. They can keep emphasizing our multi-cultural diversity as a divisive force with “kerosene won’t mix with water” speeches; or they can build a rich nation with our multi-cultural diversity as a unique asset.
Politicians could do worse than emulate one of Fiji’s foremost Fijian musicians, Saimone Vuatalevu, who not only has popularized Indian songs among Fijians, but also composed wonderful music that tries to unite our people, such as the lead song in his newly released album “Healthy Multicultural Fiji”.
One of the joys in my life has been playing music with likeminded friends. There have been several groups such as the Bilolevu Boys (playing in the crypt of the Sacred Heart Cathedral), and those associated with Adish Naidu and is friends, and my friends in the Fiji Performing Arts Association.
See Reading 78 in my Volume 4 (Towards a Decent Fiji).
Footnote: The recent Methodist Church Apology to the girmitiya descendants is a start. But would it not be great if we saw a grand multireligious coming together, every year, apologizing for past mistakes, and in celebration of all the major religions of Fiji: Methodists, Catholics, SDAs, Sanatan Dharam, Arya Samaj, Sikhs etc.
• PROF WADAN NARSEY is one of the region’s senior economists and a regular commentator on political and economic issues in Fiji. This is the final part in the series “Fiji’s Hidden Racisms”. The views expressed in this article are not necessarily the views of The Fiji Times.
