Professor Brij Vilash Lal breathed girmit to his last breath.
This was the sentiment expressed by Global Girmit Institute (GGI) and Fiji Institute of Applied Studies (FIAS) member Prof Sunil Kumar at a memorial service for the academic, awardwinning author and respected historian in Lautoka yesterday.
“Professor Lal’s passion for girmit history was immense,” he said. “He always had a larger than life standing and presence in the girmit conferences which the FIAS and GGI organised in 2017, 2019 and 2021.
“He gladly accepted the role of the editor-in-chief of the first indenture studies journal, Indenture Papers, in 2018, but which he could not get to launch on account of his health.
“Despite his own health concerns, he remained a strong supporter of ‘more girmit history, correct girmit history’ and had started work with the GGI on the development of an international post-graduate program in girmit history.
“Professor Lal breathed girmit to his last breath. He knew of his pending departure, writing on 10 December, ‘Mercifully my own girmit is coming to an end’.
“Today, our hearts cry for the soul of the man who stood steadfast for the good of this country but could not set his feet on the land of his birth.”
