President Ratu Naiqama Lalabalavu has delivered a message on unity and healing, linking the country’s history of political upheaval to a deeper need for compassion.
Speaking at the One World One Family World Cultural Festival hosted by the Sri Madhusudan Sai Global Humanitarian Mission in India, he said Fiji’s past demonstrates that laws alone cannot build peace.
Reflecting on decades of instability, the President told the audience, “My country has gone through five military coups… we’ve changed our Constitution five times.” Despite these changes, he said, Fiji continues to struggle with harmony among its people.
“We can’t identify the word ‘love’ in our midst,” he said.
He acknowledged the cultural richness of Indo-Fijians, who “speak their languages fluently,” yet noted that across communities, “when it comes to the sowing of love… that’s the record that we have.”
He argued that even a Constitution cannot fully define the power of compassion.
“The word ‘love’ needs no better defining… it transcends everything we think is a stumbling block,” he said.
President Lalabalavu used the humanitarian work of Sri Madhusudan Sai as an example of compassion in action, praising the Mission’s model of universal medical care.
“You get free medical advice here, you get free medical treatment here… he has reversed the economics of medical care,” he said. “We are not providing for the rich or for the poor, but for the needy.”
He stressed that illness recognises no boundaries.
“Even the very rich in affluent countries undergo what we undergo. You suffer from sickness, you need treatment.”
The President urged global audiences—and Fiji—to adopt the Mission’s emphasis on unconditional love.
“There shouldn’t be any barriers in the way we share love. When you share love, it’s from the heart, right out to the very people that need it most.”
He concluded by reminding listeners that true service is measured not in policies but in human impact.
“What good can you get out of it? It is that smile you put on the face of the person that you sowed love into.”
