[Source: Fijian Government]

The timing of the 1987 coup added insult to a grievous injury as that coup was motivated by ethnic hatred targeted at the Indo-Fijian community.

Prime Minister Voreqe Bainimarama says a single man’s pursuit of power robbed thousands of Fijians of any faith in the future of their country.

Bainimarama says they left their homes in desperation with fear in their hearts and devoid of hope for their future.

“These Fijians did not leave for greener pastures. They had fulfilling lives here in Fiji. More than one hundred years after their ancestors had been brought to work Fiji’s land, they were driven out of the only home they had ever known in fear and desperation. It is an insult to every Fijian to attempt to re-write history.”

[Source: Fijian Government]

He adds one cannot revise the hard truth that it was racism and discrimination that forced these girmityas from their country.

“If we’re going to have a country and an economy that works for the people, we must be led by people who make decisions based on reality. Truth must matter. People’s lives, memory, and dignity must matter. This history must matter.”

[Source: Fijian Government]

He adds Fiji has come a long way since the painful Girmit era and a long way since 2000.

[Source: Fijian Government]

The Prime Minister says at the heart of this change, sits the 2013 Fijian Constitution which enshrines the Government’s unwavering commitment to protecting the rights and freedoms of every Fijian – equally.