| Fijigirmit.org takes no responsibility
for the content of articles, studies and essays published on this and pages
underneath. However, all articles have something in common: the word
'girmit' is mentioned or reference is made to the indenture system
in Fiji.
Articles marked with
Important notice to authors of articles posted on this website: Click here to read more.
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| The Legacy of
Rajasthani Girmitiya- Thakur Bansi Chauhan By Thakur Ranjit Singh, Auckland, New Zealand Karauli is a town in the stony and relatively dry Rajasthan State. This town sits closely to Agra's Taj Mahal and also close to Mathura and Vrindaban, Lord Krishna's playing ground on the banks of Yamuna River. This [...more]
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| In Search of Roots - A journey to find oneself By Thakur Ranjit Singh, Auckland, New Zealand The date was 14 May, but the year was not 1987, but some seven decades before then, in 1915, when a strong young man of barely 19 years and rising just over 5ft 5 inches was picked up by British agents [...more]
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| What Australian CSR
Company Stole from Indo Fijians in Cane Fields of Fiji
By Thakur Ranjit Singh, Auckland, New Zealand A joke going around grog bowls in Fiji is that somebody was filling a form to go to Australia and the question in the form wanted to know about any criminal records. The person filling it asked “Is that still a criteria [...more]
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| Girmit Era –
Manipulation of Indo Fijian History
By Thakur Ranjit
Singh, Auckland, New Zealand On 14th May 2005, we marked 126 years of arrival of first indentured Indian labourers (girmitiyas) under an agreement that we call girmit (indenture system) wherein, between 1879 -1916, some 60,000 Indians were [...more]
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After the Girmit story by Krishna, in an e-mail which we received on 22 May 2005. 1949-1950: I am the youngest son of the nine children of my parents who lived in Lokia, Rewa. My father was a Girmitiya. I was just under ten [...more]
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| The Girmit
Focus a by
Satish C. Rai August ’04 issue: Today the word Girmit is becoming a popular currency to describe a group of Indians who left the shores of India more then a century ago to fulfil labour needs of the British and other [...more]
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Fiji ka itihasik darshan
(A historical view of
Fiji)
by Har Nath This 76-page book was written by the late Mr. Nar Nath, a citizen of the Fiji Islands. His son has promised him to publish it. And here it is! Note: people who don't have the Webdunia font, also need to download it here, then install it in the Fonts folder of their computer - without this font the book won't display the Hindi characters) New: entire book with embedded Hindi font
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| Lessons from the
past by Shobna Decloitre Source: Wansolwara, June 2004 Publication of the University of the South Pacific Journalism Programme. When children in Indo-Fijian homes appeared disinterested in their schoolwork, there was one threat that never failed to revive [...more]
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| Violence
of Indenture in Fiji
by Professor Vijay Naidu The re-issue of this book, as one of a handful of publications that will be part of the events organised to mark the 125th anniversary of [...more] The book is available from the Fiji Institute of Applied Science.
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| Indian
immigration, Hindu rites and Tamil culture in Reunion Island
by Govindin Sully Santa This paper sets out to present briefly: - the different phases of the migration of Indian populations to this Indian Ocean island, - the [...more]
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| "Fiji me kisan andolan"
a book written by Pandit Ayodhaya Prasad Sharma (first published in 1962 under the name "Fiji tapu me kisan andolan atharth Kisan Sangh ka itihas = Farmers, struggle in Fiji or a history of Fiji Kisan Sangh") has been re-published by Vicas Press in Lautoka. The book (240 pages) will soon be downloadable from Fiji Institute of Applied Science. Click
here for the title page
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| Excerpts
from a study examining the circumstances which led to departure of
girmitiyas from India By Dr. Brij Lal (the entire book can be ordered from Fijian Studies) In 1979 the Fiji Indians celebrated the hundredth anniversary of their arrival in the islands. Through public displays, speeches, parades ...[more]
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| Girmit - the
indenture experience in Fiji An introduction by Dr. Ahmad Ali Between 1879 and 1916 some 60,537 Indians arrived in Fiji as indentured labourers. Of these approximately 75% boarded their ship in ...[more]
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| Crossing
the Kala Pani - a documentary history of Indian indenture in
Fiji (Introduction) Edited by Brij V. Lal Division of Pacific and Asian History, Research School of Pacific and Asian History, The Australian National University Much is often assumed but much less actually known about some of the more important events, episodes, processes and institutions ...[more]
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| Crossing
the Kala Pani - a documentary history of Indian indenture in
Fiji (Girmit: The agreement of indenture) Edited by Brij V. Lal Division of Pacific and Asian History, Research School of Pacific and Asian History, The Australian National University 1. Period of Service-Five Years from
the Date of Arrival in the Colony.
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Chalo Jahaji - on a journey through indenture in
Fiji (Preface) This book is a selection of my essays on the Indian indenture (girmit) experience in Fiji. I have brought them together because there is ...[more]
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| Chalo Jahaji - on a journey through indenture in
Fiji (Chapter 1) by Brij V. Lal, 2000 The Fiji Museum Suva Division of Pacific & Asian History, The Australian National University Leaving aside the questions of exploitation, racism, and the institutional aspects of indenture, I think that the indenture experience is a ...[more]
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| The day
'Leonidas' arrived in Fiji Extract from "Fiji Times" article, published May 17, 1879 The ship Leonidas, Captain McLachlan, which sailed from Calcutta on March 3rd, arrived at the port on the afternoon of Wednesday ...[more]
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| The wreck of the
'Syria', 1884 Extract from an article by Brij V Lal, published in "Fiji Times", 12 Mary 1979 At 8.30pm on Sunday, 11 May 1884, the Indian immigrant ship Syria - the fifth to reach Fiji - was wrecked on the Nasilai reef. By the time ...[more]
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| Fiji
Indian Social And Cultural Association Of Australia Girmit
Celebration Corrected Copy NSW Legislative Assembly Hansard Article No.33 of 22/06/1999. Mr LYNCH (Liverpool) [5.33 p.m.]: I draw to the attention of honourable members a function I attended on Saturday 15 May. This was ...[more]
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| Race and power in
Fiji From a publication by Paul Spickard For two months in the spring of 2000, gunmen held thirty people hostage inside Fiji's parliament building in Suva. One of the hostages ...[more]
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| Resurgent
tribalism in Fiji By Sam Rajappa (opinion from "The Hindu", published 4 August 2003) Over decades, the gulf between the indigenous Fijians and Indo-Fijians has widened. THE CRUX of the problem facing the Republic of ...[more]
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| 'Indigenous
rights' smokescreen for elite rule by Norm Dixon (published on http://www.greenleft.org.au/) Terrorist leader George Speight has claimed that his gang's kidnapping of the government of Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry was to ...[more]
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| Indian
slaves who brought prosperity and liberation to alien lands Article from: Indian Express:, dated 27th June 2000 In search of gold we sailed to this land. Alas, our golden body melted away here'. The cathartic song of first generation 'Girmitias' - ...[more]
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| Fiji
Sugar Turns Sour - Time Has Run Out For Country’s Sugar Industry By Michael Field (from March 2003 edition of Island Business) For over a century a political war has waged around Fiji sugar cane with combatants set apart by race and culture. Founding Prime ...[more]
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| Fijians paramount? by James Heartfield - from Issue #16 (November 2001 - February 2002) of Revolution “The interests of the Fijians in Fiji shall be paramount,” was the promise made by the British colonial authorities, and the successive post-...[more]
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ALTA
and expiring land leases
by Professor Vijay Naidu and Dr Mahendra Reddy, June 2002
This paper reports on a Ford Foundation
and USP Research Committee funded research on tenant
farmers' views and perceptions ...[more
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| Ethnic
relations in Fiji: Peaceful coexistence and the recent
shift in the ethnic balance by Stephanie Sienkiewicz, 1999 In understanding Fijian ethnic identity and relations between Fijians and Indians, it is important to know the history of colonialism in Fiji, ...[more]
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| Memories of
a hard life during Girmit by Torika Tora (published in "Fiji Times", 12 May 1979) Rangamma, who claims to be more than 100 years old, said life during this period was very tough. We were whipped and left to starve if ...[more]
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| Indians
in Mauritius and Fiji (author of article unknown) The experience of Indian indentured servants in two British colonies reveals some similarities and differences according to country. ...[more]
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| The
Indian connection by Shubna Singh - from Frontline Volume 17 - Issue 12, June 10 - 23, 2000; India's National Magazine from the publishers of THE HINDU The association between India and Fiji is inextricably linked to the evolution of colonial trade and industry. There was a need for ...[more]
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| Report to
the Committee on the Elimination of all forms of Racial
Discrimination by National Farmers Union Fiji is a small island nation in the South Pacific that has been shattered by three military coups in recent history. The coups have taken ...[more]
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| On
the source of inter-ethnic conflict in Fiji Some views of Fiji, its people and its constitution by Prof. John Davies The first draft of this article was written in December of 1996, when the author was a visiting Professor in the Department of Economics ...[more]
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| Speight's
Elba Article from Rod Ewins (1 August 2000) The imprisonment of Speight and his cohort on the island of Nukulau, larger of a pair of islands plainly visible from many vantage points ...[more]
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Minority
rights in Fiji and the Solomon Islands
Reinforcing constitutional protections, establishing land rights and overcoming poverty Paper prepared by Jon Fraenkel University of the South Pacific, Suva, Fiji Islands, to Commission on Human Rights, May 2003
The Pacific region is highly
ethnically diverse, with nations made up of numerous
minority groups, as well as resettled peoples and ...[more
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| The
Politics of Ethnicity in the Fiji Islands: competing
ideologies of Indigenous paramountcy and individual
equality in political dialogue
Thesis paper for Masters degree by Virginia Horscroft
Politics in the Fiji Islands is
characterised by competitive processes that draw on and
reshape ethnic cleavages. Indigenous Fijians ...[more
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| Recommendations
to the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group on the
Political and Human Rights Situation in the Fiji Islands
Compiled by Mitchell O’Brien, edited by Maja Daruwala, S.S. Venkatesh Nayak, 2002
George Speight's attempted civilian
coup of May 19, 2000 has acted as a catalyst, unlocking
the divisions which underscore Fijian ...[more
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| ALTA
and expiring land leases: Fijian farmers' perceptions of
their future
by Professor Vijay Naidu and Dr Mahendra Reddy (a Ford Foundation funded project, June 2002)
This paper reports on a Ford
Foundation and USP Research Committee funded research on
tenant farmers' views and perceptions ...[more
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| Beyond
the mundane: Fiji's religions and world views
A paper for the Institute of Pacific Studies by Kevin J. Barr, M.S.C., 1999
Religion, according to Robertson
(1977: 386), is a system of communally held beliefs
(creed) and practices (moral code and rituals) ...[more
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| An
article containing info about the dance drama 'Degei'
organised by Pt. Charka during the Girmit celebrations
in 1979
written by Bhasyam G Iyengar
During his assignment at Suva, Fiji
Islands, Pt.Charka developed great
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| Ethnic
relations in Fiji: Peaceful coexistence and the recent
shift in the ethnic balance senior thesis by Stephanie Sienkiewicz As mentioned in the previous section, Fiji's first colonial governor, Sir Arthur Gordon, instituted the system of Indian indenture or girmit...[more]
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| After
125 years, Fiji's Indo-Fijians in retreat By Sanjay Ramesh Pacific Islands Development Program/East-West Center (link no longer active but we have saved the document here) With Support From Center for Pacific Islands Studies/University of Hawai‘i A majority of Fiji Indians are the descendants of the indentured laborer, who were brought to Fiji as contract workers to develop the ...[more]
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A
variety of articles about the 125-celebrations in Fiji from Indianewslink, New Zealand
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| Satish Rai
reaction to the virtual
interview with Dr. Ganesh Chand in a letter
to the webmaster of Indes
réunionnaises
I am a film maker and researcher with girmitiya ancestry now based in Sydney. I have been involved in Discovering Your India Roots [...more]
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Girmitiyas hold on to ancient art form An article about the 'terekuttu' dance. |
