Re: Hidden Hand in Fiji

["A.R.Raju" <adimari@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

We support the cause of Indian minority in Fiji and extend solidarity.
Indians are not exploiters!

India Reforms Foundation
New Delhi
adimari@xxxxxxxx

----- Original Message -----
From: Ulhas Joglekar <ulhasj@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <marxism@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Saturday, September 02, 2000 7:55 AM
Subject: Hidden Hand in Fiji


> Thursday
> 24 August 2000
>
> Hidden Hand in Fiji
> Fiji's deposed Prime Minister Mahendra Pal Chaudhry insists that India
must
> impose sanctions on Fiji to match its words of solidarity. He tells
Mahendra
> Ved that the world community must take note of the alarming frequency with
> which democracies are being subverted in the Pacific, and that the UN
should
> step in to prevent ``the blueprint for apartheid'' in Fiji:
> What is the difference between the coups of 1987 and that of 2000?
> After the 1987 twin coups, it took us ten years to get back to a
> multi-racial polity. It is difficult to say how long it will take this
time.
> Now racism has been institutionalised. Debate in parliament had racial
> overtones. Outside parliament, where the two communities lived side by
side,
> the relations were cordial. But the indigenous people were made to believe
> that Indians were doing well at their expense.
> Why are Indians looked upon as exploiters?
> Indians are engaged in commerce. The real big business of tourism, banking
> and insurance is totally in the hands of whites. British colonisers had
> ensured protection for the indigenous people and we did not tamper with
> those laws. Eighty-three per cent of land, fishing rights and forests are
> with them. They dominate the administration and the police. In the armed
> forces, the number of Indians is negligible. The crisis is made out as
> ethnic, when it is actually a power struggle, pure and simple.
> Is the ethnic divide total?
> No, certainly not. We have a substantial number of people from both
> communities elected on our platform. We have 57 members, representing all
> groups, while the opposition has 14, that includes one Indian. Our
coalition
> remains in tact, despite all that has happened.
> You have said that George Speight is a fall guy and that Rabuka played a
> behind-the-scene role. You have also said that the coup was the handiwork
of
> the timber trade mafia backed by the US.
> Speight was head of a timber firm during the Rabuka Government. There were
> international bids for mahogany: Commonwealth Development Corporation
(CDC)
> of the UK and Timber Resource Management, an American consortium set up
for
> the bid. The TRM was also connected to the Anglo-Pacific, which bid for
> pines. We have evidence that Speight was their proxy and had received
money
> from TRM. But the government preferred CDC. Amidst negotiations, James
> Ahkoye, finance minister in the Rabuka Government and Speight's mentor,
> dismissed the consultants, Price Waterhouse, and put Speight in charge of
> the negotiations. But then the elections came and it was decided to leave
it
> to the next government. The poll results went our way, so Speight
resigned.
> My government reopened the issue, got the consultants back on the job,
made
> the assessment and unanimously decided to engage the CDC.
> The US embassy in Suva was pushing for TRM getting the timber deal by
> putting indirect pressure on my government through the attorney general
and
> prominent coalition members. There was big money and big power
involvement.
> So we want an inquiry to find the real players behind the scene. I think
the
> game-plan was to remove us because we couldn't be bullied.
> You have plans to restore multi-racial constitution and democracy?
> We have a cohesive plan of action at three levels -- local, regional and
> international. I have been seeking support from the heads of governments I
> have met. I shall discuss it at the Commonwealth Secretariat and at the
UN.
> At the regional level, we are trying remove a lot of disinformation about
> the rights of the indigenous Fijians. Australia and New Zealand have noted
> that democratically elected governments have been overthrown with alarming
> frequency in Fiji and Solomon Islands and there is insurgency in Vanuatu
and
> Papua New Guinea. Democracy is under threat in the Asia-Pacific region.
> In Fiji, no single community is marginalised -- this fear was removed
during
> the colonial days and through the legislations in 1970s and 1980s. Ethnic
> Indians were then around 52 per cent, now reduced to 44. The Constitutions
> of 1970 and 1998 also took care of these issues. Of 7l legislations passed
> since 1971, 36 affect Fijians' land rights and their role in the
> administration. Any change would have required two-thirds majority support
> in Parliament. Concurrence of nine of the 14 members of the Great Council
of
> Chiefs is also required and the the Chiefs have a veto power on matters
> relating to the interests of the indigenous Fijians. So, the fear that the
> indigenous people's rights were threatened by my government is a
> manufactured myth.
> There are reports that the coup was brought about by your confrontationist
> stance towards your opponents.
> There is no question of my having got into a confrontation either with the
> opposition or with the tribal chiefs. Far from changing the existing
> arrangement, we were helping to strengthen it by establishing a land use
> commission to grant government funds for bringing large tracts of fallow
> land under cultivation. That would have eased the high rate of
unemployment.
> But the opposition sought to make it out as if we were taking away land.
The
> race card was used to create disharmony.
> Some months after the 1987 coup, Australia and New Zealand relaxed the
> sanctions on the Rabuka government. Do you think it will be repeated?
> No, this time we will not allow that to happen. What is happening in Fiji
is
> ethnic cleansing and the world community must condemn it. We have
challenged
> the replacement of the 1997 constitution in the court. We must adopt the
> judicial course. I am sure this regime will become unpopular in no time.
The
> economy is in shambles and there are no jobs. The army's role is implicit
in
> all developments. Rogue elements will have to be identified and dealt
with.
> This is where we seek UN intervention.
> Considering that 320,000 Fijians are ethnic Indians, what role do you
expect
> from India?
> I feel encouraged by the Indian response. India must realise that if
checks
> and balances are not put in place wherever the Indian diaspora are
settled,
> the international community will have to be prepared to resettle them. The
> Indian government will have to go beyond making statements and expressing
> solidarity. India must impose sanctions, even if it is just symbolic,
since
> there is not much trade between India and Fiji. If defence forces and the
> police side with the interim government that persists with the scrapping
of
> the 1997 constitution and other changes, then the UN must step in.
> Do you foresee a violent struggle ahead?
> We don't subscribe to violence. But we will not let thugs and bullies get
> away with their agenda of misdeeds. Violence is taking place right now
with
> ethnic Indians being looted and beaten and their homes torched. The army
and
> the police are treating this as a law and order problem. They must remain
> strictly neutral.
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