FUN FIJI FACTS 21

Fiji Gains Its Independence

First I have to apologize about being remiss in keeping up with my Fiji facts. Life got a little crazy and I just couldn’t find the time. Now with some time to catch my breath, let’s continue on with bringing our overview of Fijian history into modern times.

After the end of indentured servitude, you remember many of the Indian people chose to remain and reside in Fiji. Because Fiji’s colonial government restricted the Indians from buying land, they chose to take out long-term leases as independent farmers or go into small business. Tension grew over the years and the 1920’s saw the first major struggle for better conditions for the Indians. Europeans found it convenient to blame the Indians for all the problems, diverting attention from their own monopoly on freehold land and their influence in civil service. They exacerbated the Fijian’s fears by implying that the size of the Indian population would surpass that of the indigenous Fijians.

During the time of the World Wars, Fiji had only minor involvement. In WWI, only about 100 Fijians and 700 of Fiji’s European residents were sent to serve in Europe. In WWII, with the conflict in the Pacific brought closer to home, about 8000 Fijians were recruited into the Fiji Military Force (FMF) to fight against the Japanese in the Solomon Islands from 1942 to 1943.

Now let’s jump ahead to the 60’s where a move toward Fijian self-government was on the rise. After 96 years of colonial administration, Fiji became independent on October 10, 1970. However, major issues, such as land ownership and leases, of this racially-divided country failed to be resolved in the rush to change government. The Fijian Alliance Party (FAP) were the winners of the first post-independence election and the country enjoyed a brief economic boom. However, by the early 80’s, the price of sugar declined and the reality of Fiji’s accumulating foreign debt began to hit home.

As the economy worsened, ethnic tension increased. Indo-Fijians were portrayed as money-hungry merchants because they owned the majority of shops and transport services. In reality, the vast majority of Indo-Fijians belonged to the poorer working class and, unlike the indigenous Fijians, would never have the luxury of owning the land they leased to farm.

Fijians felt that the FAP was failing to advance the country’s economic situation and with that the Fiji Labor Party (FLP) was formed, promoting greater worker unity. In April 1987, the FLP was elected to power in coalition with the National Federation Party (NFP). However, despite the fact that the prime minister, Timoci Bavadra, was an indigenous Fijian, as well as the majority of his cabinet, the government was labelled as “Indian-dominated” because of the large number of Indo-Fijians serving. Needless to say, racial tension reared its ugly head again.

Fijian words for the day:

English     Fijian (pronunciation)

dive             nunu (noo-noo)

deep            fitobu (fee-tow-boo)