ARYAN AVATARS – From Pre-Historic Nomads To Settlers In The Pacific
Aryan Avatars is a book that explores the anthology of embryonic influences of the Aryan roots over passage of three millennia, the impact of the Indus Valley civilisation, hegemonic Hindu kingdoms, Muslim and Christian colonialism, and the Indian Indenture System that despatched thousands of illiterate and povertystricken villagers to distant European colonial outposts.
Perceived the People of Indian Origin (PIO) as living avatars. Of all the labour recipient countries, Fiji was owed that respect. Mythically, it was Krishna’s ‘Ramnik Dweep’, but more importantly, it was known to be as the ‘Little India’ of the Pacific. The author reflects and recounts his memories of corrosive culpability of racism, the rise, and fall of a displaced communal entity in the corridors of Fiji’s politics, and the painful dispersal of a prosperous ethnic group after repeated coupes and attempts to predict how the future will unfold.
The first part deals with the pre-historic roots and attempts to channel the debate on the origins of Indian civilisation into a paradigm of thinking that it stores in its womb the beginnings of human evolution.
After various strands at the core of Indus Valley Civilisation, the author extricates it from the self-serving corruptive elements of rituals introduced by the Brahmanical (priestly) order from the beginning of the second millennium.
It previews the historical antecedents of the Mauryan dynasties in northern India in search of any linkage, if at all, between Chandragupta Maurya and the Mauryan clan to which his ancestry is reportedly interwoven. He further examines the impact of subjugation under the Muslim, Mughal and British regimes and the resultant smearing of India’s soul and the eventual dismemberment of the subcontinent.
The second part, “The Indenture Experience” choreographs the painful shipment of mostly Indian peasants as ‘coolies’ to distant outposts of the British Empire to harness and exploit the economic resources of the colonies and concludes that the Indian National Congress neglected the potential benefit of its diasporas sprouting in different parts of the globe. The Congress and in particular M.K.Gandhi erred in seeking the end of the scheme based on isolated incidence of deprivation and discrimination, especially the female generation.
He delves into the intricacies of the ‘Girmit’ (short Hindi hybrid for ‘Agreement’). The author engages the reader into the mechanisations of the post-colonial politics of ethnic accommodation in Fiji and criticises the amateurish Fiji Indian leaders who failed to cut their umbilical cord with freedom politics in India and in doing so invited the wrath of the indigenous Fijians that stymied Fiji politics to this day.
Parts III and IV are intrinsically biographical in format where the author looks back on his early days in Nadi, Fiji, his formative years at Andrews Government School and Sri Vivekananda High School and his animated experiences in early 1960s as a student leader at Elphinstone College, Bombay.
Part IV is comparatively an in depth study of independent Fiji’s corrosive and largely unproductive race based politics till the emergence of the Fiji Labour Party in mid-1980s.
He profiles his involvement in the formation of the Party.
As Fiji transitions itself from a militaristic dictatorship to a democratic framework; from the pitfalls of race-based constitutions to the sanguinity of a ‘one man-one vote’ electoral system; and from denominationally focussed society to a proposed secular constitution, the author charts the obstacles that lie ahead.
He predicts the shape of the political construction that may emerge under dramatically altered socio-political conditions... ABOUT THE AUTHOR Mahendra Sukhdeo was born in Nadi, Fiji, a third generation Fiji Indian whose grandfather migrated to Fiji from a remote village, Kabuliha near the India-Nepal border in early 1900 as a contracted labourer.
He was admitted to Elphinstone College, Bombay where he obtained his B.A. (Hons).
He then completed his postgraduate degree in Education from Delhi University and M.A in Politics from University of Bombay.
As part of his studies in Journalism, he worked as a cadet reporter for the Times of India. On his return to Fiji in 1968, he was employed in Fiji’s civil service as a Di- visional Welfare Officer for over five years before being recruited by Suva City Council as a senior executive. In 1982, he was a Research Fellow at the University of the South Pacific conjoint with his lecturing portfolio on Social Policy.
In 1983, he was elected as the General Secretary of the National Union of Municipal Workers followed by his appointment as a founding Vice President of the newly formed Fiji Labour Party in 1985. In the same year, he was elected in the first slate of Labour Councillors for Suva City Council. At the time of the first Coup, he was the Deputy Lord Mayor of the capital City.
Along with his political role, he was the Secretary of the India-Fiji Friendship Society from 1974 to 1981, Board member of the Fiji Museum from 1978 to 1980, Board Member of the Hotel and Catering Wages Council (1989-1994), and President of the Suva Society for the Intellectually Handicapped (1998-99).
In 1999, he migrated to New Zealand where he was the Manager of the Adult Education Centre and later as an Administrator for the Skycity Group in Auckland. In 2011, he migrated to Australia. He is married and has four children. There are no Girmitiyas now. However, their contribution towards transforming barren land into productive resource remains unchallenged and needs to be remembered in Fiji’s History.
They maintained their culture and sacrificed their earnings for their children’s education. It is a nightmare to quantify the quantum of the unknown Girmitiyas – The names, origins, location, marital status and other personal details in the “Emigration Pass”. There is some certainty around those who died on voyage in each “coolie” ship and whose bodies were unceremoniously dumped in the sea.
The first ship, Leonidas, had 67 fatalities before the recruits were released and the shipwreck of Syria took 70 lives. Their legacy is alive in the pages of history.
The views expressed are those of the author of this article with all sources provided by the author of the book and not of the University of The South Pacific or any newspaper”.