Rabuka's hypocrisy on human rights

Timoci Gaunavinaka,

Nausori

Sitiveni Rabuka and SODELPA today claims that the Bainimarama Government is putting too many restrictions on people's basic rights and instilling fear to the people.

NFP's Biman Prasad has been recorded by the media for making similar calls too.

Never in the history of our beloved country has restrictions on human rights had been locked so tight compared to the time of Rabuka's governance and SODELPA and everyone in the opposition knows this very well.

The Opposition are “hood-winking” each other on this issue today knowing that more than 60 per cent of voters in this country are below the age of 35 which means they were not yet born or not yet in school to know what Fiji was like when Rabuka ruled.

After the coups of 1987, Rabuka tried to impress the Great Council of Chiefs (GCC) and the Methodist Church by installing the “Sunday Observance Decree” that forbids almost everything on Sundays.

All organised sports were stopped. No commercial activities.

You cannot go and relax in a bar or eat in a restaurant. Even cinemas were barred from showing movies on Sundays.

Major soccer events like the Battle of the Giants that were usually played on Sundays were banned and have to be rescheduled to weekdays, and so were others minor sports like snooker.

But Rabuka and his group of clergy would still watch the finals (quarters, semis and final) of every Hong Sevens which Fiji is playing in on Sundays.

These restrictions were not imposed just for a few months or a year. They were imposed for a number of years from 1987 to 1995.

Imagine the impact and the repercussions such a stupid law had on our national economy under Rabuka's governance?

Individual rights of Fiji citizens were still “hand-cuffed” every Sunday.

During the eight years duration of Rabuka's Sunday Observance Decree, not a single noise came from Biman Prasad who today pretends to be a champion on human rights.

Well respected iTaukei academic the late Dr. Ropate Qalo in his disappointment questioned the quality of Rabuka's leadership after these events.

This is the same Rabuka who is today claiming that the Bainimarama Government is putting so many restrictions on the people's individual rights and freedom.