Deputy PM Sets Record Straight

Girmit Day is a celebration of our forefathers’ determination to triumph over slavery or servitude and make Fiji their new home.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Biman Prasad, clarified a few claims made by a politician a few days ago about Girmit Day.

“The Coalition Government of Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka has recognised the invaluable contribution of the Girmitiya and their descendants by declaring Girmit Day a public holiday,” Mr Prasad said. “This is not celebrating indenture or slavery, as a political leader quite preposterously claimed a few days ago. It is a celebration of our forefathers’ determination to triumph over slavery or servitude and make Fiji their new home. And they succeeded because of their unshakable principles of dignity, equality, justice, and self-respect.”

Mr Prasad made the comment at the opening of the 145th Girmit Commemoration at the Girmit Multicultural Centre in Lautoka last Saturday.

Girmit Day’s theme this year is “Journey of Girmit Descendants in Building a New Fiji.”

Government support

This aligns with the Coalition Government’s national objective of promoting social cohesion and recognising the diverse contribution of ethnic communities to the progress and prosperity of Fiji.

The Deputy Prime Minister strongly believes in recognising and upholding the values and blessings of the ancestors as a path to progress towards a new vision for our beloved nation.

“It is also highly symbolic for me to launch the start of an event in a place known as Sugar City because I come from the rice fields of Muanidevo in Dreketi, Vanua Levu. “Sugarcane and sugar are the very reasons why we are here this morning - to kick-start the official commemoration of the struggles and sacrifice of our forefathers that first started 145 years ago. “Whether it be the sugarcane plantations in the cane belts or the rice farms of Muanidevo, there is one unbreakable bond that was, is, and will link our past, current, and future generations - we are the descendants of the Girmitiya,” he said.

Photo: DEPTFO News Minister for Agriculture and Waterways Vatimi Rayalu, Deputy Prime Minister Biman Prasad and Minister for Multi-Ethnic Affairs and Sugar Industry Charan Jeath Singh lights a diya at the opening of the 145th National Girmit Day celebrations in Lautoka.