New Zealand's Fiji community will come together in Auckland next week in a grand celebration and commemoration of the sacrifices of its pioneering forefathers.
The Fiji Girmit Foundation New Zealand's 144th Remembrance Day will be held at Malaeola Community Centre in Mangere on May 20, 2023.
Next week's commemoration event officially kicks off the foundation's annual Remembrance Day activities around the country. Krish Naidu, the foundation’s President, is pleased how the Girmit movement has gained momentum over the past few years, and continues to grow and engage with the wider New Zealand community.
This is reflected in the range of dignitaries and community leaders scheduled to attend the event, including Deputy Prime Minister and Associate Foreign Affairs Minister Carmel Sepuloni, National Party leader Christopher Luxon, Fiji's Minister for Multi-Ethnic Affairs and Sugar Charan Jeath Singh, Race Relations Commissioner Meng Foon and the Fijian High Commissioner to New Zealand Ratu Inoke Kubuabola.
Girmit Remembrance Day commemorates May 14, 1879, the day the first Indians landed on Fijian shores to serve as indentured labourers in the island nation's sugarcane plantations. The term ‘Girmit’ is coined from the word agreement – the binding document between the workers and the British. They are collectively referred to as ‘Girmitiyas’.
Naidu said it was crucial that this piece of Fiji's history should never be forgotten. "It is important to remember the Girmityas and acknowledge the hardships they underwent, the deprivations they suffered, equally it is important to celebrate their resilience, courage, endurance, and enterprise. Our wellbeing today has come out of their tears, and forever we are thankful to them," he said.
Naidu added the annual programme is also an opportunity to create awareness and education about "our history to our youths and to the wider Pacific, Indian, and ethnic diaspora".
"It is also a week to reflect on the Fiji-Indian identity, which has evolved ever since our people set out on their journey to Fiji," Naidu said.
Starting at 5pm, the evening will include a candlelight vigil, speeches, cultural songs and items, oratories by children, and senior medal awards.
"The Remembrance Day, as we refer to this day, will also be an occasion to celebrate our identity and the contributions we have made to Fiji, Pacific and New Zealand – culturally, socially, and economically," Naidu said.
He added, "It is through such success stories we can empower our younger generations to carry the legacy of Girmit forward, protecting and promoting the values of hard work, perseverance, and sacrifice."
Naidu said he was pleased Fiji's coalition government had valued the contribution of the Girmitiyas and had taken steps to celebrate their contribution.
"We have been advocating for a Girmit public holiday in Fiji since 2015, and it is pleasing that it has finally become a reality; we thank the coalition government for it," he said.
Apart from live performances and other items, the May 20 programme – at 16 Waokauri Place, Mangere – will have free snacks, beverages, dinner and dessert for everyone.
More than 60,000 indentured labourers were brought to Fiji from India starting 1879 to work in the sugarcane plantations, enduring extreme hardship in a foreign land. While some returned to India, many chose to stay back and call Fiji their home, working and contributing to the Fijian economy and the country’s overall growth.
