Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
A key factor separating Fiji-Indians from Indians from the subcontinent is the more relaxed
social structure seen in Fiji. When Indian labourers first arrived from the subcontinent under
the
girmit
contract, the
caste system
which regulated life back home was instantly shed.
Those of different castes were forced to live and work together and inter-caste marriage was
common owing to the lack of female immigrants. In time, a form of pidgin Hindi became the
universal language of both Hindus and Muslims, with words, phrases and accents borrowed
from both English and Fijian. The resulting language, now known as
Fiji-Hindi
, is today al-
most unintelligible to Indians from the subcontinent.
Fiji's Hindu and Muslim populations share the same
religion
as their forefathers and cel-
ebrate all the major festivals. There are noisy celebrations at
Diwali
(October), face-painting
at
Holi
(March) and enthralling fire-walking ceremonies regularly held at temples (April and
September). The most notable Muslim celebrations are Ramadan and Eid.
During much of the postwar period Fiji-Indians outnumbered native Fijians, although the
reverse is now true owing to mass emigration and a higher ethnic Fijian birthrate. Many well-
educated Fiji-Indians have moved to Canada, Australia and New Zealand in response to Fiji's
repeated political instability. The remainder struggle to get by on the
sugarcane farms
, hit
by falling prices and the expiry of land leases.
WHAT'S IN A NAME?
Under the Fijian constitution anyone who can trace their ancestry back to the Indian sub-
continent is classed as “
Indian
” rather than “Fijian”. Alternative names such as “Indian
Fijian”, “Indo-Fijian” and “Fiji-born Indian” have all been proposed but all have proved
too controversial to be accepted by nationalist politicians. This is often due to the issue of
property whereby only “Fijians”, ie ethnic Fijian tribal members, can claim rights to native
land. One of the more widely accepted terms is
Fiji-Indian
and we have used this name to
refer to Fijians of Indian descent throughout this guide.
Women in Fiji
Unless born of chiefly status,
women in Fiji
hold few positions of authority and the general
attitude amongst both indigenous Fijians and Fiji-Indians is that a woman's place is at home
or as a menial worker. Women received the right to vote in 1963 but appreciation of women's
rights and equal opportunities is mostly overlooked by politicians. The non-governmental Fiji
Women's Rights Movement (
fwrm.org.fj
) has aimed to redress this balance since its estab-
lishment in 1986 and has set up programmes to encourage women in leadership. By far the
greatest concern to women of Fiji is
domestic violence
, accounting for sixty percent of cases
reported to the Fiji Women's Crisis Centre (
fijiwomen.com
).