which wAY, kiwi FiJi inDiAnS? whAt iS Your iDentitY AnD riGhtS in new ZeAlAnD?

Our people came in large numbers to clean up a bushy NZ, and clear the scrub, which we call gorse. Some stayed back and we have some Fiji Indian citizens here who were victims of the Dawn Raids.

Hence, from a long time, we were part of the Pacific. But we stand fragmented, without any real identity and questions from this student reflects on our past failed leadership.

recognise us as Pacifica People. Some Itaukei leaders in NZ do not consider us as Fijians, mainstream Indians do not recognise us as Indians, then WHO THE HELL ARE WE?

Former Governor General, Sir Anand Satyanand faced this prejudice and discrimination by the mainstream Kiwis before he became Governor General.

ARE Fiji Indians part of Fiji History? Something to think about as we mark FIJI INDEPENDENCE DAY 2023

I received this email from my niece in Waikato who is a fifth generation Kiwi Fiji Indian in NZ:

“I received a scholarship offer from the University of Otago for the Pacific Peoples Entrance. The scholarship requires a verification of my indigenous pacific ancestry which includes documents such as: land title documents, birth certificate, passports, and citizenship papers. While we can provide those documents, I am not sure how I can be eligible under the indigenous aspect. “

And she asked for assistance on how to verify her ancestry. Wonder how does a fully Pakeha-looking Maori prove his 2% Maori Ancestry?

And I started thinking about our political debate on two separate classes or groups of people, one group is favoured because of race and other discriminated against. And Fiji Indians now join that group

WHERE IS OUR VOICE?

Fiji Indians have been part of NZ since the advent of Indenture because of its nearness to New Zealand.

To a great extent, that is our fault. We have arrived here in large numbers, became big business owners, owned multiple-houses, we have built many temples, (last count was at 11), have many religious groups, have done very well individually, but as a community we have failed to come collectively for the betterment and welfare of Fiji Indians here in NZ.

While we have had a Governor General and an MP who identify as Fiji Indians when it suits them, we need to question, what did they deliver us? We are still struggling for an identity in New Zealand.

Thanks to the vision of some Fiji Indian leaders who formed an umbrella advocacy body over a decade ago, and it has been relentlessly promoting identity and other wellbeing of Fiji Indians which the well-off people have been ignoring since they arrived here over five decades ago. Many are wallowing in wealth, but welfare of the new generation is coming into spotlight.

We face gross discrimination and our identity issue has been raised by concerned Fiji Indian leaders for many years to the mainstream political party leaders and MPs who have been coming to our events.

We are blessed to have multiple identities. While we honour and respect our Indian/Asian roots and ancestry, that does not mean our Pacific identity should be denied or ignored - which we are morally and legally entitled to.

Fiji Indians miss out on resources allocated to Pacific Peoples. We must be part and parcel of it - not just when it suits.

We miss out on both sides — we miss out on the Asian side because we get diluted — then we miss out on the Pacific side, we are neither here nor there. For some, not Indian enough to be Indian, and for some, not Pacific enough to be Pacific.

It appears the battle, injustices and discrimination our indentured labourers, the Girmitiyas met in Fiji 144 years ago have been following their fourth and fifth generations in a supposedly transparent, and a fair First World New Zealand.

Fiji Indians have little or no connection to India. Fiji is our country and the origin of Fiji Indians. They have been in Fiji for almost 145 years, yet nor recognised by NZ Government and institutions as Pacific people. I wonder how long it takes for uprooted people to become indigenous or recognised to their country of birth of their great-great grandparents.

Ministry of Pacific People and the government do not

Paul Henry, a well-known TV commentator asked: from which angle does Anand Satyanand looks a Kiwi.

Other Fiji Indians here still face a similar dilemma. From which angle does Thakur Ranjit Singh look an Indian? Yes, I look like an Indian (some say Rajesh Khanna or Vinod Khanna) But the similarity ends there. I have a distinct Fiji Hindi language that developed in cane farms of Fiji. I am culturally different, as I practice a mixture of culture that developed in Fiji. I am completely different, as I grew up in a multi-cultural and distinct Pacifica community, hence my foods, habits, way of speaking and most other things are different than Indians. I have no links to Indian. Perhaps that is why even Indians do not recognise us as Indians.

We are not represented by NZ Central Indian Association or any other multitudes of Indian Associations. We are a distinct different people.

I add what Sir Anand Satyanand; former Fiji Indian Governor General of NZ said, in our 140th Girmit celebration in Auckland in 2019 about this similarity, and yet uniqueness.

He quoted Sir Sridath (Sonny) Ramphal, erstwhile Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, who described Indian cultural