Subject: [fem-women2000 504] Informational....
From: "Dr. Yusuf Roshan" <xfiles@hotmail.com>
Date: Sat, 26 Aug 2000 22:15:17 +1200
Seq: 504
This is a multi-part message in MIME format. ------=_NextPart_000_016A_01C00FAB.1EE7B5E0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable Dear All, Another reply to the Daily Post. Please circulate far and wide. This is important to show that we remain = unintimidated and WILL CONTINUE TO hit even harder. All of you have been similarly challenged. Take up the challenge and hit = back at the interim government. This is a golden opportunity and take = advantage. They have given us a reason to slate them - now. Let us all do it. Flood the country with our replies. Yusuf Movement for Democracy in Fiji 331 City Road London EC1V 1LJ Office Tel: +44 (0) 20 7713 7377 Fax: +44 (0) 20 7713 7378 Home Tel: +44 (0) 1474 872 908 Email: yusuf.roshan@which.net President: Raymond Croxon QC Secretary/Treasurer: K Bhagwandeen Chairman: Dr Y Roshan Administrative Board Member of the European Institute for Asian Study (Think Tank of European Members of Parliament): Mr Surur Hoda Human Rights Co-ordinator: Mrs A Bhagwandeen Spearheading Legal Issues on Fiji: Mr Victor Lal (Oxford University) & Mr Norman Patterson Barrister Information: Mr Vimal Madhavan Our web sites http://fijiwala/London.html http://fijinews.cnbra.com/democracy HUMAN RIGHTS DISSIDENT DEFENDS HIS ACTIONS A committee member of the London-based Movement for Democracy in Fiji, = Victor Lal, has strongly defended his role in leading the global fight = for the restoration of democracy and human rights in Fiji. He was = responding to an attack in the Daily Post from a government spokesman = who accused Mr Lal and other members of the Movement for pushing the = agenda of the Fiji Labour Party. "The President of the Movement, Mr Raymond Croxon QC, is an English = barrister and a human rights activist, who has no connections with Fiji = or the Fiji Labour Party," Mr Lal said yesterday from Oxford University = where he has been based since 1984. He said he "only joined the Movement = to help give back what Sitiveni Rabuka and his racist thugs stole in = 1987, and now George Speight and the Interim government, have illegally stolen = from the peoples of Fiji - a multi-racial government representing all = the peoples of Fiji". ''It is ridiculous for the Interim Government to accuse me and my = colleagues in the Movement of hindering the process of reconciliation in = Fiji. Last year, shortly before the general elections, I called through = the columns of this newspaper, for the prosecution of Sitiveni Rabuka, = Ratu Inoke Kubuabola, Apisai Tora, and others for their role in = overthrowing a democratically elected FLP-NFP government of Dr Timoci = Bavadra. I believed, and still do, that if Fiji was to achieve a genuine = and lasting peace, it had to eradicate "the racist farmers who had = planted the seeds of discord, for if not, these very 'racist farmers' = would re-emerge to harvest the fruits of their racial seeds in the guise = of Fijian nationalism''. I also called for the establishment of a Truth = and Reconciliation Commission so that never again the people of Fiji = should go through the racial and economic traumas of 1987,'' Mr Lal said. "It is sickening to see and = hear the Minister for Information (Misinformation), Ratu Inoke = Kubuabola, projecting himself as the saviour of all the races in Fiji = when, in fact, it was he who, along with Rabuka and the late Rev Tomasi Raikivi, had planned the 1987 coups in the Fiji = Bible Society building in Suva. He went on to lead the Taukei Movement, = one of the darkest days in Fiji's 20th century history as regards the = rule of law and human rights (until Speight and his racist thugs out did = them recently). When Kubuabola became the Leader of the Opposition for = the STV, a party which was totally rejected at the polls by the ethnic Fijian = people, he immediately began the process of destabilising the Chaudhry = government, instead of preaching peace and reconciliation in Fiji," Mr = Lal said.=20 "As Minister for Information, he should inform us through the news media = of his role in the 1987 coups, and fearlessly face the brunt of the law = for his treasonable actions, and then only the world and the peoples of = Fiji can trust him. I still believe, and am exploring legal ways and = means, based on the Chilean dictator August Pinochet's stripping of = immunity, to bring the perpetrators and conspirators of the 1987 coups = to trial in Fiji or abroad. I firmly believe that then only can Fiji = start a new page of good race relations in the 21st century." "My role = in the Movement for Democracy is purely legal. My columns in the Daily Post are based on my years of research and writing on Fiji = politics and not from opportunism and privilege as demonstrated by the = members of the Interim government who could not accept the diminution of = their economic status or political power. As long as the likes of Ratu = Inoke Kubuabola and that political chameleon of Fiji politics - Apisai = Tora - a man who has been a member of nearly all the political parties = in Fiji - go unpunished, no Indian or Fijian worth his human dignity = would want to be a part of a process of reconciliation in Fiji. We need = justice and not empty rhetoric. The former coup leader Rabuka should be = prosecuted under the Public Order Amendment Act, along with Speight and = others, for making racist remarks recently, and suggesting that Fiji = needs the old racist and apartheid South Africa as a model for solving = the current crisis.." My father's vision of multi-racialism "I am = pursuing the multi-racial agenda of my late father, an upright and righteous Indian van driver and building carpenter, who spent all = his life in Korovou, Tailevu, transporting the agricultural produce of = honest and hard working Fijian villagers from various villages, = including those from Sepight's Naivicula village, so they could go and = sell their produce in the Korovou market, and earn a decent living." "My = father had a multi-racial vision of Fiji when he joined the Alliance = Party, and later became the first Indian president of the Tailevu North = Alliance District Council, with one Master Solomone from Speight's = Naivicula village as his deputy. I believe in a multi-racial Fiji of my = late father and not that of Kubuabola's racist Fiji. It is sad and = heartbreaking that I cannot go back to Speight's Naivicula village where = I spent endless hours in the 1970s with the villagers playing outside = while my father and other Alliance leaders discussed multi-racial = politics. It is painful that my family, beaten and robbed by Speight's = hoodlums in Tailevu during the insurrection, and most recently, can't venture to visit our ancestors = graveyards, which are just a stones throw from Naivicula village. It is = painful that the Fijians of Tailevu, who used to once bow to my father = as an 'honorary chief' and called my grandfathers -Tui Levu and Tui = Lailai- are now out in Tailevu trying to chop off the heads of our = families in the name of Fijian nationalism and racial bigotry'. "It is = painful to see that Jo Nata, the chief media spokesman of Speight, who = went to school with me at Ratu Kadavulevu School, and later worked with = me on the old Fiji Sun newspaper, inciting malicious racist poison = against the Indians and my family." "I am not pursuing any agenda but am = fighting and will go on relentlessly to give back to the people the real = Fiji - the Fiji of my childhood and the Fiji of my dreams. As Pope John = Paul 11 once said: 'Fiji-The Way The World Should Be'. I would like to remind Kubuabola and other racist = Fijians that if Fiji belongs to them per see, it belongs to me and other = Indians per value. We know no other home but Fiji. I am as much a true = and patriotic son of Tailevu and Fiji as that self-proclaimed "vulagi" = from Australia - George Speight, who set the scene for the Interim government to step in = and do the mopping up operation." Mr Lal has disclosed that following = overtures from his Fijian colleagues, the inner circle of the Fijian = hierarchy - the 'RKS Old Boys Network' - he was willing to help the Interim government to build a = multi-racial society. "However, when I heard the racial remarks of = Laisenia Qarase and others, I refused to co-operate, and will continue = to refuse to accept a Fiji based on race and inequality. I support the = blueprint for Fijian advancement but we must have a past balance-sheet. = We need to know how much was spent in all these affirmative projects in = the past, and what were the benefits and failures etc." "We cannot = continue to sink into a bottomless pit the taxpayers money - most of it = derived from hardworking and honest non-Fijians. There are perils of affirmative action. The unelected Interim government cannot impose on = the Indians and liberal Fijians taxation without representation. The = best way forward is a government of national unity, and a demonstration = to those in the shadow of Speight and others that you can run but you = cannot hide. The road to reconciliation has to begin with the prosecution of those = involved in the 1987 coups - the seeds of our present problems. = Reconciliation is a two way street. One racially dominant group cannot = impose its will and expect the other group to silently lay the red = carpet to economic recovery and reconciliation. " "If the Interim = government is serious about reconciliation, it should help the Indian = refugees in Lautoka; it should compensate the evicted farmers; it should = correct the racial imbalance in the army; it should make the = presidential and vice-presidential offices rotational - open to all = races: it should evict those who were party to the 1987 and 1999 coups = from the government, and above all, it should promise to us that never = again it will vow to impose a racist Constitution on the peoples of Fiji." "As long as = the Interim government vows to implement its racist vision of Fiji, I will remain an international thorn in its side. 'Stone = walls do not a prison make; Nor Iron bars a Cage'. My history is from = RKS, past Speight's Naivicula village, through Korovou Town, to the old = Fiji Sun in Suva, to Oxford University in England via a study = scholarship from Reuters, the international news agency. I did not jump = a racial or nationalist bandwagon to get political power and fortune at the expense of our = countrymen. I earned my international status and I must have the right = to enjoy its privileges. But robbers and looters of the nation must = return the political loot to their respective owners - the Fijian, = Indian, General Elector and other citizens who overwhelming voted for = the Peoples Coalition Government." Mr Lal thought that it was amusing = that the Interim Government found it necessary to single him and others = for attack. "I did not realise that I was the international voice and = conscience of the silent majority in Fiji. Perhaps, now, my father can = sleep in peace. It is true that 'dead man tell no tales' but I will = continue to tell the tales of the silent majority until my father's = vision of a multi-racial Fiji is eventually realised. We are the true = sons of Tailevu and Fiji around the world and not George Speight and his thugs on Nukulau Island (Fiji's Tropical Alcatraz with = mobile telephones) and those in the current Interim Government.." Mr Lal = said he is not concerned about the Interim Government's portrayal of him = in the press, for 'an opponent of apartheid is an enemy of the state'. = He quoted Albert Einstein, that great Jew who was last year voted by the = Time Magazine as 'The Man of the Century', but was driven out of Germany = by the racist Nazis:" Great spirits have always encountered violent = opposition from mediocre minds." He also recalled the words of = apartheid's most famous prisoner, and the first president of a non-racial South Africa, Nelson Mandela, who = once put it, "There is no easy work to freedom". "The road to a truly multi-racial Fiji has just begun. I will remain = part of that national and international journey with all the peoples of = Fiji - the Rainbow Alliance". Those who do not learn from history, Mr = Lal said, end up repeating history. "The Lal family have made a distinguished contribution to = multi-racialism in Fiji and I want to keep up that family heritage." ------=_NextPart_000_016A_01C00FAB.1EE7B5E0 Content-Type: text/html; charset="iso-8859-1" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable <!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"> <HTML><HEAD> <META http-equiv=3DContent-Type content=3D"text/html; = charset=3Diso-8859-1"> <META content=3D"MSHTML 5.50.4134.600" name=3DGENERATOR> <STYLE></STYLE> </HEAD> <BODY bgColor=3D#ffffff> <DIV><FONT face=3DArial size=3D2> <DIV>Dear All,<BR><BR>Another reply to the Daily Post.<BR>Please = circulate far=20 and wide. This is important to show that we remain unintimidated and = WILL=20 CONTINUE<BR>TO hit even harder.<BR><BR>All of you have been similarly=20 challenged. Take up the challenge and hit back at the interim = government. This=20 is a golden opportunity and take advantage. They have given us a reason = to slate=20 them - now.<BR><BR>Let us all do it. Flood the country with our=20 replies.<BR><BR>Yusuf<BR><BR>Movement for Democracy in Fiji<BR><BR>331 = City Road=20 London EC1V 1LJ<BR>Office Tel: +44 (0) 20 7713 7377 Fax: +44 (0) 20 7713 = 7378<BR>Home Tel: +44 (0) 1474 872 908<BR>Email: <A=20 href=3D"mailto:yusuf.roshan@which.net">yusuf.roshan@which.net</A><BR><BR>= President:=20 Raymond Croxon QC Secretary/Treasurer: K=20 Bhagwandeen<BR>Chairman: Dr Y Roshan<BR>Administrative Board Member of = the=20 European Institute for Asian Study<BR>(Think Tank of European Members of = Parliament): Mr Surur Hoda Human<BR>Rights = Co-ordinator: Mrs A=20 Bhagwandeen Spearheading Legal Issues on<BR>Fiji: Mr = Victor=20 Lal (Oxford University) & Mr Norman = Patterson<BR>Barrister =20 Information: Mr Vimal Madhavan<BR><BR>Our web sites<BR><A=20 href=3D"http://fijiwala/London.html">http://fijiwala/London.html</A><BR><= A=20 href=3D"http://fijinews.cnbra.com/democracy">http://fijinews.cnbra.com/de= mocracy</A><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR>HUMAN=20 RIGHTS DISSIDENT DEFENDS HIS ACTIONS<BR><BR>A committee member of the=20 London-based Movement for Democracy in Fiji, Victor Lal, has strongly = defended=20 his role in leading the global fight for the restoration of democracy = and human=20 rights in Fiji. He was responding to an attack in the Daily Post from a=20 government spokesman who accused Mr Lal and other members of the = Movement=20 for pushing the agenda of the<BR>Fiji Labour = Party.<BR><BR><BR>"The=20 President of the Movement, Mr Raymond Croxon QC, is an English barrister = and a=20 human rights activist, who has no connections with Fiji or the Fiji = Labour=20 Party," Mr Lal said yesterday from Oxford University where he has = been=20 based since 1984. He said he "only joined the Movement to help give = back=20 what Sitiveni Rabuka and his racist thugs stole in 1987,<BR>and = now George=20 Speight and the Interim government, have illegally stolen from = the peoples=20 of Fiji - a multi-racial government representing all the peoples=20 of Fiji".<BR>''It is ridiculous for the Interim Government to = accuse me and=20 my colleagues in the Movement of hindering the process of = reconciliation in=20 Fiji. Last year, shortly before the general elections, I called = through the=20 columns of this newspaper, for the prosecution of Sitiveni Rabuka, = Ratu=20 Inoke Kubuabola, Apisai Tora, and others for their role in = overthrowing=20 a democratically elected FLP-NFP government of Dr Timoci Bavadra. = I=20 believed, and still do, that if Fiji was to achieve a genuine and = lasting=20 peace, it had to eradicate "the racist farmers who had planted the = seeds of=20 discord, for if not, these very 'racist farmers' would re-emerge to = harvest=20 the fruits of their racial seeds in the guise of Fijian = nationalism''. I=20 also called for the establishment of a Truth and Reconciliation = Commission=20 so that never again the people of Fiji should go through the racial = and<BR>economic traumas of 1987,'' Mr Lal said. "It is sickening to = see and=20 hear the Minister for Information (Misinformation), Ratu Inoke = Kubuabola,=20 projecting himself as the saviour of all the races in Fiji when, in = fact,=20 it was he who, along with Rabuka<BR>and the late Rev Tomasi = Raikivi, had=20 planned the 1987 coups in the Fiji Bible Society building in Suva. = He went=20 on to lead the Taukei Movement, one of the darkest days in Fiji's = 20th=20 century history as regards the rule of law and human rights (until = Speight=20 and his racist thugs out did them recently). When Kubuabola became = the=20 Leader of the Opposition for the STV, a<BR>party which was totally = rejected=20 at the polls by the ethnic Fijian people, he immediately began the = process=20 of destabilising the Chaudhry government, instead of preaching = peace and=20 reconciliation in Fiji," Mr Lal said. <BR><BR>"As Minister for = Information,=20 he should inform us through the news media of his role in the 1987 = coups,=20 and fearlessly face the brunt of the law for his treasonable = actions, and=20 then only the world and the peoples of Fiji can trust him. I still = believe,=20 and am exploring legal ways and means, based on the Chilean = dictator August=20 Pinochet's stripping of immunity, to bring the perpetrators and=20 conspirators of the 1987 coups to trial in Fiji or abroad. I firmly = believe=20 that then only can Fiji start a new page of good race relations in = the 21st=20 century." "My role in the Movement for Democracy is purely legal. = My=20 columns<BR>in the Daily Post are based on my years of research and = writing=20 on Fiji politics and not from opportunism and privilege as = demonstrated by=20 the members of the Interim government who could not accept the = diminution=20 of their economic status or political power. As long as the likes = of Ratu=20 Inoke Kubuabola and that political chameleon of Fiji politics - = Apisai Tora=20 - a man who has been a member of nearly all the political parties = in Fiji -=20 go unpunished, no Indian or Fijian worth his human dignity would = want to be=20 a part of a process of reconciliation in Fiji. We need justice and = not=20 empty rhetoric. The former coup leader Rabuka should be prosecuted = under=20 the Public Order Amendment Act, along with Speight and others, for = making=20 racist remarks recently, and suggesting that Fiji needs the old = racist and=20 apartheid South Africa as a model for solving the current = crisis.." My=20 father's vision of multi-racialism "I am pursuing the multi-racial = agenda=20 of my late father, an upright<BR>and righteous Indian van driver = and=20 building carpenter, who spent all his life in Korovou, Tailevu,=20 transporting the agricultural produce of honest and hard working = Fijian=20 villagers from various villages, including those from Sepight's = Naivicula=20 village, so they could go and sell their produce in = the Korovou=20 market, and earn a decent living." "My father had a multi-racial = vision of=20 Fiji when he joined the Alliance Party, and later became the first = Indian=20 president of the Tailevu North Alliance District Council, with one = Master=20 Solomone from Speight's Naivicula village as his deputy. I believe = in a=20 multi-racial Fiji of my late father and not that of Kubuabola's = racist=20 Fiji. It is sad and heartbreaking that I cannot go back to = Speight's=20 Naivicula village where I spent endless hours in the 1970s with the = villagers playing outside while my father and other Alliance = leaders=20 discussed multi-racial politics. It is painful that = my family, beaten=20 and robbed by Speight's hoodlums in Tailevu during the<BR>insurrection, = and most=20 recently, can't venture to visit our ancestors graveyards, which = are just a=20 stones throw from Naivicula village. It is painful that the Fijians = of=20 Tailevu, who used to once bow to my father as an 'honorary chief' = and=20 called my grandfathers -Tui Levu and Tui Lailai- are now out in = Tailevu=20 trying to chop off the heads of our families in the name of Fijian=20 nationalism and racial bigotry'. "It is painful to see that Jo = Nata, the=20 chief media spokesman of Speight, who went to school with me at = Ratu=20 Kadavulevu School, and later worked with me on the old Fiji Sun = newspaper,=20 inciting malicious racist poison against the Indians and my=20 family." "I am not pursuing any agenda but am fighting and will go = on=20 relentlessly to give back to the people the real Fiji - the Fiji of = my=20 childhood and the Fiji of my dreams. As Pope John Paul 11 once = said:=20 'Fiji-The Way The<BR>World Should Be'. I would like to remind = Kubuabola and=20 other racist Fijians that if Fiji belongs to them per see, it = belongs to me=20 and other Indians per value. We know no other home but Fiji. I am = as much a=20 true and patriotic son of Tailevu and Fiji as that self-proclaimed = "vulagi"=20 from Australia<BR>-<BR>George Speight, who set the scene for the = Interim=20 government to step in and do the mopping up operation." Mr Lal = has=20 disclosed that following overtures from his Fijian colleagues, the = inner=20 circle of the Fijian hierarchy - the 'RKS Old Boys<BR>Network' - = he was=20 willing to help the Interim government to build a multi-racial=20 society. "However, when I heard the racial remarks of Laisenia = Qarase and=20 others, I refused to co-operate, and will continue to refuse to = accept a=20 Fiji based on race and inequality. I support the blueprint for = Fijian=20 advancement but we must have a past balance-sheet. We need to know = how much=20 was spent in all these affirmative projects in the past, and what = were the=20 benefits and failures etc." "We cannot continue to sink into a = bottomless pit the taxpayers money - most of it derived from = hardworking=20 and honest non-Fijians. There are perils of<BR>affirmative action. The = unelected=20 Interim government cannot impose on the Indians and liberal Fijians = taxation without representation. The best way forward is a = government=20 of national unity, and a demonstration to those in the shadow of = Speight=20 and others that you can run but you cannot hide.<BR>The road to=20 reconciliation has to begin with the prosecution of those = involved in the=20 1987 coups - the seeds of our present problems. Reconciliation is = a two way=20 street. One racially dominant group cannot impose its will = and expect the=20 other group to silently lay the red carpet to economic recovery and = reconciliation. " "If the Interim government is serious about=20 reconciliation, it should help the Indian refugees in Lautoka; it = should=20 compensate the evicted farmers; it should correct the racial = imbalance in=20 the army; it should make the presidential and vice-presidential = offices=20 rotational - open to all races: it should evict those who were = party to the=20 1987 and 1999 coups from the government, and above all, it should = promise=20 to us that never again it will<BR>vow to impose a racist Constitution on = the=20 peoples of Fiji." "As long as the Interim government vows to = implement its=20 racist<BR>vision of Fiji, I will remain an international thorn in = its side.=20 'Stone walls do not a prison make; Nor Iron bars a Cage'. My = history is=20 from RKS, past Speight's Naivicula village, through Korovou Town, = to the=20 old Fiji Sun in Suva, to Oxford University in England via a study=20 scholarship from Reuters, the international news agency. I did not = jump a=20 racial or nationalist<BR>bandwagon to get political power and = fortune at=20 the expense of our countrymen. I earned my international status and = I must=20 have the right to enjoy its privileges. But robbers and looters of = the=20 nation must return the political loot to their respective owners - = the=20 Fijian, Indian, General Elector and other citizens who overwhelming = voted=20 for the Peoples Coalition Government." Mr Lal thought that it was = amusing=20 that the Interim Government found it necessary to single him and = others for=20 attack. "I did not realise that I was the international voice and=20 conscience of the silent majority in Fiji. Perhaps, now, my father = can=20 sleep in peace. It is true that 'dead man tell no tales' but I will = continue to tell the tales of the silent majority until my father's = vision=20 of a multi-racial Fiji is eventually realised. We are the true sons = of=20 Tailevu and Fiji around the world and not George<BR>Speight and his = thugs=20 on Nukulau Island (Fiji's Tropical Alcatraz with mobile telephones) = and=20 those in the current Interim Government.." Mr Lal said he is not = concerned=20 about the Interim Government's portrayal of him in the press, for = 'an=20 opponent of apartheid is an enemy of the state'. He quoted Albert = Einstein,=20 that great Jew who was last year voted by the Time Magazine as 'The = Man of=20 the Century', but was driven out of Germany by the racist Nazis:" = Great=20 spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre=20 minds." He also recalled the words of apartheid's most famous = prisoner,=20 and<BR>the first president of a non-racial South Africa, Nelson = Mandela,=20 who once put it, "There is no easy work to freedom".<BR>"The road = to a=20 truly multi-racial Fiji has just begun. I will remain part of that = national=20 and international journey with all the peoples of Fiji - = the Rainbow=20 Alliance". Those who do not learn from history, Mr Lal said, end up = repeating history.<BR> "The Lal family have made a distinguished=20 contribution to multi-racialism in Fiji and I want to keep up that = family=20 heritage."<BR><BR></DIV></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML> ------=_NextPart_000_016A_01C00FAB.1EE7B5E0-- _________________________________________________________________________ fem-Women2000@jca.apc.org for Women 2000, UN Special Session on Beijing+5 Searcheable Archive http://www.jca.apc.org/fem/news/women2000/index.shtml visit fem-net HomePage for other mailing lists http://www.jca.apc.org/fem