Fiji is an island country in the South Pacific Ocean. It was a British colony from 1874 – 1970.
The need for the British to establish a strong economical base in their colony of Fiji arose, and so, they turned to sugar cane plantations as a steady source of employment and revenue. However, the British were not willing to exploit the indigenous labour and disturb the Fijian way of life, so they needed to recruit labour from over the seas. They decided to utilise the indentured labour system, by which Indians were taken to colonies of European powers and were made to work in plantations. They set up recruiting offices in Calcutta where men could sign up with their families. Women and children were kidnapped and forced to migrate to Fiji, and …show more content…
These contracts were known as girmits and the Indian indentured labourers who worked on the sugarcane plantations were known as girmityas. In 1880, the Colonial Sugar Refining Company (CSR) set up its operations in Fiji and Indian labourers worked in the CSR's sugar mills. The working conditions were unhygienic, the tasks were brutal, the prosecution of the labourers was more frequent and the suicide rate in the indentured community was the highest in the world. The Indian indentured labourers organized two short lived strikes – one in 1886 and the other in 1907 – to protest against the oppressive working conditions, but they were quickly put down by the authorities. The labourers' diverse social backgrounds , different motivating factors as to why they came to Fiji and the absence of good leadership proved to be impediments in mobilizing collective action against the oppressors. The public in the United Kingdom was outraged by the indenture system and so, the scheme was halted in 1916 and all indenture labour contracts terminated by 1st January 1920. From then on, labourers could return back to India or continue working as khula, or free labourers. Several Indians started arriving in Fiji as free agents. Again, they were from varying backgrounds, income groups and professions. Punjabi farmers and Gujarati craftsmen migrated to Fiji in search of better opportunities and formed an influential minority among …show more content…
Badri Maharaj, an Indo-Fijian farmer was the first one to be appointed to the Council under such a grant. Under the guidance of Manilal Doctor, an Indian lawyer who had come to Fiji and under the aegis of the Indian Imperial Association, many Indians continued to campaign for better working conditions. One particular strike ended in a riot and as Manilal Doctor was deported to India. Another strike in 1921, was led by Sadhu Vashist Muni, a Hindu missionary from India. This protest demanded higher wages for workers of CSR and permission for Manilal Doctor to return. However, Muni was also deported on the grounds that he was an agent of Gandhi. In 1929, the government granted the Fijian Indians certain electoral and civil rights in order to prevent them from leaving Fiji as they were required in the labour-intensive sugar cane industry which was now an integral part of the Fijian
The need for the British to establish a strong economical base in their colony of Fiji arose, and so, they turned to sugar cane plantations as a steady source of employment and revenue. However, the British were not willing to exploit the indigenous labour and disturb the Fijian way of life, so they needed to recruit labour from over the seas. They decided to utilise the indentured labour system, by which Indians were taken to colonies of European powers and were made to work in plantations. They set up recruiting offices in Calcutta where men could sign up with their families. Women and children were kidnapped and forced to migrate to Fiji, and …show more content…
These contracts were known as girmits and the Indian indentured labourers who worked on the sugarcane plantations were known as girmityas. In 1880, the Colonial Sugar Refining Company (CSR) set up its operations in Fiji and Indian labourers worked in the CSR's sugar mills. The working conditions were unhygienic, the tasks were brutal, the prosecution of the labourers was more frequent and the suicide rate in the indentured community was the highest in the world. The Indian indentured labourers organized two short lived strikes – one in 1886 and the other in 1907 – to protest against the oppressive working conditions, but they were quickly put down by the authorities. The labourers' diverse social backgrounds , different motivating factors as to why they came to Fiji and the absence of good leadership proved to be impediments in mobilizing collective action against the oppressors. The public in the United Kingdom was outraged by the indenture system and so, the scheme was halted in 1916 and all indenture labour contracts terminated by 1st January 1920. From then on, labourers could return back to India or continue working as khula, or free labourers. Several Indians started arriving in Fiji as free agents. Again, they were from varying backgrounds, income groups and professions. Punjabi farmers and Gujarati craftsmen migrated to Fiji in search of better opportunities and formed an influential minority among …show more content…
Badri Maharaj, an Indo-Fijian farmer was the first one to be appointed to the Council under such a grant. Under the guidance of Manilal Doctor, an Indian lawyer who had come to Fiji and under the aegis of the Indian Imperial Association, many Indians continued to campaign for better working conditions. One particular strike ended in a riot and as Manilal Doctor was deported to India. Another strike in 1921, was led by Sadhu Vashist Muni, a Hindu missionary from India. This protest demanded higher wages for workers of CSR and permission for Manilal Doctor to return. However, Muni was also deported on the grounds that he was an agent of Gandhi. In 1929, the government granted the Fijian Indians certain electoral and civil rights in order to prevent them from leaving Fiji as they were required in the labour-intensive sugar cane industry which was now an integral part of the Fijian