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GOD and POLITICS: Now, Methodist Church gives SODELPA leader and coupist Rabuka permission to preach as a LAY PREACHER. Will the old racist 'LUCIFER' outpourings against Indo-Fijians pervade the churches? 

29/6/2016

19 Comments

 
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“It was a matter of cultural survival. Sink or Swim. There was no way we were going to go down. The Indians had become an unbearable presence in Fiji. The Hindus and Muslims are pagans who must be converted to Christianity.” - Sitiveni Rabuka shortly after the 1987 coups

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From the Archives
 Fiji Sun, 2007


Chiefs, Church, and Coup Culture



The “Tagi ni Taukei” mantra the root of all evil in Fiji


By VICTOR LAL

“Sit down everybody, sit down. This is a takeover. We apologise for any inconvenience caused. You are requested to stay cool, stay down, sit down and listen to what we are going to tell you. Please stay calm, ladies and gentlemen,” announced a man cowardly hiding behind a mask. Another man who was sitting down quietly in the public gallery soon joined the masked man: “Mr Prime Minister, please lead your team down and remain calm. Mr Prime Minister, Sir, will you lead your team down to the right…”

One Captain X, and a 38-year-old Lieutenant-Colonel Sitiveni Rabuka, twenty years ago, at 10am on 14 May 1987, spoke these treasonous words as a “hit squad” of ten soldiers toppled Dr Timoci Bavadra’s NFP/FLP Coalition government in the first military coup in the South Pacific. As the parliamentarians were being detained, one Cabinet minister Dr Tupeni Baba, related to Rabuka, naively but defiantly, shouted, “What kind of a joke is this?” What was being played out in Parliament was no joking game; it was part of a fulfilment of an obnoxious prayer, “The Tagi ni Taukei – Cry of the Taukei”, that had been earlier recited in the home of Methodist Church minister (once the head of the Methodist Dilkusha Indian Circuit), Reverend Tomasi Raikivi, a cousin of Rabuka’s: “Save us, and save our land. You saved the Israelites, when foreigners took their land from them. Dear God, please answer our prayer and do the same for us. Amen”.

Although the prayer ended with “Amen”, what should have been intoned was “Amin” – for the plan was to hunt and hound out fellow Indo-Fijians like Idi Amin did in Uganda.

The other so-called “Man of God” beseeching his Heavenly Lord for guidance was Ratu Inoke Kubuabola, a cousin of the late President Ratu Sir Penaia Ganilau. Kubuabola was President of the Fiji Council of Churches and Secretary General of the Bible Society of the South Pacific. It was Kubuabola, who had first termed the extreme Fijian nationalist organization that had sprung up following Dr Bavadra’s election victory as the Taukei Movement, and he was its direct link with Mr Rabuka leading up to the coup.

The two men of the robe were not alone. At the prayer meeting were others, who would later carve out respectable standing and careers from the debris of the 1987 coups: Ratu Finau Mara, the son of the late President Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara; Ratu George Kadavulevu, son of the Paramount Chief of Fiji, the late Ratu George Cakobau; Ratu Keni Viuyasawa, the brother of Brigadier Ratu Epeli Nailatikau; Daniel Veitata, Apisai Tora, the late Jone Veisamasama, Qoriniasi Bale and Filipe Bole. There were other countless and faceless chiefs, thieves, and others who were part of Rabuka’s Operation Kidacala (Surprise) plan to seize power.

Some other bogus nationalist taukeis would later crawl out of the shadows, among them Isikeli Mataitoga, a legal officer under the Director of Public Prosecutions and a Captain in the Territorials. He is today ensconced in the Foreign Ministry, charged with making the world understand another coup – “Frank’s 2006 Coup”. Looking back at the 1987 television tapes from Britain’s Channel Four television, in which he (a spokesman for Rabuka) and I prominently featured during the 1987 coups on the opposite sides of the racial divide, I had asked one forthright question: “How many generation does it take for one to become a native?”

I had angrily pointed out to the world television viewers in 1987 that most of those running around beating up Indo-Fijians and claiming to be “indigenous” were themselves “bloody foreigners” – from outer islands of Fiji, from Lau and Bau, which are not connected to the mainland, and from Vanua Levu. “These Fijians have been the cause of all our racial and political problems on the mainland which houses the Parliament. Just look at the western division of Viti Levu – a model of peaceful existence to be emulated by the world.”

Of course, it was an exaggeration to blame all the so-called “bloody foreigners”, but the backgrounds of most of the key players surely pointed to in that direction, except maybe for the backgrounds of Apisai Tora, Sakiasi Butadroka, and the assistant Roko Tui Naitasiri, Ratu Meli Vesikula. An examination of the key players in the 1987 coups does reveal that the majority had come from Navatu-Natewa in Vanua Levu. Dr Baba later observed: “A lot of them, when we were released, took off their masks and came over and actually shook hands with me. They come from my part of the island.”

“They arrive on the mainland of Viti Levu, and in order to stay put, raise the chant – the Cry of the Fijians”, I told Channel Four and BBC television viewers. Their principal target has always been Indo-Fijians, as expressed by coup executioner Rabuka, I said.

Just listen to his racist nonsense about his coup: “It was a matter of cultural survival. Sink or Swim. There was no way we were going to go down. The Indians had become an unbearable presence in Fiji. The Hindus and Muslims are pagans who must be converted to Christianity.” We could say the same about him and other non-Viti Levu born Fijians, I told BBC: “Send these bloody foreigners, including their paramount chiefs, back to their islands and villagers, like the British did in the old colonial days. Rabuka should swim back to his village, Nakobo, or wherever he has come from, in Vanua Levu. He has become an unbearable presence and a disgrace on mainland Viti Levu. But no, we believe that Fiji belongs to all. We should be judged by the content of our character, and not by the colour of our skin.” Race, I argued, was a mere smokescreen for Fijian chiefs, thieves, and other taukei who just want to reach the economic and political mountaintop.

Meanwhile, if the coup was planned in a pastor’s house, it was to be eventually sanctioned in the house of the chiefs – the Great Council of Chiefs - all in the name of “Tagi ni Taukei”. Shockingly, the prominent chiefs had other racial agendas, including Ratu Mara and Ratu Penaia. Instead of criminalizing the coup, they constitutionalized post-coup racism in the new 1990 Constitution that was now being drafted to ensure Fijian paramountcy, irrespective of the fact that the coup was introducing a culture of violence and violations, and terror and terrorism. To be sure, their own chiefly, political, and economic survivals, was their primary agenda.
In fact, Mr Rabuka would later argue that Ratu Mara, despite his protestations, had sanctioned Rabuka’s coup. It seems poor Babu Singh, an Indo-Fijian and life-long personal bodyguard to Ratu Mara, had been more faithful to his oath than his boss to parliamentary democracy, multi-racialism, and the rule of law. In the interim, Fiji would become another country, for the taukei to plunder and prosper from the blood, toil, tears, and taxes of non-taukei, all disguised under the rubric of affirmative action and chiefly rule.

The Tagi ni Taukei slogan again found expression in the 2000 Speight coup, with Ratu Mara, now as President, sacking Mahendra Chaudhry as Prime Minister and appointing a caretaker administration. While describing George Speight and his gang as terrorists, Ratu Mara however noted the concerns of those holding the Chaudhry government hostage, stating “These will be thoroughly examined and solutions considered to further protect and enhance the position of the indigenous Fijian community”.

In the late 1960s Ratu Mara notoriously claimed that if the Indo-Fijians ever gained political power in Fiji, then “Suva would burn to the ground, and all the indigenous Fijians would lose would be the Indians’ records of their debts”. He had never envisaged that he might be consumed in those bogus nationalist flames. Forty years later, in 2000, the Fijians did burn down Suva. Ironically, he lost his own presidency, with the looter’s leader George Speight remarking that, “From where I sit he [Ratu Mara] has no legal claim to the title of president”. In the end the great chief was forced to make a humiliating exit to Lau, a broken and bitter man, blaming among others, the coup godfather Sitiveni Rabuka, for being involved in the 2000 coup.

And yet Ratu Mara’s downfall did not discourage another of his clansman Laisenia Qarase to once again take up the “Tagi ni Taukei” slogan, as he told the UN General Assembly in 2000 in his capacity as the military installed Prime Minister: “The crux of our political crisis in Fiji is that indigenous Fijians and Rotuman communities felt threatened by certain policies which non-indigenous leadership of the Peoples Coalition Government had implemented following their decisive victory in our national elections in May 1999. It was this fear and anxiety about their future that led to mass demonstrations and ultimately the coup d’etat on May 19th this year. It manifested itself also in the mass looting of shops, destruction of property, and threats to people and their families, and unfortunately and tragically, the victims were mainly members of our Indian community.”

The Rotumans had also joined in the unmusical Tagi ni Taukei hymn.

Even Commodore Bainimarama had been temporarily sucked into the nationalist cause, for he had refused to allow Mr Chaudhry and his Peoples Coalition government back into power after ending the hostage crisis. His court affidavits to the High Court had similar nationalistic tune. He had even signed away Speight’s freedom, subject to conditions, in the Muanikau Accord. The military high command, supported by the chiefs, went on to openly embrace Mr Qarase’s racialist demands for political and economic supremacy for the taukei. His regime, despite his racist rhetoric, became the darling of Australia, New Zealand, the Commonwealth, the United Nations and the United States.

As for Mr Rabuka, the godfather of the coup culture in Fiji, he should be expelled from the Great Council of Chiefs, which had made Mr Rabuka its only life member to honour him for staging his two military coups in 1987. It will be a fitting punishment, although it is twenty years too late. After all, the chiefs are now saying that they do not recognise Commodore Frank Bainimarama’s coup because they do not believe in coups.

To recall Mr Rabuka’s own words in his book “No Other Way”: “I respect chiefs. I do not like the composition of the Great Council of Chiefs. There are so many non-Chiefs there who will try to dictate the resolutions of the Great Council of Chiefs. The Chiefs are so humble, their personalities and their character do not make them forceful enough when they discuss matters. They will agree, they will compromise…whereas those who are not Chiefs in there tend to very, very selfish.” Whether Mr Rabuka sees himself as one of those self-seeking commoners is another matter, but he only recently indicated that he was willing to lead any reconstituted Great Council of Chiefs.

A complex set of domestic and foreign variables account for the 1987 and 2000 coups. The most prominent has been the Tagi ni Taukei slogan from the chiefs, the church and a vast majority of native Fijians. Now when they are at the receiving end, the mantra of the day is the rule of law, democracy, human rights, and elections. The way forward, as I proposed previously, is Government of National Unity, made up of those who genuinely have Fiji and not merely taukei Fijians, at heart.

There is also no room for the obnoxious views of Mr Rabuka who told his official biographer in 2000: “My hope is that Indians will migrate. We tighten the controls, then Fiji is no longer attractive to the Indian settler as it has been over the last 120 years.”

Reflecting on the 1987 coups he declared: “I have no regrets about the coup. I apologised in the recent (1999) election campaign for the suffering it caused and I am sorry for that, not for the coup. If I was in that situation, I would do it again. It was right. I conducted the coup to seal off the threat of sustained and widespread violence, and to move the country to a form of civilian rule that would be acceptable first to the Fijians. I am at peace with the coup. The history of Fiji would have been tragically different had I not “lanced the boil”.

Let us hope that never again will we hear the Tagi ni Taukei nonsense, that has been the root of all evil and coups in the country, beginning with the 1987 Rabuka coups, which took place on 14 May, 108 years to the day the Indians were introduced as indentured labourers to toil the sugar, copra and tea plantations of Fiji.

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19 Comments
Tora
30/6/2016 02:52:08 am

Rabuka the good christian = Wanker

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Anarchy
30/6/2016 09:25:03 pm

Hilarious!!!

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BoyniTave
30/6/2016 03:42:36 am

Well, in Christianity we forgive and preach not to hold the past against anyone whom you have forgiven. We have Rabuka for what he did even though he really need not to apologize. I cant wait to see my party SODELPA succeeding in politics with Rabuka as the leader. If you think that SODELPA doesnt stand a chance in 2018 because of Rabuka, i wish to tell you to think again!

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Vili
1/7/2016 09:47:39 am

Go take two Panadol and go have a lie down my boy. You will feel better in he morning.

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Things have not Changed
30/6/2016 03:58:22 am

SODELPA is still dominated by nationalist divisive elements and are doomed in the next elections

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maropito
30/6/2016 04:26:50 am

Banimarama manage to convert Indians to Fijians and gave them home in Fiji. Ram Buka failed to convert Indian to christian. Now Ram Buka will convert the converted indians back to Indians and than to christian or be deported.

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Judgement is Mine
30/6/2016 05:53:36 am

Rabuka you're an old man now.

Repent all your sins, give up all your material possessions and get out of politics.

The damage you've done can never be undone.

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EVALUATE and then Comment.
30/6/2016 08:03:31 am

Any condemnation of Rabuka is gain for BAI & KAI. All harping from 10 years could not change any thing.So if in comparison, give Rabuka a chance and see.

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Chancher
30/6/2016 08:22:46 am

We must never give coupists a chance - whether its Rabuka or Bainimarama.

Its so sickening to be told that to get rid of Bainimarama we need coup maker Rabuka to do the job

What message are we sending to the other soldiers - it pays to execute coups in Fiji?

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King Rat
30/6/2016 02:31:43 pm

Ha Ha Ha !

That's exactly the message the RTD has been making in her role as (former) party leader and as an MP.

But the 'Tovata' faction in the party set up the Gaunavinaka report as the vehicle to destabilise the party and bring in king coup-maker Rambo to deliver them power in 2018!!!!

What a joke!

Pita
30/6/2016 09:43:37 am

How can Ram Buka preach from the gospel when it clearly is against homisexuality yet He brought in the controversial provision on the freedom of sexual orientation in his 1997 Constitution. Christianity like other religions does not approve of the partial application of its doctrines. How he passed his lay preacher exam on the subject of sexual orientation is eyebrow raising. I doubt whether his SODELPA supporters, being ultra right wing Christian nationalists, will agree with him on the issue of freedom of sexual orientation

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EVALUATE and then Comment.
30/6/2016 09:49:36 am

By the way Bainimarama is paid,including hefty questionable back pay and up-to current enormous salary leave along other cuts.
This has been highlighted from long way back with related articles photos etc.What has been achieved so far ?ZERO nothing.
So far [10years] solders are observing this [hefty pays for coupist] So what is wrong if someone steps whether a coupist to correct current scenario?

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Walker
1/7/2016 12:36:10 am

Your comment on Rabuka become a lay preacher need to be stated in context. The Methodist Church as n organisation based out of Epworth House is not involved in this decision. The decision is taken at Rabuka local church and ratified at the Circuit Meeting presided by the Circuit Minister and approved at the Quarterly Meeting for that Circuit which is presided over by the Divisional Superintendent looking after the various circuits that form the Division. The process is rigorous and questions are tough especially for someone whose preaching ticket was removed by his local church/circuit and quarterly meeting after the womanising affairs when he was PM. But as you know the Church was founded on one principle - and that is God loved the world and gave his only begotten Son to die for our sins so that anyone who believes in Him while being a sinner is guaranteed eternal life - it appears that people who criticize Rabuka for his past failures do not sin and hence need no forgiveness!

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King Rat
1/7/2016 10:09:25 am

So 'Walker', what about Rambo's claim that God visited him while he was weeding his cassava patch at the back of the Officers Mess?

You emphasise the rigour in the whole process yet you forget to mention that when Rabuka did the coup in May 1987 he was also a liuliu ni Lotu (Church leader) of the RFMF Chapel at QEB, and Secretary of the Nabua Circuit of the Samabula Division of the Suva Branch of the Methodist Church in Fiji.

His position in the Church hierarchy and his commitment to Christianity did not stop him from ignoring his Oath of Allegiance to the Queen that he swore on the Holy Bible. Do you have any comment on that?

Stop using the Church and Christianity to cover for a sinful act.

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Walker
1/7/2016 09:04:14 pm

The claim that God visited someone cannot be really argued because that is something between the person and his or her God. At the time of the 1987 coup Rabuka was a lay preacher for the RFMF Chapel in the Nabua Circuit of the Suva-Davuilevu Division. I do not believe in people who swear on the Bible - Jesus had said that a yes is to be a yes and a no a no - we should never make a promise because we are fallible and are likely to renege on a given promise. And because we are fallible sometimes our actions may not immediately appear to be sinful but in hindsight we see the injustice we have done and hence the need to ask for forgiveness from those we have wronged.

King Rat
2/7/2016 12:20:51 am

@ Walker

Rabuka said 'YES' when he put his hand on the Bible and said he would remain loyal. The significance of that act is that he swore allegiance on God's word. In 1987 he reneged and his punishment awaits him.

Welcome Home
1/7/2016 08:28:59 am

Nonsense. Forgiveness is a matter between God and an individual's conscience - their immortal soul. It might be expected that half the Fijian population namely women and girls are to be protected and shown respect. The respect and dignity to be afforded equally to any Fijian. Womanising, power-obsessed individuals whose conscience fails to ELICIT the truth and to account fully for historical wrongs, verifiable wrongs, may not feature in any Leadership Stakes. First, lead quietly by example, conscientiously, transparently and accountably under the Rule of Law and this must also mean International Human Rights Law under Conventions of the United Nations universally accepted. Women are not exempted nor excluded from this jurisdiction: mothers, grandmothers, widows, sisters, aunts: our female progenitors and without whose aegis we would have no life nor existence. That is The Truth!

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Tomasi
1/7/2016 09:54:17 pm

I am sure that many will agree that Fiji owes much of its greatest and precious assets to God. Had God been rejected from Fiji, we would have had a totally different history and a very precarious future. One only has to observe current world affairs and study world history objectively, to discern the truth that what we believe significantly determines who we are and what happens around us. We are spirit beings with human trappings. Our faith matters a lot, to the extent that it essentially controls our individual and corporate lives and actions, including governments, nations, companies, corporations, and the UN.
What am I talking about? When people like Rabuka are put under the national microscope for their political decisions and actions, people often blame God and judge Him rather than the person. This also applies to other people of faiths, such as the Muslims. But the difference between Christians and Muslims are as many as the leaves on a hundred coconut trees along the Coral Coast. The major difference is that Christians love and worship the God who loves and cares and understands us and our humanity. He commands us to love one another, just as He loves us. Hence the general peace and relative stability we enjoy in Fiji and other Christian nations. Allah, on the other hand, according to Mohammed, orders his followers to kill the infidels. Hence the holy war and never ending violence and misery in our Muslim world.

To our fellow citizens who are not Christians. Please be assured that we love you and care about you. We have given our lands and rivers and coastal and fishing rights for the benefit of our whole nation. We will continue to share with others what God had so freely given to us. Many of our fathers, brothers, families have died fighting in real wars to protect our country and our neighbours. Most of us have stood by your side during the political crisis in 1987 and 2000. We will continue to stand with you because that is what we believe is the right thing to do. For us, there is no other way but to love one another as God loves us.

Fiji has seen troubling days, but more serious troubles are coming. The Bible promises that perilous times shall come. Darker days are yet ahead. What we are going through today are mere entrees and trial runs to the main course. Bai and Khai are dictators, but if we do not act decisively to stop them, we must be prepared to suffer the consequences. To stop this dictatorship, we must also identify the real forces behind them that are propping them up. We must stop quarrelling amongst ourselves. The real enemies must be exposed and dealt with. Sowing confusion and disaster is a way of distracting us from seeing the truth and dealing with it.

We must demand that the PR contract to QORVIS be terminated and they must return to do their evil schemes in hell where they belong.

We must demand that all the foreigners who control our strategic bodies and decision making apparatus be removed and paid for their services. These organisations include FNPF, Fijian Holdings, Chief Justice, etc.

We must demand the repealing of all decrees that stifle or threaten our rights, freedoms, values and freedoms.

We must demand a national referendum on Khaiyum’s constitution.

We must demand an independent inquiry into Nur Bano Ali’s involvement in Ministerial salary payments to ministers in Baini’s military regime.

We must demand a complete and unreserved public apology and confession from the new SODELPA leader.

We must demand a complete and public apology from Voreqe Bainmarama about the real reasons and people behind the 2000 and 2006 coups.

We must demand that Bala be given his time in court to answer for the father whom he killed three years ago.

We must also demand a reconsideration of George Speight’s case, given the huge injustice he has suffered compared to the prime actors and planners of Fiji’s military coups.

We must demand that Parliament be allowed to hear debates and discussions without being dictated to by a Speaker or her handlers.

We must demand that national politicians affirm the truth they are our servants and not our rulers.

These are just some of the steps we must discuss and decide on if we are serious about restoring Fiji’s moral and spiritual foundations and integrity.

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On-Song
4/7/2016 06:36:27 am

Quite a 'Bucket List' Tomasi and quite significantly some very heavy shopping to do!! Most of the reactions (+&-) towards Rabuka today are borne out by those re-living their experiences of almost 30yrs ago and bugger-all meaning to most of the current 40yrs and under population. Many benefitted from the 1987 coup and a lot more from the 2000 & 2006 coups. Many citizens suffered in 1987 but a lot died in the last two. Thank you for the list you're given to help right things for our current generation - a good start indeed.

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