  |   |
The police have suddenly revoked the permit for Saturday’s Hindu Unity Gathering, forcing organizers to cancel the spiritual event planned. Organiser Sandeep Singh said police first approved the permit on July 31.
He said they then recalled it on August 1 for amendments and finally revoked it without giving any reason.
“As citizens of a democratic society, we have the right to transparency. This is unacceptable.”
Singh explained that over $15,000 was already spent, with more than 2,000 devotees expected, including visitors from Vanuatu. He states this decision has shocked the Hindu community and raised questions about transparency. The gathering aimed to promote unity, interfaith respect, and speak on issues like drugs and domestic violence. Singh is urging Hindus to chant Hanuman Chalisa at home instead.
The organising committee says it will follow all legal steps in future and stresses its only goal is to bring people together in faith. In response, Policing Minister Iowane Naivalurua confirmed receiving information from the police regarding the withdrawn permit, further stating that it is within the jurisdiction of the police to make changes in permit issuance.
He said they then recalled it on August 1 for amendments and finally revoked it without giving any reason.
“As citizens of a democratic society, we have the right to transparency. This is unacceptable.”
Singh explained that over $15,000 was already spent, with more than 2,000 devotees expected, including visitors from Vanuatu. He states this decision has shocked the Hindu community and raised questions about transparency. The gathering aimed to promote unity, interfaith respect, and speak on issues like drugs and domestic violence. Singh is urging Hindus to chant Hanuman Chalisa at home instead.
The organising committee says it will follow all legal steps in future and stresses its only goal is to bring people together in faith. In response, Policing Minister Iowane Naivalurua confirmed receiving information from the police regarding the withdrawn permit, further stating that it is within the jurisdiction of the police to make changes in permit issuance.
In today’s Fiji, the police are entertaining a permit application from a convicted fraudster who seeks to march against the very Constitution that protects him — while revoking a permit for peaceful Hindu citizens to hold a unity gathering rooted in prayer, nonviolence, and spiritual reflection.
This is not merely a lapse in judgment. It is the latest expression of a pattern of institutional bias, one that has its roots in the first military coup of 14 May 1987, when Sitiveni Rabuka and ten hooded soldiers --- including current Police Minister Iowane Naivalurua --- stormed Parliament and overthrew Fiji’s first multiracial elected government.
That coup did not just remove a government. It unleashed violence, rape, beatings, and terror against Indo-Fijians, and set into motion a campaign of religious and ethnic persecution: Hindu temples and mosques were desecrated, Indo-Fijian homes and businesses were targeted, and a “Sunday observance ban” was enforced in the name of Christianity --- while Rabuka referred to Hindus and Muslims as “pagans.”
And now, as history echoes loudly, those who should speak out remain silent. Most striking is Deputy Prime Minister Biman Prasad --- a Hindu and self-proclaimed advocate for multiculturalism --- who has offered no protest, no objection, and no defence of the very community whose rights are being trampled. His silence is not neutrality. It is political self-preservation.
For if Biman Prasad dares to open his mouth, Sitiveni Rabuka might well hand him over to FICAC --- not for justice, but for leverage. In the new Fiji, compromise has become complicity.
This is not merely a lapse in judgment. It is the latest expression of a pattern of institutional bias, one that has its roots in the first military coup of 14 May 1987, when Sitiveni Rabuka and ten hooded soldiers --- including current Police Minister Iowane Naivalurua --- stormed Parliament and overthrew Fiji’s first multiracial elected government.
That coup did not just remove a government. It unleashed violence, rape, beatings, and terror against Indo-Fijians, and set into motion a campaign of religious and ethnic persecution: Hindu temples and mosques were desecrated, Indo-Fijian homes and businesses were targeted, and a “Sunday observance ban” was enforced in the name of Christianity --- while Rabuka referred to Hindus and Muslims as “pagans.”
And now, as history echoes loudly, those who should speak out remain silent. Most striking is Deputy Prime Minister Biman Prasad --- a Hindu and self-proclaimed advocate for multiculturalism --- who has offered no protest, no objection, and no defence of the very community whose rights are being trampled. His silence is not neutrality. It is political self-preservation.
For if Biman Prasad dares to open his mouth, Sitiveni Rabuka might well hand him over to FICAC --- not for justice, but for leverage. In the new Fiji, compromise has become complicity.
"If I raise my FINGER, Rabuka will send me to FICAC." |  |
1987 and 2000 Coups Began with a March: Fiji’s History Warns Us About What Comes Next when iTaukei Take to the Street in Guise of Protest
When self-appointed iTaukei patriots take to the streets in Fiji — often wrapped in flags and shouting about “indigenous rights” - history teaches us to look not at their slogans but at their destination. Because in 1987, and again in 2000, it began with marches - and ended with overthrown governments, burned temples and mosques, beaten minorities, and suspended constitutions.
Now, as another so-called unity march awaits police approval, led by a convicted fraudster, the alarm bells should ring again. And the silence from those in power, especially from those who should know better, is deafening.
Now, as another so-called unity march awaits police approval, led by a convicted fraudster, the alarm bells should ring again. And the silence from those in power, especially from those who should know better, is deafening.
 |   |
  |  |
Nawaikula and his lot want 2013 Constitution gone, and with it s131 (2)
