The attacks against me took me back to a time when I was deep in discussion with a member of the NCBBF who had been trying to get a province to understand what their cause was all about. The foolish chiefs of the province had, like the stubbornness of a donkey, outright rejected the charter and this had raised the ire of the NCBBF team. During my discussion with the member, I was intrigued to learn that Fijians will not go against their chiefs and their people. In fact, apart from the last coup where a Fijian dared to go against the will of his people, all coups that have taken place in the past, and very likely in the future, will be solely against the minority Indians who dominate most of the businesses and commercial outfits in the country.
Perhaps my comments on the blog were somewhat neutral and because the bloggers of Solivakasama prefer the usual racial diatribe, they cannot accept a foreigner coming into the show and making comments which they would not be able to make without resorting to racial overtones as a means of reinforcing their arguments. I have noticed this in NZ and Australia where the Maoris and Aboriginies constantly clamor about the loss of land rights and their way of life. Unfortunately, the more younger generation do not share this view and firmly believe in the ways of proper education and competition to achieve results - something which cannot be explained to their parents and grandparents who are under the false assumption that everything on the land they stand on is theirs and anything they desire should be handed to them on a silver platter.
I realize this blog may raise the ire of the reader as I may be accused of discussing sensitive issues without any consideration for race or traditional values however, it is my belief that the time for merely dressing up words is over and "a spade must be called a spade and nothing else" because when attempts are made to dress up words, they often mean no end of trouble. So what makes Fiji unique? Ethnic tension. The beauty of this concept is played out on the country's national television daily where self assumed prophets of the country such as Mahendra Chaudary and Frank Bainimarama hurl abuses at the Fijians for not doing enough for their society. The irony in all this is that Bainimarama is a through and through Fijian yet he seems to take great pleasure in insulting his own people and his chief along with the chiefs of other Fijians. Chaudary plays the race game so effectively that he has managed over the years to separate the Hindu's and Muslims to such a great extent that the two ethnic groups have become polarized to the effect where they now question why Muslims have more power then Hindu's in government and the upper echelons of society.
While the issue blinds the people of the country so largely, a foreigner will be easily able to discern the shards of hatred flowing through the nation in great waves - over the radio, on television and in print media. This probably explains why the matter has become so overshot that it can no longer be contained and has spilled out onto the Internet where it has become a fully out war with nothing held back. It's almost like watching wrestling - but with more gore and better colorful epithets.
To the global reader, this little rendition is meant to give you some clue as to what the current state of the nation is and what you should expect when visiting the country - make absolutely no attempt to praise one ethnic group more then the other or one of the following will happen to you:
- you will be robbed by the opposing group
- you will be arrested by the military and deported for disseminating racial messages.
- you will be beaten up, robbed and then taken either to a remote outpost and killed or left in a bush with little left on you.
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