GIRMAT DAY ORTAORY

“I feel somewhat like a mother concerned about the welfare of a married daughter
who has set up home far away.” Indira Gandhi, in Fiji, September 1981.

In particular for the Fiji Indians, May 14 is a significant day in Fijian history. The first ship,
Leonidas, arrived in Fiji on May 14, 1879, carrying 463 Indian indentured laborers who
would work primarily in the nation's sugar cane plantations as bonded laborers. These
workers would later be referred to as Girmit (a loose modification of the word "agreement").

60,495 Indian indentured workers were brought into Fiji during the indenture system's
existence (1879–1920), which lasted for a total of 108 years. They had to put in 12 hours of
work per day, Monday through Friday, and 5 hours on Saturdays in exchange for a daily
wage of 10 cents for men and 9 pence for women.

On May 14, 1879—144 years ago—the Girmits arrived in Fiji. This year's Girmit Day
will commemorate that event. In Fiji between 1879 and 1916, there may have been 60,965
Girmitya arrivals. The reintroduction of Girmit Day, according to Prime Minister
Sitiveni Rabuka, is intended to honor and recognize the Girmityas, their descendants, and
their proper place in Fijian history.

On January 1, 1920, girmit in Fiji came to an end, freeing the people there from
the shackles of slavery. The phrase "indentured worker" was misleading because it was
essentially slavery. It was a five-year contract, but the living and working conditions were
very similar to slavery.

Who lived in Fiji as Girmitiyas?

Indentured Indians in Fiji started referring to themselves as girmitiyas during the first decade
of their resistance to indenture; the term was borrowed from the English word for the
indenture contract; the "agreement" became the "girmit," and its subject, the girmitiya.

What brought the Girmit to Fiji?

The Leonidas, the first ship of the Girmit era, brought Indian indentured laborers to Fiji in
1879 to work on the nation's plantations. Their efforts paid off because their grandchildren
and great-grandchildren received the benefits of their labor.

The Girmits are who they claim to be.

The term "girmit" was an Indian pronunciation of the English word "agreement," which
came from the British government's "agreement" to indenture Indian laborers. The
agreements outlined the length of the workers' stays abroad and the
conditions surrounding their return to the British Raj.

Where are the Girmitiyas from originally?

A British colony called Fiji hired 60,965 Indians as indentured laborers to work on the
nation's sugarcane plantations. Because most of the laborers were illiterate, the system
became known as "Girmit" (derived from the word "agreement"), and the workers later

SALEYAH TASMIYA 13S KAMIL MUSLIM COLLEGE 2023

adopted the name "Girmitiyas.".

South Asians were initially sent to Fiji as indentured servants to work on sugar cane
plantations. A total of 60,000 South Asians arrived in Fiji between 1879 and 1916. Of those,
about 25,000 went back to South Asia.

The five-year indenture contract required the indentured workers to remain in Fiji for an
additional five years in order to be eligible for free return airfare to India.
Fiji had recorded the highest number of suicides worldwide due to the abhorrent working and
living conditions.
The majority of the Indian indentured workers who had survived the indenture period went
on to establish themselves as prosperous small-scale sugarcane farmers, making the sugar
industry the foundation of Fiji's economy up until the 1980s.

During the indenture period (1879-1920), both men and women, worked long hours in the
cane fields. The white overseer and his sardar would move around with whips in their hands
to see that the Indian labourers completed their allotted tasks before the end of the day.

Out of this experience came the story of Jhinki in verse form. She lived in Kavanagasau in
Sigatoka area. Her beauty attracted the attention of her masters who took pleasure in rebuking
her and occasionally beating her. One evening, in a complaining tone, she began to tell her
experience to other women:

Bipat Jhiniki ki suunay ko dayia

Sahiba hai bara pittaya
Hai apna sadar chuggal khore
Vayrun hai Ramdayia
(There is nobody to hear the troubles of Jhinki
The boss is a great beater
Ram dayia is my enemy
And sardar is a backbiter)

(Poems of indenture period by Jogindar Singh Kanwal - Remembering girmit days. From
a feature article in the Fiji Times about remembering girmit days, Monday May 16, 2016)

The two main islands of Fiji, Viti Levu and Vanua Levu, have an equal distribution of
the descendants of the Indian indentured laborers. While many families continue to
grow sugarcane, the younger generation has largely moved away from it, choosing instead to
pursue careers as lawyers, doctors, accountants, teachers, and tradespeople.

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Ironically, thousands of people left for other nations as a result of the military coups that
occurred again on May 14 of that year, 1987.

For Fijian Indians, May 14 brings up painful memories, but it also shows how resilient they
are to face adversity with courage, vision, and fortitude.

More significantly, this year also commemorates the 103rd anniversary of the termination of
the indenture system, which took place on January 1, 1920, marking both the 144th
anniversary of Girmit in Fiji and its more significant 103rd anniversary.
All indentured workers (girmitiyas, as they called themselves) were essentially freed from
their bonds by it.

Fiji Girmit Foundation will continue to promote and work on identity and census issues, but
we need our people to assume responsibility and do their part. As a result, when filling
out forms, please indicate that you are an Indian from Fiji or an Indian from India.

In Fiji, Hannah Dudley of the Methodist Mission who did remarkable work for the welfare of
the Indian women once remarked: "They arrived in the country, timid, fearful, not knowing
where they are to be sent. They are allotted to the plantations like so many dumb animals. If
they do not perform satisfactorily the work given to them, they are struck or fined or even
sent to jail. The life of the plantations alters their demeanour and even their very faces. Some
looked crushed and broken-hearted, others sullen, others hard and evil.

"I shall never forget the first time I saw indentured women when they were returning from
their day's work. The look on those women's faces haunts me."

Thank you all for listening. Shukriya. Dhaneywaad

SALEYAH TASMIYA 13S KAMIL MUSLIM COLLEGE 2023