The Methodist Church in Fiji and Rotuma appeals to George Speight, his group
and supporters to free the hostages they hold in the
Parliament complex in Suva. The Church recognises and accepts the reality of
the situation and speaks on the issue from this
perspective. It condemns the illegal take-over of Mr Mahendra Chaudhry's government
as well as the inhumane and degrading
treatment of its members by being held in captivity. It denounces the destruction
and looting of businesses in Suva and other areas,
the loss of the life of a policeman in rioting in the city, and lawlessness
in other parts of the nation. The Church extends its sympathy
to members of the Indian community for being targeted in the mass attacks, destruction,
and looting.
The Church supports His Excellency the President, Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara, and
the Great Council of Chiefs in their efforts to
break the stalemate in the hostage situation and to craft a constitutional and
just solution to the political crisis. We believe the
President's decision to step aside for 21 days to allow martial law to be imposed
in the nation is necessary, because of the rapid
deterioration in the law and order situation. On our assessment, this step must
be taken to impose the rule of law and to restore
constitutional government.
We are saddened and ashamed of the lawlessness and violence. We take the responsibility
of failing to teach our people, who make
up the majority of the perpetrators and supporters in these unlawful activities.
But the Church believes something bigger is
happening in this crisis -- it is about cultural understanding. More effort
and energy should be directed at cultivating cultural
understanding. We hope that in the near future the Indian community can find
forgiveness for their attackers and look beyond the
anger and frustration of this moment, to explore, articulate and resolve with
the indigenous people a common sense of insecurity they
share in this land.
The Church constitutes the largest Christian denomination in Fiji, most members
being indigenous Fijians, and Christianity is the
religion with the biggest following. This statement is issued from this position.
The Methodist Church in Fiji and Rotuma wishes to
make it categorically clear that its leadership is united in its condemnation
of the illegal makeover of government, the destruction and
looting of businesses in Suva and other parts of Fiji, the killing of a policeman
and the wounding of three other people, and the
general hostility directed at the Indian community. It is undivided in its support
of the President and the Great Council of Chiefs in
seeking a constitutional and just solution to the hostage situation and the
political crisis.
The Fijians being the perpetrators of these activities, the focus of this statement
is on an indigenous perspective. Several theological
responses may be made to the coup attempt and the lawlessness which attended
this crisis. The responses relate to issues which
include the following:
Other issues may be raised from the perspectives of Indians and other groups
in this nation. Of the issues listed here, the Church
believes that consideration of the indigenous identity question should be given
priority, and this ought to be done responsibly as part
of the solution to this crisis and to light the path to Fiji's future. This
immediate statement does not address all these issues.
The impoverishment and disaffection of Fijians is evident in the large number
of supporters which the hostage-takers have attracted
in the parliament grounds, enabling them to create a human shield of civilians
against any armed intervention by the military. If an
individual breaks the law, we might be content with a psychological explanation
for his deviance. When many people take part, as
they have, in unlawful activities, we must look further into society for explanation.
Former Prime Minister Mahendra Chaudhry wanted his legacy to Fiji to be a substantial
improvement in the standard of living of the
indigenous people. But his detractors described some of his proposals as based
on dishonest motives of alienating indigenous land.
The depressed indigenous economic and political condition, as a commentator
has noted, is not the result of 12 months of leadership
by Fiji's first Indian premier. On this view, it is the result of 30 years of
modern indigenous Fijian leadership which has sacrificed
the economic and cultural well-being of a people for the advancement of a few.
George Speight's coup attempt and the public
response to it is viewed in this perspective as a symptom of complex contradictions
and competing interests facing indigenous Fijian
society today.
"My name is Legion; for we are many," (Mark 5: 9) the possessed man
told Jesus Christ when He asked him his name in an
exorcism story from the scriptures. The man with the unclean spirit lived among
the tombs; and no one could bind him any more,
even with a chain. In another context, however, we are told that one exorcism
may not be adequate. "And when he comes he finds it
(the house) swept and put in order. Then he goes and brings seven other spirits
more evil than himself, and they enter and dwell
there; and the last state of that man becomes worse than the first." (Luke
11: 25-26)
After the first two coups in 1987, a new Constitution was promulgated in 1990
and parliamentary government reinstated. A review of
that Constitution was undertaken and a fresh Constitution enacted in 1997, based
on the exciting vision of a truly multicultural and
dynamic society. Now, in kidnapping democratically elected Prime Minister Mahendra
Chaudhry and his Cabinet, it has been said,
George Speight has taken hostage of much of the hope and potential Fiji had
at the turn of the century to become a nation united.
Indigenous identity
The matter of Fijian identity is a key element which is wrapped up in the current
crisis of government and the rule of law. Fijian
collective consciousness is made up of the inseparable union among the three
strands of vanua (land), Lotu
(Church) and Matanitu (State). Their union is so complete that if one is affected,
the whole is affected.
Vanua has physical, social and cultural dimensions which are inter-elated, as
a local anthropologist has pointed out. It denotes the
land area one is associated with, the flora and fauna, and other objects on
it. It includes the social and cultural system -- the people,
their traditions and customs, beliefs and values, and social institutions. Its
social and cultural dimensions are a source of security and
confidence. It is the locality over which the ancestral spirits linger and watch
over the affairs of their living descendants. For most
Fijians, to part with the vanua is tantamount to parting with their lives.
Fijians categorise the population or inhabitants of the country, or any locality
or village into two main divisions. A person is either a
taukei (indigene or owner) or vulagi (visitor or foreigner) in any place. It
is a relationship of mutual obligations and clearly defined
roles in which one does not count or begrudge his or her contribution to communal
life. Depending on the goodwill of the people
involved, it can be a gracious partnership of host and guest, or a hostile relationship
of landlord and tenant.
Methodism (the Lotu) has contributed significantly towards improving the social
life of Fijians, the missionaries beginning this work
by. The missionaries, like the government, enlisted the help of chiefs in their
work. The Church brought peace, unity, economic and
political development. Methodism gave Fijians a written language. It pioneered
Fijian education at all levels: primary, secondary,
adult education, Bible schools, technical, agricultural, health and vocational
education. It promoted education for girls, by setting up
schools for them. The vakatawa (catechists) and vakavuvuli (teachers) took the
Gospel to all comers of Fiji, so that Fijians
evangelised Fijians. Even while this happened, Fijian missionaries took the
Good News to the Western Pacific -- Papua New Guinea,
the Solomons, and what is now Vanuatu.
The close relationship between vanua and Lotu during the last one a half century
in Fiji has always been greatly appreciated and
valued for it brought about much needed unity among the Fijian people in the
early days. Their link and relative harmony helped
promote civilisation and well-being in islands and villages and continues to
do so.
Now the indigenous people are being challenged to reconcile global standards
of human rights against the specific Fijian situation.
On the one hand, there is the democratic principle of "one man, one vote
and one value" and the Christian principle of equality. On
the other hand, the indigenous people have cultural values of a stratified society
of chiefs and commoners, confederacies and vassal
provinces, and taukei and vulagi.
Three years ago, in a public statement on the constitutional review, the Methodist
Church warned indigenous leaders not to be lulled
by the relative harmony their people enjoy. It said that this calm could become
a new form of escape from reality if the poor, the
powerless and the marginalised are not justly treated. In the developing political
situation, it called on Fijian leaders to move beyond
the so-called point of harmony of vanua and Lotu to address the plight of the
growing number of poor and powerless Fijians.
The cleavage of the two institutions from the beginning would have been disastrous
and there would not have been a Fijian race. The
problem now seems to lie on the level of differentiation -- in distinguishing
between what is and what ought to be. The absence of
such a distinction will result in the loss of a sense of direction towards the
creation of community. To address this distinction must
be part of the Church contribution to the way forward for Fiji.
This text may have been edited to protect the writer.
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