USP Journalism online (new UTS host):
http://www.journalism.uts.edu.au/
USP Journalism ("mirror" of gagged site): http://www.sidsnet.org/pacific/usp/journ/
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Pasifik Nius editor's note: While this item from TCHE is accurate in its
general thrust and of general interest. There are some important factual
inaccuracies. USP has not yet made any appointment for its next
Vice-Chancellor. The protests took place before the attempted coup and
were based on the leaking of details from a confidential report. The
appointment of VC was discussed and deferred at a University Council
meeting in Vanuatu which ended on the day of the armed takeover of
Fiji's Parliament. Also, the reference to 200 buildings being destroyed
is not accurate. Police said 167 shops were looted and five shops were
burned in arson attacks. The headline is the original headline on the
TCHE article.
Ethnic tensions are on the rise at the regional University of the
South Pacific, in the Fijian capital Suva, mirroring those
that led to an attempted coup in Fiji, The Chronicle of
Higher Education reports.
Last month, scores of indigenous students, angered at the
recommended promotion of a Fiji Islander of Indian descent to be the
institution's chief executive, staged sit-ins.
A leading academic at the university said that the
institution faced a mass exodus of faculty members because of
ethnic turmoil in the island nation.
The coup was directed against the government of Prime Minister
Mahendra Chaudhry, who, along with others, was taken
hostage at the country's Parliament House. The military has
responded to the coup by taking control of the government,
although the rebels continued to hold hostages last week.
Meanwhile, Fiji witnessed unprecedented rioting, with
supporters of the ultranationalist Taukei Movement -- from
whose ranks the insurgents came -- destroying as many as 200
buildings.
Those events followed months of growing tensions between the
majority population of indigenous Fijians and the 43 percent
of those who trace their roots to Indian migrants who came to
Fiji as indentured laborers in the late 1800s.
Today, the Indo-Fijians play a leading role in the nation's
commerce and at its only university. That has led to
widespread resentment against their perceived good fortune,
not least because of the recent election of one of them, Mr
Chaudhry, as prime minister.
"Everybody knew there are unresolved ethnic issues here, but
nobody, I think, was prepared for what happened," said Dr Vijay
Naidu, a professor of development studies who is Indo-Fijian.
The University of the South Pacific serves 12 member countries
and territories across 20 million square miles of ocean. It
enrolls 4,700 full-time students and has about 300 faculty
members.
The university's recommended leader, Professor Rajesh Chandra, was
chosen over Savenaca Siwatibau, an indigenous Fijian economist. Amid
the current unrest, the university's council has deferred a final
decision
on the appointment.
Dr Naidu, a sociologist who was detained without trial during a
similarly
motivated outbreak 13 years ago, believes that the latest violence
suggested
that time is fast running out for Indo-Fijian educators.
"I believe the situation gives a very clear message that we're
not wanted," he said. "For Indo-Fijians, this could be time to
leave."
+++niuswire
Subject: [pasifik_nius] 2809 FIJI: Conflict 'puts university at risk' (revised)
Date: Tue, 20 Jun 2000 15:40:19 +1300
From: Journ12 <robie_d@usp.ac.fj>
Organization: Journalism, University of the South Pacific
To: Pasifik Nius <pasifik_nius@lists.c2o.org>
Title -- 2809 FIJI: Conflict 'puts university at risk' (revised)
Date -- 20 June 2000
Byline -- David Cohen
Origin -- Pasifik Nius
Source -- The Chronicle of Higher Education, http://chronicle.com, 9/6/00
Copyright -- TCHE
Status -- Unabridged
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