It was in the sugar cane plantations of Fiji that Fijian Hindi developed about 100 years ago. Now, Fijian-Indians in New Zealand want to make sure their unique language stays alive — and they’re asking the Government for support.
To coincide with Fijian language week between October 3 and 9, the Fiji Girmit Foundation hosted a competition encouraging youth to celebrate Fiji Hindi and held a workshop about identity and language.
But, because the Ministry of Pacific People’s funding for the language week only extends to Fiji’s indigenous Vosa Vakaviti, they had to do it out of their own pockets and through their own fundraising.
It’s something the foundation’s president, Krish Naidu, said was especially challenging during Covid-19.
“You can’t have a language week that does not appreciate the diversity of the main languages spoken in Fiji,” Naidu said.
“Previously, we asked the Ministry [of Pacific Peoples] for funding as part of its Pacific language weeks, and we were told that Fijian Hindi wasn’t a heritage language. So, we’ve taken responsibility on our own shoulders to do this at our own cost and resource.
“It’s tough because it takes a lot of energy and time to coordinate something when you don’t have the support of the Ministry.”
While New Zealand does celebrate Hindi language week, Fjian Hindi has some distinctions from Standard Hindi.
“For us, the Fijian-Indian community, Fiji Hindi is our first language … and it’s unique to the Pacific,” Naidu said.
While under British rule, more than 60,000 people from India were taken to Fiji as bonded workers between 1879 and 1916. They became known as the Girmitiyas, from the English word “agreement”, and mostly worked in Fiji’s sugar cane plantations.
Because the workers had come from various parts of India, Fijian Hindi — a combination of Hindi varieties, Fjian and English — developed to ease communication. Now, the language is used by both Fijian-Indians and iTaukei alike.
Naidu said he wanted to wait until after Fijian language week and Fiji Day on October 10 to speak out because he didn’t want to take attention away from the week’s celebrations.
He added that the disappointment he felt about Fijian language week stemmed from his belief that it was one of several examples where his people had been “sidelined”.
A question of identity
As New Zealand continues to try and increase its Covid-19 vaccination rate, the Fiji Girmit Foundation is encouraging its community to get the jabs by creating resources in Fiji Hindi.
However, Naidu doesn’t know what proportion of Fijian-Indians in New Zealand have been vaccinated against the virus.
“We are not part of the planning or strategising for the Covid response. We don’t even have data on how many Fijian-Indians have been vaccinated,” he said.
“I also asked a question around what happens to Covid cases for people of Fijian-Indian background. Is it classified under Asian or Pacific?”
The Ministry of Health confirmed to 1News it didn’t record vaccination data for Fijian-Indians ; it recorded data for Fijians and Indians separately.
In other areas it collects data, the Government classifies the tens of thousands of Fijian-Indians living in New Zealand as Asians.
Naidu said Fijian-Indians should be considered Pacific people because that would better reflect the needs of his community and the support they should be getting.
“There’s a misconception that all Fijian-Indians are rich or well-off, and that’s not true. There are people in our community who are struggling.”
He said the Fijian-Indian community faced issues with mental health, diabetes, and heart disease. He said some health issues could also be traced back to living in Fiji.
But, it was difficult to get a picture of the extent of the situation because of the lack of data specific to Fijian-Indians, Naidu said. In addition, the tendency to aggregate data under the umbrella term “Asian” can mask the needs of individual communities .
“We miss out on both sides — we miss out on the Asian side because we get diluted — then we miss out on the Pacific side. It’s hard,” Naidu said.
“[The Government’s] Pacific framework around suicide, mental health, intervention strategies, food, drugs, bullying — we’re not part of it.
“There are at-risk youth in our community who have not been picked up and not been supported by the system.
“We cannot go around begging to individual agencies. Support needs to have a macro-level Government approach giving us recognition.”
In May this year, the Fiji Girmit Foundation lodged a complaint with the Human Rights Commission. In it, they claimed their people were being discriminated against by the Ministry of Pacific Peoples.
Naidu said the Ministry of Pacific Peoples should serve all people from the Pacific.
“We’re not asking to be considered indigenous people ... we’re asking the Government to give us formal recognition as Pacific people,” he said.
“We proud of our heritage as an Asian group from India. But, that doesn't mean our Pacific identity must be denied.
“I’m proud of my Asian heritage. We have multiple identities. It’s about celebrating those multiple identities and questioning where we are missing out on support and help and resources and opportunities.
“It’s also about mana and dignity. It’s not just about the tangible things — it’s about identity, it’s about belonging, it’s about people’s mental health.”
The Ministry for Pacific Peoples said it was considering the legal advice it received about the Fiji Girmit Foundation’s claim to the Human Rights Commission.
“The Ministry for Pacific Peoples has actively engaged with the Human Rights Commission to provide updates on the Ministry’s response to claim,” a spokesperson said.
“It’s not possible to comment further on that matter – or any related matters – at present.”
The Human Rights Commission said it wouldn’t be appropriate to comment on the situation while the complaint was being worked through.
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