The Methodist Church of Fiji is seeking forgiveness from the descendants of Indian indentured labourers, or Girmitiyas, for the transgressions of the last 36 years.

The racially motivated violent coups of 1987 and 2000 and the military coup d’état of December 2006 have left a permanent scar on race relations within the country.

The 1987 and 2000 coups were supported by the church’s then-leadership.

But in a historic move, the church is launching a 10-year campaign to heal the wounds of the past — starting with an apology to coincide with the inaugural Girmit Day celebrations next Sunday.

Reverend Ili Vunisuwai is leading the official apology at the national reconciliation service on May 14 as the head of the largest Christian denomination in Fiji.

“The time is right to launch a campaign for national reconciliation and give the people of all races a chance to confess their weaknesses,” Reverend Vunisuwai said.

“Let’s seek forgiveness from those they regard as their enemies. We strongly believe that by confession with pure hearts and humility, our transgression can be forgiven,” he said.

“As we look back, the dark days of social upheavals of coups of 1987, 2000 as well as 2006, and then, unfolding events of hatred and discrimination, which resulted in fear and uncertainties, I think there’s a lot to be done by the church to bring the two races together.”

The timing of the event has much significance as the country of under a million people marks 144 years since the arrival of the first of more than 60,000 indentured labourers or Girmitiyas as they later came to be known.

Girmitiyas were brought to Fiji between 1879 to 1916 by British colonial rulers to work in plantations across the island.

As a result of the indentured labour system, Fijians of Indian descent make up the second largest ethnic population in Fiji today — slightly over 34 percent, while the iTaukei or indigenous people comprise 62 percent.

Chair to the Girmit Celebrations, Assistant Minister for Women Sashi Kiran, is calling the apology efforts a start of a peaceful future for the nation.

‘We acknowledge the pain’
‘I’m very humbled, and I’m very, very touched at the strength of the Committee and of the leadership of the Methodist Church,” Kiran told RNZ Pacific.

“They’re willing to look at the problem in the eye and say, ‘Well, let’s talk about it. We apologise, we can’t change the past, but we are sorry for the hurt that we have caused’.”

But while Kiran accepts the apology from the church, she acknowledges that many in the Indo-Fijian community may not be ready.

“Any pain cannot be underrated,” she said. “What people went through was their pain, and it’s their journey so by no means can we judge what people are feeling or going through”

“We acknowledge the pain. We acknowledge the pain of the past,” she added.

However, she admits that events of the past cannot be undone, and the way forward is through healing.

“In the interest of healing the nation, in the interest of future generations that they born into a healed nation…we ask you to please open your hearts and open your inner feelings,” she appealed to Fijians.

“Let’s talk about it [past atrocities], and let’s work on healing and come into that space.”

She said it was also “okay” for those people who still “need time” to heal from the racial troubles, adding “at least we begin to talk about this.”

Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka, who has publicly apologised for his actions in 1987 repeatedly, accepts that many will still remember the dark past that made him notorious worldwide.

“The man that we did not want to know about, we shied away from his name, addressed us…and he does not bite, he’s not an angry young man,” Rabuka told the 12th World Hindi Conference in Nadi in February.

“He is just an old man who understands the feelings of the descendants of the Girmitiyas who are now his age, looking at their grandchildren and children growing up in the land they now call home.”

RNZ Pacific asked Reverend Vunisuwai why it has taken the Methodist Church of Fiji 35 years to apologise to the Indo-Fijian community?

“The current government has allowed the celebration of the Girmitiyas, and that’s probably a good time for national reconciliation regarding all the upheavals of the past 30 years or so.”

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

Misuse of funds, dictatorial leadership and lack of consultation displayed by some Methodist Church leaders in Fiji is “a worrying trend”, says church president Reverend Ili Vunisuwai.

He highlighted this and lifestyle concerns — including the abuse of kava — during the Methodist Church in Fiji and Rotuma’s annual conference yesterday.

Reverend Vunisuwai said leadership without respect and humility would push the congregation to search for other places of worship where their voices could be heard.

“Reports and complaints have been received at the head office regarding the misuse of funds in our churches,” he said.

“This is a serious concern as it can end up in the court of law.

“I hereby plead to uphold our Christian values with respect and humility to move forward in improving the leadership status of our church.”

Reverend Vunisuwai also emphasised the need for church members to be mindful of their lifestyles as many ministers had died prematurely.

“Some have passed on while others have been affected with non-communicable diseases (NCDs),” he said.

“We need to be mindful of our lifestyle, especially our eating habits, excessive consumption of kava, staying up late at night, and not having enough rest.”

He called on the congregation to implement the three pillars of the church’s 10-year strategic plan — physical well-being, good leadership and creating awareness for climate change.

Wata Shaw is a Fiji Times reporter. Republished with permission.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz

A group of church ministers in Fiji have resigned because they do not want to be vaccinated against covid-19.

There has been growing pressure on the clergy to get the injections since the Fiji government’s “No jab, no job” policy for public servants was announced last June.

The Methodist Church said this week 11 of its pastors had tendered their resignations.

The church’s secretary, Reverend Wilfred Regunamada, said the ministers were not forced to resign but had done so of their own free will.

“And in between that deadline, the church continued to call and ask them if they had changed their decision,” he said.

“Those who have not changed and made their decision, the church in the various circuits or the divisions that they were in, farewelled them very well. ”

Reverend Regunamada said the church respected their decision and the vacant positions would be filled by other lay preachers and theology students within the church.

Methodist Church the largest
The Methodist Church is the largest Christian denomination in Fiji, with 36.2 percent of the total population (300,000) including 66.6 percent of indigenous Fijians.

In October last year, 10 ministers of the Christian Mission Fellowship Church quit over their refusal to be vaccinated.

At the time, Reverend Regunamada, then the Methodist Church’s secretary for communications and overseas mission, said they had not laid off any of their ministers nor had anyone been forced to resign.

“Currently, we are carrying out awareness for our ministers and they are being given time, until November, to get their vaccines.

“The church’s stand is mainly to ensure the safety of its members which means that its ministers, who are servants of the people, need to be vaccinated first.

“At the moment, those that have not been vaccinated have been requested not to partake in any church services but have been advised to stay in their own homes and they are still being paid,” Reverend Regunamada said.

Remaining 8 percent tough to vax, says ministry
Meanwhile, Fiji’s Health Ministry is finding it hard to vaccinate the remaining eight percent of the adult population against covid-19.

Health Secretary Dr James Fong said they continued to receive requests for vaccine exemption from people with medical comorbidities, particularly non communicable diseases (NCDs).

He said the medical condition of these people required vaccination “and granting the exemption is not an option for any qualified medical person”.

“We have noted how difficult it is to increase our vaccination coverage for the last 8 percent of our adult population, despite the increased risk of severe outcomes in this group,” Dr Fong said.

He said community support was needed to sustain the impact of their efforts.

“While we will continue to do our part to promote and deploy vaccines, we need community support to sustain the impact of our efforts especially to the vulnerable within this 10 percent.

“It is a grave concern that we continue to receive requests for vaccine exemption from persons with medical comorbidities, especially NCDs.”

Booster dose programme
As of February 14, 574,700 of Fiji’s adult population had been fully vaccinated, the Health Ministry stated.

The booster dose programme began at the end of November 2021. As of February 14, 91,414 individuals had received booster doses of the Moderna vaccine and 60 people got the Pfizer dose.

Dr Fong said for the month of February, 175,558 more people had become eligible for booster doses.

“We are targeting to cover all these eligible individuals in the days ahead. Please come forward to get your booster (third dose) vaccine if you are aged 18 or over and it has been at least 5 months since your second dose.”

Fiji has 141 active cases of covid-19 in isolation while the death toll is at 820.

This article is republished under a community partnership agreement with RNZ.

Article by AsiaPacificReport.nz