Ranil Kumar 
[File Photo]
The Girmit system brought a large number of people from different parts of India to Fiji, and their descendants make up a significant portion of Fiji’s population today.
More than 60,000 Indians were brought to Fiji to work on the plantations.
Assistant linguistics lecturer at the University of the South Pacific Rajendra Prasad says the Girmityas not only helped Fiji produce sugar and cultivate the land but also helped the British rulers collect more revenue.
“They turned these barren lands into big, vast farms, and they actually not only helped Fiji, but through their intense, hard work in producing sugar, they helped the British Empire collect so much revenue from this tiny island of Fiji. And that was the whole intention of the British.”
Assistant linguistics lecturer at the University of the South Pacific Rajendra Prasad.
Prasad says that it is not just about sugar and development in the country; it is about the relationship that our forefathers built with the natives.
He adds that the contributions of the Girmityas are a big milestone that can never be disregarded.
