Fiji PM's Rohtak connection
From Jatinder Sharma
Tribune News Service

ROHTAK, May 21 — Mr Mahender Chaudhary, who was sworn is as the Prime Minister of Fiji on May 19, hails from Bahu-Jamalpur village, 7 km from here.

Residents of the village distributed sweets and burst crackers as soon as they learnt that a "son" of their village had become the Prime Minister of Fiji.

When this correspondent visited the village today, he found that everybody felt pride in claiming that Mr Chaudhary belonged to the village. Almost the entire village gathered in minutes to volunteer details about Mr Chaudhary and his family.

The overjoyed residents will meet to invite Mr Chaudhary to visit his native village as soon as possible. "We are celebrating the occasion like Divali," said Mr Sultan Singh, who stated that he was a cousin of the Fiji Prime Minister.

Mr Ram Parsad (92), perhaps the oldest resident, said that Mr Ram Nath, grandfather of Mr Chaudhary, was among thousands of indentured Indian labourers who were brought to Fiji to work on sugarcane plantations owned by Europeans. Although he did not remember the exact year, it was in the beginning of the century.

When Mr Ram Nath left for Fiji, he was in his twenties and unmarried. He married a Fijian woman and had two sons and a daughter from her. Mr Chaudhary, he said, was a son of the eldest of his two sons, Mr Krishan Gopal.

Mrs Raj Kumari, daughter of Mr Ram Nath, came to India and settled here. She worked as a teacher in a private school and died several years ago.

Mr Ram Nath, according to the residents, returned to his native village in 1960 along with his wife and two sons, Mr Krishan Gopal and Mr Ram Gopal. While the wife and the sons returned to Fiji after spending a few months in Bahu-Jamalpur, Mr Nath stayed back to look after the land owned by the family.

Mr Mahender Chaudhary and his family own 9 acres in the village, including a garden. His cousin, Mr Sultan Singh, said the land belonged to the family of Mr Chaudhary and they were acting as custodians so that it was not grabbed.

Mr Ram Nath, said the residents, died in 1962. Mr Gopal Krishan, his eldest son, came here to perform kirya and stayed for some days. Since then, none of the members of family of the late Mr Ram Nath had visited the village.

Interestingly, Fiji has a population of 8.22 lakh of whom approximately 50 per cent are descendants of the Indian workers who had settled permanently in the islands. The Melanesians, the original inhabitants of the islands, comprise 43 per cent of the population. The rest are Europeans, Chinese and others.

Fiji was granted independence by the British Government on October 10, 1970. In October, 1987, the military strongman, Col Sitiveni Rabuka declared Fiji a republic, defying the popularly elected government of Dr Thimoci Ravandra, leader of the majority Indian ethnic group. Later, a civilian government was restored to power.

In July 1990, the Constitution was brought into force vide which the posts of President and Prime Minister were reserved for indigenous Fijians. However, 27 seats were reserved for Indians in the 70-member Parliament of the country.

However, after a gap of seven years, the Senate approved a non-racial Constitution in July, 1997, that removed restrictions on the political power of the Indian community.