Event To Remember Girmitiyas

The two-day Girmit Confer­ence this week will focus on documenting, research­ing, writing, and communicating the history of the Girmitiya, says event’s organising committee.

The two-day international confer­ence is the fourth such internation­al event to be organised in Fiji by the Global Girmit Institute.

It will be held at the University of the South Pacific in Suva on May 12 and 13.

President Ratu Wiliame Katoni­vere will open the event at 9am on Friday. It will be the largest gather­ing of top international scholars of Girmit in the world.

The objective is to facilitate dis­course related to documenting, re­searching, writing and communi­cating the history and lives of the girmitiya. There will be a special tribute to the late Professor Brij Lal. The themes are:

• Indenture database
• Documenting families, family histories and oral history
• Academic research on indenture
• Girmitiya fiction
• Publish girmitiya materials
• Music, dance, drama, movies, language, communication.
• General – other papers. Binding themes – Identity significance of Girmitiya identity.

Fees:

• Pacific Islands, Girmitiya Coun­try residents/India/Third World residents: $F50 (USD25). Other resi­dents: $200. Students, Unemployed, Retired: $5 per day. Observers from Pacific Islands, Third World Resi­dents: $50. Observers - First World Residents: $100, Day Rates: $40

Those interested can register at www.girmit.ac.fj.

The first group of indentured la­bourers arrived in Fiji from India onboard the MV Leonidas on May 14, 1879, followed by many others until the end of slavery in 1917.

Some returned to India after the end of their five-year contract while many opted to stay and call Fiji their new home.

The sponsors are Government, USP, Fiji National University, Uni­versity of Fiji, The Fiji Times, Pa­cific Polytech and Global Girmit Institute.

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Story by: jone.salusalu@fijisun.com.fj