Vosarogo honours Girmit legacy in Nadi

Stories of sacrifice, resilience, and hope filled the Nadi Civic Centre as Fiji marked its 147th Girmit Day celebrations, with a powerful message from Acting PM, Filimoni Vosarogo, urging young Fijians to honour the past while boldly embracing the future.

Speaking during celebrations in Nadi, Vosarogo reflected on the extraordinary journey of the Girmitiyas, describing their story as one of courage, endurance, and quiet determination that helped shape modern Fiji.

“Today, we do not gather merely to remember hardship,” Vosarogo told the audience. “We gather to honour the quiet, unyielding courage that turned their adversity into one of the strongest foundations Fiji has ever known.”

He reminded those gathered that on 14 May 1879, the ship Leonidas arrived in Fiji carrying 463 men, women, and children under the Girmit system. Over the decades that followed, more than 60,000 others would make the same difficult journey in search of survival and opportunity.

Vosarogo described the Girmit flame as “resilience forged in sugarcane fields, dignity sustained through song and prayer, and community built where none was promised.”

While acknowledging the hardships endured under the indenture system, he praised the Girmitiyas for preserving their language, traditions, music, festivals, and identity while adapting to life in a new land.

“They did not simply survive; they shaped the economic and cultural architecture of Fiji,” he said, highlighting their contributions to agriculture, education, enterprise, and multiculturalism.

Around 20 descendants of the Girmitiyas attended the celebration and were presented with plaques by the Minister in recognition of their families’ legacy.

In one of the evening’s strongest messages, Vosarogo turned his attention to young people.

“To the young people here and watching, you are the wings,” he said. “Your ancestors gave you roots strong enough to support bold flight.”

He encouraged #Fiji’s youth to embrace technology, sustainability, and innovation while remaining grounded in their identity, values, and cultural heritage.

As Fiji faces modern challenges, including climate change and economic uncertainty, Vosarogo said the Girmit story remains a timeless lesson in unity, resilience, and hope.

“The Girmit journey, from the plains of India, across vast oceans, to the soils and shores of Fiji, and now toward new horizons, teaches us that humanity’s greatest achievements often emerge from the most improbable beginnings,” he said.

“May we carry the Girmit flame not as a burden of the past, but as a beacon for the future. Let that flame light our way, steady, bright, and never to be extinguished.”