The Indian Political Problem in Fiji

Abstract

Most of the Indians in Fiji today are the descendants of indentured labourers brought from India to work on the sugar plantations. Few came as free immigrants. The history of Indian immigration must be seen against the background of nineteenth century emigration from India, the origin of which was, paradoxically, the sensible adjustment of native peoples of tropical countries to their environment. The plantation economy introduced by the European required a reliable source of cheap labour. The native peoples of tropical countries had no economic compulsion to work on the white man's plantations, nor had they in their cultural background the industry and drive necessary for sustained and regular work. It was necessary for the European planter to turn to forced labour or to other sources of cheap labour. The provision of this cheap labour was one of the functions of India in the British Imperial system in the nineteenth century. India was treated as a reservoir of cheap labour, but a reservoir which was tapped only as it served the needs of the colonies; relief of population pressure in India was never a serious motive.