Mahendra Chaudhry
39 quotes
Biography
Mahendra Pal Chaudhry is a Fijian politician and the leader of the Fiji Labour Party. Following a historic election in which he defeated the long-time former leader, Sitiveni Rabuka in a landslide, the former trade union leader became Fiji's first Indo-Fijian Prime Minister on 19 May 1999, but exactly one year later, on 19 May 2000 he and most of his Cabinet were taken hostage in the Fiji coup of 2000 by coup leader George Speight.
"I was born here. I am not a foreigner here. I have every right to fight for this country. We are not going to subjugate ourselves to a constitution … signing away all our rights and agreeing to be slaves."
"There is absolutely no doubt that our future as a nation, lies in drawing strength from the richness of the cultural diversity that surrounds us, for in that alone lies our sustainability and viability as a sovereign state."
"It is part of our identity as Hindus and the Festival of Lights is today a celebration of the beauty of our culture, our Hindu values which, let me assure you, are second to none in the world."
"We as a community have become so immersed in rituals and hundreds of paraphernalia when it comes to religion that we are no longer aware of the real wisdom of Hinduism."
""This nation made a mistake the first time it granted amnesty to the perpetrators of the 1987 coup. The trust and confidence we showed then was sadly displaced. This time around, we must take a hard line attitude to those who think they can overthrow a democratically-elected government with impunity. We have to stamp out this coup-culture that has developed in Fiji." (20 May 2005)"
""It is disgraceful that the Prime Minister should deceive Church leaders to get their support for the Bill. He then had the audacity to mislead the nation by claiming that the Bill had the support of Christians." (Commenting on allegations made by Roman Catholic Archbishop Petero Mataca that Qarase had misled church leaders about the true contents of the legislation)."
""It is wrong for others to be asking for forgiveness on behalf of those who had committed the crime because it is not right." (29 June 2005)"
""The current provisions in the Bill purporting to promote reconciliation are seriously flawed. There should be clear provisions for those appearing before the reconciliation commission to admit the truth under oath and to divulge all that they know about the events of 2000." (2 August 2005)"
""Without [the coup perpetrators] divulging the information they have, there can not really be any reconciliation. It will merely be a vehicle for them to escape justice as is the provision in the current Bill. There is no compulsion on them to come and tell the truth to the Commission about what actually happened, who were behind it, who were the key figures?" (2 August 2005)"
"If the trend continues, Fiji will be left with a large pool of poorly educated, unskilled work force with disastrous consequences on our social and economic infrastructure and levels of investment."
"A lack of good governance, political instability, declining law and order situation, racial discrimination and lack of opportunities are the major reasons driving people away from Fiji."
"All too often, problems are left to simmer until too late, with disastrous consequences to the people who become victims of the excesses committed on them by self-centred and self-serving leaders."
"To hide behind culture or tradition to justify anarchy is a gross insult to the very people whose culture or tradition may be paraded to glorify criminal conduct."
"I firmly believe that you all should identify yourselves as Fijian Americans, Fijian Canadians even though this right of being called a Fijian is denied to us (except the indigenous people) in our homeland of Fiji."
"It (North America) has drawn heavily from the strength of each community of its people to build the richest and the most powerful nations on earth. You are privileged and fortunate to be in a land that recognises and rewards individual talent and enterprise."
"These coups did not bolster indigenous rights as claimed by its perpetrators instead they left us a legacy of a shattered economy, lost opportunities, racial rivalries and tensions, political divisiveness, unprecedented levels of poverty and unemployment and so on - yes that is exactly what the three coups have reduced our nation to."
"The 18 years since 1987 brought us nothing but bad leadership and bad governance."
"Viewed against such a backdrop, there is creeping anxiety about the future of our nation, characterised as it is by deep communal divisions and a disturbingly high rate of out-migration of our skilled people."
"You have the choice to be governed by those who aim to keep us segregated in racial compartments so they can continue to enjoy their privileged status in society, at your expense."
"If you as the voters exercise this choice then you must remain content with whatever has come your way in the past four years under the Soqosoqo Duavata ni Lewenivanua rule. But no, you must indeed be prepared to face even worst times because under the SDL there will be more instability and divisiveness. The economy will dip further, more and more people will be leaving our shores and the resources of the indigenous people will continue to be shamelessly exploited by bureaucrats, unscrupulous politicians and their collaborators for their own gain."
"I have always held the belief that Fijians must be integrated into the mainstream of national life. You can't keep them isolated from the other communities and from the mainstream of life and expect them to progress."
"The status quo is not good for the ordinary Fijians. It is good for the elites in society but not for the ordinary Fijians. This is why you have not seen the ordinary Fijians progress much in the last 35 years since independence. It needs a change in policy and strategies for the development of the grassroots Fijian people."
"A more individual approach to society must be taken. That is an incentive based system which will ensure that given the appropriate training, guidance and advice they will progress through such are system as other communities have."
"You can still fulfil your traditional obligations but the contradiction in the system between the communal approach and the free market approach needs to be addressed."
"Culture is also something that can not be stagnant."