UniFiji commemorates Girmit Day with the launch of 'Landings'

The University of Fiji started the national Girmit celebrations on a high note by officially launching a collection of poems, prose and reflections called 'Landings' at its Saweni Campus.

While launching the book, the University’s Vice Chancellor, Professor Shaista Shameem says 'Landings' was a metaphor for journeys as well as landings, as without a journey there couldn't be an arrival.

Professor Shameem says the editors were able to collect several unique contributions from diverse disciplines at the University, both staff and students, indicating the accessibility of the book to everyone.

She further says the University through its social science and law faculties, post-graduate research was also studying the constitutional positioning of Girmit in the international legal framework which began with Lord Salisbury's Despatch through to the Deed of Cession, subsequently our independence documents and the various constitutions of Fiji from 1970 to 2013.

Professor Shameem says they feel that it is time to move towards a deeper analysis of the circumstances of Girmit by assessing it through the lens of international labour mobility throughout the centuries.

She says the University was pleased to join the national Girmit celebrations by deeply considering the academic and intellectual perspectives within Girmit studies which included sociology, law, expression, history, heritage, partnerships and praxis- a combination of theory and practice.

Professor Shameem adds the University will fully take part in all government activities throughout the week-long Girmit celebrations.

The book was published by the Uni Fiji Press to mark Girmit Day 2024 while the Head of the Language and Literature Department of the School of Humanities and Arts, Dr Kamala Naiker edited it with academic Manpreet Kaur.