BY JAMES VASSILOPOULOS & BILL MASON
"What do we want? Democracy! When do we want it? Now!", chanted 250 Indian-Fijians and their supporters at a rally outside Parliament House in Canberra on May 31.
The protest, organised by the Movement for Democracy and Human Rights in Fiji, was addressed by representatives of the Indian-Fijian community in Australia and several Labor members of the ACT Legislative Assembly.
Anil Singh, vice-president of the MDHRF, told the protesters, "We want all trade to stop, sanctions to be imposed so that Fiji is isolated and the idiots that are in charge, the terrorists, come to their senses".
He also said that Australia had done the wrong thing by doing little to campaign against the 1987 coups in his country.
A leaflet handed out by protest organisers at the rally urged "the Australian government, the governments of the Pacific region and the international community to show their support for the return to legitimate government.
"We urge all supporters of democracy and human rights to call upon the authorities in Fiji to uphold the constitution and the rights and liberties of all Fiji's citizens."
A delegation from the rally later met foreign affairs minister Alexander Downer to demand that the Coalition government immediately apply sanctions against Fiji.
In Brisbane, 1000 people rallied in New Farm Park on May 28 to also demand an end to George Speight and his followers' coup and the return of democracy in Fiji.
The rally, organised by the Movement to Restore Democracy in Fiji (Queensland), heard speakers from the Indian- and Melanesian-Fijian communities in Brisbane. Placards declared, "Restore democracy, not gun rule, in Fiji". One speaker stated, "We want action, not words, from the Australian government" to force Speight to back down.
Another speaker pointed out that the majority of ministers in the deposed government of Mahendra Chaudry were Melanesian-Fijian, not Indian-Fijian. It was a genuine multiracial government, he said.
Rally chairperson Annukar Mishra, representing the MRDF, called for everyone to continue the campaign for democracy in Fiji, and to maintain the pressure on the Australian government to take swift action on the issue.
A rally demanding the restoration of democracy in Fiji will be held in Sydney on Saturday, June 10, 1.30pm, Northumberland Park, Liverpool.