When the British Empire abolished slavery in 1833, it found that African slaves would much rather not work on its colonial plantations -- even for a salary. It had to find a new source of labourers and hired workers from India, Java, China and elsewhere. India, especially, was a major source of indentured labour as it was a British colony.
In this episode, we recount the tale of Mangre Lal, a man in his 20's from Bahraich, who goes to Fiji. We hear his story through his grandson Brij Lal, a world-renowned Indo-Fijian historian. After two-three generations, Indo-Fijians found themselves in the ruling party in Fiji in the '80s. But ethnic divisions have resulted in multiple coups as native Islanders have struggled to assert their dominance. Indo-Fijian Australian comedian Umit Bali recounts what it was like to live in Fiji in the '90s.
Lal, who has been a vocal critic of the government, was exiled from Fiji. But he refuses to recant his criticism, even if it means he can never again visit the land of his birth.
