Fiji Labour Party Leader Mahendra Chaudhry says Fiji is greatly indebted to renowned Fiji academic, author and historian Professor Brij Lal for his prolific writings on our national history spanning the whole spectrum from the Girmit era to modern-day history, including a couple of political biographies.
Professor Lal passed away in Brisbane at the age of 69.
Chaudhry says it is indeed tragic that one of our most acclaimed scholars should die in exile, declared persona non grata by the Bainimarama government.
He says this is a loss to the Fiji and Pacific academia.
The FLP Leader says they pass on their deepest condolences to his wife Padma, an academic in her own right and the Lal family.
Chaudhry adds he served as the Leader of the Opposition’s nominee on the three-member Constitution Review Commission headed by Sir Paul Reeves which served as the basis of our widely acclaimed 1997 Constitution.
Professor Lal, emeritus professor of Pacific and Asian history, had won international recognition for his literary and historical works winning a number of awards including the Distinguished Pacific Scholar Award in 2005 by the UNESCO sponsored International Council for the Study of the Pacific Islands.
He was made a Member of the Order of Australia in the 2015 Queen’s Birthday honours.
Based at the Australian National University, Professor Lal had been a visiting professor at the University of the South Pacific until he was deported by the military government of Frank Bainimarama in 2009 for speaking out against the regime.
