National Federation Party Leader Professor Biman Prasad says FijiFirst General Secretary Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum’s recent statement to Indo-Fijian voters that they will be committing treachery by not supporting FijiFirst and Voreqe Bainimarama is both grossly insulting and a threat to Indo-Fijian voters.
While speaking in the Hindustani language at a rally in Tavua last week, Sayed-Khaiyum had said it will be treacherous if people who have received equal rights do not vote for the FijiFirst.
Sayed-Khaiyum had said it will be a treacherous and cowardly act if someone stands up and says they want to vote for the NFP and the Fiji Labour Party.
Professor Prasad says Sayed-Khaiyum was shamelessly trying to extort votes from a community who are descendants of the Girmitiya, that made vast contributions towards the development of Fiji into a progressive nation.
The NFP Leader says trying to threaten and blackmail voters seemed to be the only characteristic of Sayed-Khaiyum that emerges during an election campaign but it shows the true colours of a person who is not only the Attorney General but Fiji’s defacto Prime Minister, who Voreqe Bainimarama likens to his right-hand man.
He says Sayed-Khaiyum’s disdain and contempt for the Indo-Fijian community is not surprising as in October 2018, he told voters they would be putting a dagger to their necks if they didn’t support a leader like Bainimarama and now he is describing them as treacherous or ‘Gaddaar’ if they vote for the NFP and not support Bainimarama and FijiFirst.
Professor Prasad says Sayed-Khaiyum has clearly adopted the tactics of the Colonial Masters who likened our Girmitiya to coolies and ordered them to always obey their commands but there is no indenture system in 2022.
He says Sayed-Khaiyum is clearly intellectually constipated if he thinks Indo-Fijians are indebted to both Bainimarama and him.
The NFP leader says his comment is also an insult to the principles of patriotism of the Girmitiya who decided to stay back after indenture and make Fiji their home.
Professor Prasad adds they worked hard and contributed tremendously towards the social, economic and political advancement of the nation and to label their descendants as ‘Gaddaar’ or treacherous is symptomatic of a leadership that has lost the last vestiges of political morality and credibility.
