Suva lawyer Richard Naidu says the late Justice Jai Ram Reddy’s vision went far beyond just bringing Fiji’s two communities together.
While speaking at Reddy’s memorial held at Girmit Centre in Lautoka, Naidu says it was a vision for cooperative, democratic government,it was a vision that allowed people with different political views to work together to make Fiji better.
Naidu says that is the vision that is lost right now and that is the vision that our current government is not prepared to offer.
Naidu further says we know of Reddy’s famous work in the 1990s with former Prime Minister Sitiveni Rabuka to bring Fiji back to democratic, constitutional rule with the 1997 constitution adding this was a constitution the people wanted, and for which the people’s representatives in Parliament voted.
He also highlighted that Reddy’s great achievements came in darker, more distressed times adding that many people had deserted him, they were afraid even to be seen with him.
Naidu says Fiji’s future was deeply uncertain.
Naidu also says a man of Reddy’s talents could easily have said “my time is up – it is for others to do the work.”
He says and yet Reddy carried on, he kept his vision for Fiji’s future, he took a road of dialogue and engagement, not confrontation and revenge, even while many criticised him for doing so.
