Indian Platoon (Fiji)

The Indian Platoon was created within the Fiji Defence Force in 1934 as part of Governor Fletcher's policy of giving Fiji Indians greater recognition and opportunity to participate in the general life of the Colony of Fiji and to encourage them to regard Fiji as their permanent home. The platoon was made up of ethnic Indians but the platoon commannder and the non-commissioned officers were Europeans. The formation of the platoon was opposed by the two prominent European members of the Legislative Council, Sir Maynard Hedstrom and Sir Henry Scott. cite book |last= Gillion|first=Kenneth |authorlink= |coauthors= |title= The Fiji Indians: Challenge to European Dominance, 1920-1946|year=1977 |publisher=Australian National University Press |location=Canberra, Australia |isbn= 0-7081-1291-9| pages = p. 177]

History

In 1916, Manilal Doctor, the de facto leader of the Fiji Indians tried to persuade the colonial government of Fiji to form an Indian platoon for the war effort. He sent the names of thirty-two volunteers to the government but his requests were ignored. A number of Fiji Indians went to New Zealand to volunteer to join the New Zealand Army and one of these served in Europe. [cite book |last= Gillion|first=Kenneth |authorlink= |coauthors= |title= Fiji's Indian Migrants|year=1962 |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=London |isbn= 0-1955-0452-6| pages = p. 161]

Disbandment

The platoon was disbanded in 1940 and the reason given for this action during a war was shortage of equipment as explained by the Governor two years later:

military considerations at the at the time necessitated the disbandment of the Indian Platoon, which had given eight years of voluntary service in the Fiji Defence Forces. This disbandment was not due in any sense to unwillingness on the part of the Indians to serve in the armed forces of the colony. [cite book |last= Lal|first=Brij |authorlink= |coauthors= |title= Broken Waves: A History of the Fiji Islands in the Twentieth Century|year=1992 |publisher=University of Hawaii Press |location=Honolulu, Hawaii |isbn= 0-8248-1418-5| pages = p. 121]

but the real reason for this action was that members of the platoon had asked for equal pay with the Europeans and the New Zealand military authorities (who commanded the Fiji Army at the start of the War) feared that this dissatisfaction could spread to the rest of the army, which was mainly ethnic Fijian.

References