Dialogue Fiji Executive Director Nilesh Lal has sounded the alarm over what he describes as a troubling absence of Indo-Fijian candidates on the shortlist for the latest Fiji Police recruitment round, saying the lack of representation among the 100 people slated for interview demands a transparent, data-driven review of the selection process.
Lal told reporters the shortlist — drawn from a much larger pool of applicants for the current recruitment round — contains no Indo-Fijians among those called for interviews. “The police force of a country needs to reflect the cultural and ethnic makeup of the society that it is serving,” he said, arguing the outcome raises immediate and legitimate questions about diversity and fairness in hiring. He also cited ongoing concerns about gender imbalance within the force as additional reasons why the recruitment round merits closer scrutiny.
Without alleging wrongdoing, Lal urged authorities to address several possibilities that might explain the outcome: whether fewer Indo-Fijians applied for the current intake; whether there are structural or unconscious biases at play in shortlisting; or whether the force has changed the mix of required skills and attributes in ways that disproportionately excluded certain groups. “These are not accusations, but questions worth exploring,” he said, calling for full disclosure of application and selection data so the public can assess what has happened.
Lal wants the Fiji Police Force and the relevant recruiting bodies to publish the numbers at each stage of the recruitment process — applications received by ethnicity and gender, screening and shortlisting criteria, and scores or reasons for rejection — to foster trust. A transparent, evidence-based discussion, he said, is essential to avoid speculation and to ensure that recruitment policies produce a workforce representative of Fiji’s diverse communities.
The call for openness comes as the police have faced heightened public scrutiny in recent months. Earlier reporting documented contentious interactions between political figures and senior police leadership, and court testimony this year drew attention to decision-making within the force. Lal’s appeal frames the most recent shortlist as part of a broader conversation about accountability, institutional culture and community confidence in law enforcement.
For now, no official breakdown of applicants or shortlisting methodology has been released to the public. Dialogue Fiji’s statement places the spotlight on the next steps authorities take — whether they will provide the requested data or respond with other explanations for the apparent absence of Indo-Fijian candidates. Lal said an evidence-led response will be crucial “to build public confidence and ensure the police force remains representative of all communities it serves.”
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