Professor Biman Prasad has urged politicians and community leaders to stop politicising nationality, saying recent calls to reserve the word “Fijian” exclusively for indigenous people risk dividing the country ahead of constitution review hearings. In a statement, the National Federation Party leader singled out those using the Bose Levu Vakaturaga’s submission on the term’s definition as deliberately destructive to national unity.
Prasad said the debate ignores how the word “Fijian” has long been used by the international community to describe citizens of Fiji, long before it was enshrined in the 2013 Constitution. “People forget that we were being called Fijians by the international community long before it was legislated in the 2013 Constitution and imposed on us,” he said, invoking well-known figures such as the late Josefa Levula — the celebrated rugby and athletics star whose nickname inspired the national team’s “Flying Fijians” moniker — and professional golfer Vijay Singh, known internationally as the “Big Fijian.”
The professor argued that the central issue is not who should be called Fijian but how the change was brought into law. He accused the Bainimarama regime of imposing the 2013 Constitution after discarding a consultative process at the end of 2012, saying that lack of proper dialogue left a legacy of contested definitions and hurt. Those procedural concerns, he warned, are now being reopened as the Constitution Review Commission prepares to conduct public hearings around the country.
Prasad acknowledged that the review will generate a wide range of submissions. “Undoubtedly, we will hear all sorts of submissions when the Constitution Review Commission starts conducting public hearings around the country,” he said, but he cautioned that submissions should be used to advance reasoned debate, not to stoke racial sentiment. “These must not be used by opportunists to invoke racist emotions or debate that have the potential to fan racial flames,” he added.
The Bose Levu Vakaturaga’s call for the term “Fijian” to apply solely to indigenous people has already drawn attention because it touches on questions of identity, citizenship and language that are sensitive in Fiji’s multi-ethnic society. Prasad framed his intervention as a plea for rational discourse and inclusive definitions that reflect how the nation and the international community have viewed Fiji and its people.
As the Constitution Review Commission’s public consultations begin, Prasad’s statement marks the latest development in an evolving national conversation about identity and the legal legacy of the 2013 Constitution. He urged that submissions and public commentary be grounded in facts and dialogue, warning that political exploitation of emotive identity issues could undermine social cohesion at a moment when broad, inclusive debate is most needed.
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