By Norm Dixon
Women attempting to celebrate International Women's Day in Labasa, on the smaller of Fiji's two main islands, Vanua Levu, had their permission to march revoked by the district officer. The Labasa Women's Forum (LWF), had earlier been granted a permit.
Several hundred women gathered at the starting point of the march on March 8. Police tried to disperse them, and a scuffle broke out. The women then marched on the footpath to reach the main venue for the program, the Labasa Civic Centre. An estimated 1000 women gathered despite harassment by police.
LWF president Mirla Singh told Sangharsh, the journal of the Fijian Youth and Students' League, that the government's Women's Interests Office had demanded that the Labasa Women's Forum forgo its organisational identity when it marched and met.
The government body had organised a separate program at the army grounds just outside the town and wanted the forum members to participate in this program. When the forum refused, they threatened us with the revocation of the permit. We thought that this was an empty threat. But we were surprised when I received a letter revoking the permit.
The rival government-sponsored program attracted just 25 women. The LWF said the government's ban violated the constitutional rights of the women of Fiji. It also charged the ban was motivated by racism against Fijians of Indian descent. The LWF is a constituent of the Democratic Women's Forum, and its membership is largely composed of Fijians of Indian descent.