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India could have done more: Mahendra Chaudhry

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI JAN. 11. "Short-changed'' by his "ancestral homeland,'' the former Prime Minister of Fiji, Mahendra P. Chaudhry, said today that India ought to have used its diplomatic clout to ensure that the "disenfranchised'' People of Indian Origins (PIOs) in his country got their constitutional due.

Briefing mediapersons about the state of affairs in Fiji, Mr. Chaudhry — who is here to attend the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas celebrations — said all that the PIOs in his country wanted from their ancestral home was for it to use the diplomatic channels to mount pressure on the "unconstitutional'' Government of Fiji.

Careful not to sound critical of India, he said India could have used its berth in the United Nations Committee for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group to raise the issue of the constitutional rights of the PIOs in Fiji in the international community. Conceding that India had done "quite a bit,'' he said there was need to go "that extra mile'' which makes the difference.

Elaborating, the former Prime Minister who was ousted in a coup in 2000 said: "India should be more assertive in the international community.'' Did Fiji expect any military support from India? He was categorical that "military intervention'' was not the answer to the problem.

The PIOs in Fiji were victims of state-sponsored discrimination by a Government which had been declared unconstitutional by the Court of Appeal but was still bent on making them second-class citizens. Other problems faced by the PIOs pertained to landlessness and insecurity which primarily stemmed from the fact that they have no representation in the army.

Asked about the controversy in India about the Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, contesting for the post of Prime Minister, Mr. Chaudhry, himself a victim of the "foreign origin issue," said the controversy was "political.'' ''Citizens of any country should enjoy equal rights.''

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