• The Hon. Shri Mahendra Reddy, Minister for Education, Culture and Heritage
• Honourable Ministers and Members of Parliament
• The High Commissioner of India, Mr Gitesh Sharma
• Shri Bachu Bhai, President of The Fiji Sevashram Sangha
• Shri Chandu Umaria, Special Administrator of Suva City
• Distinguished Guests
• Devotees of Ganesh Utsav
• Ladies and Gentlemen

Good afternoon, ni sa bula vinaka, salaam alaykum, namaste.

I am greatly honoured to be here with you this afternoon to be part of the concluding ceremonies for the Ganesh Utsav for 2015 and I thank you for your invitation.

I am confident that all the devotees of Ganesh Utsav are already very familiar with your historical developments so I do not intend to focus on this aspect.


On this occasion, I wish to congratulate the Fiji Sevashram Sangha for promoting the importance of religious practice through the observance of Ganesh Utsav since your establishment in Fiji in the year 2000.

I am advised that more than 10,000 people from all walks of life are celebrating Ganesh Utsav at 45 centres around the country today. This is testimony that Ganesh Utsav is increasingly becoming a national festival celebrated by a growing number of devotees and interested individuals.

I also wish to acknowledge the significant contribution of all the devotees towards Fiji’s overall development as a nation through your religious and community work, through socio-cultural and educational developments and through your networks within the business community.

I acknowledge in particular the hard work of your leaders and all your members especially in coordinating your activities and developing a strong foundation for the promotion of your religious beliefs.

We will all agree that one of the best measures of our religious practices should be reflected in our everyday living:

In how one develops personally and spiritually;
- In how one relates to others within the family structure - with one’s spouse, children, and other family members, for instance;
- In how one relates to the members of the community that one lives in and especially in supporting the less fortunate; and also
- In how one contributes to the development of the nation as a whole.

Allow me on this occasion to share with you an important message that I have been sharing with other religious organisations that I have had the pleasure of joining in their celebrations in the past years: that the freedom of worship and the freedom to practice one’s religious beliefs are firmly protected in our nation’s Constitution of 2013.

The rationale in declaring Fiji a secular state is, among other things, to provide everyone, without exception, the right to practice, uphold and promote one’s religion. It is also to protect all religions and to ensure that no one religion or sect within a religion has undue advantage over other religions or sects, or for that matter, for the members of any religion to be victimized because of their beliefs and practices.

When a nation considers the notion of equal citizenry, it is important that it makes provision within the Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land, for all citizens to be treated equally irrespective of one’s ethnic, cultural, or religious affiliation.

For the first time since our independence over 45 years ago, our Constitution provides this protection and even offers an unprecedented number of rights that are aimed at enhancing and upholding equal citizenry. These include the right to life, the right to health, and the right to education, among others.

The Constitution is also sensitive to gender, age and physical disposition, and therefore promotes the right to equal treatment irrespective of one’s gender, age or physical characteristics.

Fiji has taken this courageous step of charting a new beginning because our socio-political history, which has been mired in various forms of discrimination, dictates that we start anew in order to lay a more promising foundation for the future. It is now for the people of Fiji to work in harmony in order for us to realize the benefits of true democracy and equal citizenry because it is only in unity can we succeed as a nation.

In joining you for the closing ceremony of the Ganesh Utsav today, I wish to take this opportunity to not only acknowledge the good work of your leaders and members; but also to encourage you all to continue to work together towards greater and more peaceful co-existence among yourselves and among the other religions in Fiji.

I also encourage you to partner with other religious organisations and with government to strengthen social cohesion in our local communities and promote inter-racial and inter-religious harmony across Fiji.

We need to emphasize moral education and commitment to family, community and the nation. We need to promote mutual respect, tolerance, goodwill, compassion, care, peace and equal prosperity. We owe this to our children and to Fiji’s future generations.

I wish to once again congratulate the Fiji Sevashram Sangha for a very successful Ganesh Utsav celebrations in 2015, and I wish you an even greater success in the future.

Thank you, vinaka vakalevu, sukria, bahoot dhanyavaad.

END.