Table of Contents
Indo-Fijian Resistance to the 1987 Military Coups
Overview. On 14 May 1987 Fiji’s elected Labour–NFP coalition was deposed by soldiers led by then-Lt Col Sitiveni Rabuka. What followed was persistent resistance: daily pickets in Ratu Sukuna Park, vigils near detention sites, strikes and go-slows, diaspora marches in Auckland and Sydney, and sporadic acts of sabotage reported in Suva. This page consolidates the publicly documented record into a single researcher-friendly resource with timeline, images, and video embeds.
Background to the Coups
After the April 1987 election, Dr Timoci Bavadra formed a multiracial government supported heavily by Indo-Fijian voters. On 14 May, Parliament was seized; ministers were detained and moved between locations including Veiuto (PM’s residence) and Borron House. Civic resistance erupted within hours and continued in waves through 1987–88.
Resistance took multiple forms: non-violent protest (marches, pickets, sit-ins); labour action (work stoppages, “go-slow” in mills); rural non-cooperation (cane-harvest delays); diaspora advocacy; and, in a separate, contested stream, explosive incidents in Suva through September–October 1987 reported in the press at the time.
Timeline: 14 May → 31 Oct 1987 (selected entries)
14 May — Coup; spontaneous gatherings
Soldiers interrupt Parliament in Suva; ministers detained. Supporters converge on the Government Buildings precinct; first ad-hoc pickets appear despite checkpoints.
15–20 May — Sukuna Park becomes the protest commons
Daily assemblies in Ratu Sukuna Park and along Victoria Parade; placards call for restoration of democracy. Student, women’s, union and church networks coordinate vigils and teach-ins. Police monitor, photograph and disperse, but protests recur.
~21 May — Veiuto → Sukuna Park march; arrests reported
Women-led march from Veiuto (near where ministers were held) to Sukuna Park. Contemporary reports note prominent activists arrested after the rally. Candlelight vigils become a nightly feature near cordons.
Late May — Work stoppages; union pressure
Public-sector unions announce stoppages and pickets. Sugar-sector workers (predominantly Indo-Fijian) implement go-slows in certain mills. Street protests continue in Suva despite detentions.
June — Cane-belt non-cooperation; diaspora mobilises
In drought conditions, some cane farmers delay harvesting to signal opposition, with economic effects noted in briefs later that year. Overseas, the Coalition for Democracy in Fiji (CDF) leads marches in Auckland and Sydney with “banana republic” street theatre and embassy pickets.
July–Aug — Protests persist; targeted arrests
Small, frequent actions continue around Government Buildings and in the CBD. Women’s and student groups stage sit-ins; security services carry out rolling arrests. Media coverage alternates between local caution and international spotlight.
25 Sept — Second coup
Amid talks on a unity formula, a second military action resets the transition. That weekend a fatal car-bomb is reported in Suva; further small explosions in October are reported and later investigated (attribution remains contested in public record).
7 Oct — Republic declared; protests continue
The 1970 constitution is abrogated; Fiji is proclaimed a republic. Pickets and vigils continue at home; diaspora actions intensify abroad. Through May 1988 the coup anniversary sparks fresh Sukuna Park arrests.
On-page media (photos & video)
Note: Always check image/video rights for your specific reuse case; prefer material under public, educational, or news-reporting allowances.
Biographical sketches — people in the resistance, documentation, and aftermath
The lives below intersected with the 1987 resistance as organisers, unionists, scholars, journalists, or political leaders. Entries foreground documented roles around protests, labour action, or public advocacy (alphabetical by surname).
Mahendra Chaudhry
Trade-union leader who became Finance Minister in the Bavadra government (April–May 1987). After the coup, he remained a pivotal voice for Indo-Fijian workers and constitutional rights; later Fiji’s first Indo-Fijian Prime Minister (1999) before the 2000 hostage crisis.
Union leader Cabinet 1987 Later PM
Siddiq Koya
Veteran NFP figure linked to the constitutional battles of the 1960s–70s. While not in the 1987 Cabinet, Koya’s political legacy shaped Indo-Fijian demands for equal franchise that informed resistance narratives and union rhetoric in 1987–88.
NFP Constitutionalist
Sitiveni Rabuka
Then-Lt Col who led both 1987 coups. Central antagonist in resistance chronicles. Decades later, engaged in reconciliation politics and (from 2022) headed a coalition government via elections.
Coup leader Later PM
Dr Timoci Bavadra
Prime Minister deposed on 14 May 1987. Public health physician from Nadi; his multi-ethnic coalition drew strong Indo-Fijian support. Vigil sites and marches often oriented around where he and colleagues were held.
Prime Minister Multi-ethnic coalition
Jai Ram Reddy
Opposition statesman and later architect (with Rabuka) of the 1997 Constitutional Settlement. His advocacy framed 1987 resistance within a rule-of-law discourse that matured into reconciliation a decade later.
NFP leader 1997 settlement
Amelia Rokotuivuna
Prominent women’s rights and peace activist. Contemporary reports note her visible role in early Sukuna Park actions and arrests after a Veiuto→Park protest within the first week of the coup.
Women’s movement Sukuna Park
Krishna Datt
Teacher-unionist and Labour politician. His education-sector organising bridged school communities and civic protest, part of the ground-level capacity that sustained daily pickets and teach-ins.
FTU Labour
Professor Brij V. Lal
Historian of Girmit and Fiji’s constitutions; later a public intellectual in the diaspora. His scholarship and commentary documented 1987’s rupture and framed it in the longer Indo-Fijian quest for equality.
Historian Diaspora voice
David Robie
Journalist and journalism educator whose photography and reportage (incl. of diaspora protests) created a crucial visual record of resistance and solidarity campaigns in 1987–89.
Photojournalism Coalition for Democracy
Dr Vijay Naidu
Academic and civil-society figure linked to democracy advocacy. Appears in accounts of anniversary arrests and university-linked mobilisation around civil rights and media freedom.
Civil society Academia
Additional figures tied to 1987 resistance (by reportage or later scholarship): Felix Anthony (later FTUC), Tupeni Baba (ally in Labour), Dr Atu Bain (anniversary arrests), Lynda Tabuya (much later era, advocacy lineage), and numerous unnamed student leaders and women’s committee organisers who sustained logistics and communications under intimidation.
Primary places of protest & detention
- Ratu Sukuna Park (Suva CBD) — Waterfront greensward that became a daily protest site; locus for anniversary vigils and arrests in 1988.
- Government Buildings / old Parliament — Institutional backdrop to pickets and symbolic marches.
- Veiuto (PM’s residence) — Near where ministers were held initially; starting point for early marches.
- Borron House (Samabula) — State guesthouse used as a holding site; drew well-wishing crowds and watchful cordons.
- Mill towns (Ba, Lautoka, Labasa) — Cane-belt “go-slow” and non-cooperation; union meetings and farmer briefings.
Researcher quick-links (external video & reading)
- Video — 1987 Fiji Coup: early news compilation
- Video — Auckland 2nd-anniversary protest (1989)
- Photo essays — Asia Pacific Report (Robie) — search “Fiji 1987”
- Context — 1987 Fiji coups (overview) and Mahendra Chaudhry
- Place history — Borron House
For a full scholarly apparatus, pair this page with academic chapters on Suva’s protest geography, union responses to 1987, and diaspora mobilisation in Aotearoa/Australia.
Notes on the record
- Sabotage/bombings: Late-September and October 1987 saw a series of explosions reported in Suva, including a fatal car-bomb on 26 Sept. Attribution remains contested in the public domain; use contemporaneous wire reports and later legal summaries with care.
- “Daily” protests: Multiple sources describe very frequent (often daily) pickets around Sukuna Park and Government Buildings in the weeks after 14 May and again around the 1988 anniversary.
- Women & students: Early arrests included prominent women activists; USP-linked participation intensified in subsequent years, building a tradition of campus-to-city advocacy.