Back in History: People wait for chief Navosa

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Drauniivi Village, in Ra. Picture: FACEBOOK

IN the village of Drauniivi about 2000 villagers heard proclamations about a “return” of legendary Fijian chief Navosa of the 1930s.

This story was published in The Fiji Times on March 15, 1984.

The villagers heard claims that Navosa was coming back to life to form a new government and lead Fiji.

But the police Special Branch has been investigating the meeting, looking into whether national security was affected.

Sources told The Fiji Times one of the organisers of the meeting was a Fiji Girmit Association official, Harigyan Samalia.

Another person mentioned was a man from Rakiraki who used to preach the return of Navosa in the Suva market.

They hoisted a blue flag with a drawing of a white circle and a white candle in the middle.

One source said it looked like the Girmit flag but another said it was the “Navosa flag” symbolising his impending return.

They said the meeting at the Drauniivi Village grounds was attended by elderly villagers from Rakiraki, Tavua, Nadarivatu, Ba and Lautoka.

The meeting was not advertised but from the large crowd who turned up, it was evident that word was passed around earlier.

“They came in buses, carriers and other things,” one person who was at the meeting told this newspaper.

He said the meeting began at 3pm, carried on until the flag hoisting ceremony at 4pm and then continued to about 6pm.

“It was a meeting and flag raising ceremony by someone who is trying to convince people that Navosa is coming back to life,” he said.

“They were saying there will be a new government formed after his return and they had a lot of talk about the present government,” the person said.

“They said there would be changes in the chiefly status and the Native Land Commission and what not.”

Mr Samalia was said to have been wearing a white uniform with medallions.

The meeting began with a full traditional welcoming ceremony.

A senior police officer who confirmed the report of the meeting said he could not go into details because “it deals with Special Branch matters”.

“It is being looked into but from a different angle.

“It’s not a normal police inquiry but a specialised thing,” he said.

Asked whether it concerned national security matters, he said, ” yes”.

The chief Navosa was believed to have come from Drauniivi Village and was said to have possessed powers of prophecy and could perform miracles.

He was at his ascendancy in the 1930s.

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