You really have to laugh about the cynicism and lack of subtlety of the Fiji Times and its Editor in Chief, Fred Wesley, when all it takes is a Grubsheet article for him to reverse his decision to put Professor Wadan Narsey in the deep freeze for the past few months.
Just five days after our piece “Missing in Action” that asked why the Fiji Times was no longer using Professor Narsey and its other regular columnist, Richard Naidu, the Good Professor bounces back in today’s issue of the paper.
Er, correction. Make that the Good Professor slips in through the back door as quietly as you could possibly imagine. No front page banner promo like he used to get and his double-page spread is buried on pages 37 and 38 of the paper. But hey, it’s there and Wadan is back! And in no small measure thanks to Grubsheet, which has clearly shamed Fred Wesley (or his bosses) into bringing back at least one of the missing columnists on what we described as the Mary Celeste of Fijian journalism.
Why is Wadan’s article so down-paper? It doesn’t take a genius to work that out. Because it is a stinging rebuke of the Prime Minister, Sitiveni Rabuka – that great hero of the Fiji Times and the Motibhai Patels who own the paper – who the Good Professor describes as “blind and immoral” in his attitude to events in the Middle East.
Fred Wesley’s heart must have sunk when he opened Wadan’s email and began to read what he had submitted, presumably at Fred’s invitation. Because it isn’t in the least bit aligned with the current editorial policies of the Fiji Times.
Indeed, when it ran its story earlier in the week headlined “Fiji stands with Israel”, the Fiji Times completely ignored stinging criticism of Fiji’s decision to side with the United States as the only countries in the world to support the illegal Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories at the International Court of Justice.
Well now, to his credit, Waden Narsey launches a comprehensive attack on that policy, along with a personal attack on the Prime Minister. No wonder it is on Page 37. Fred might have tried to bury it but at least it’s there. And the Good Professor clearly had no intention of producing a patsy offering on his first week back.
The Fiji Times shamelessly insists on referring to Wadan Narsey as a “regular commentator” when he’s been gagged for months after damning Biman Prasad’s budget for not having gone far enough to address the nation’s challenges. But now he comes out swinging.
Here’s just an extract. The full article below (including close-ups for the optically challenged)
“I had argued that the Rabuka/Prasad partnership would be guided by sound moral values and be good for workers, women and the poor, and even USP.
Sadly today, Mr Rabuka, whatever may be his contributions on other matters of public policy, is proving me horribly wrong on the Israel-Palestine foreign policy issue.
His blind and immoral support for Israel despite its UN-documented slaughter of innocent Palestinians, is ignoring the serious opposition expressed by his Coalition partner the National Federation Party and also many NGOs who previously backed him.
It is also surprising that Mr Rabuka is willing to risk the lives and well-being of the RFMF peace-keepers in the Middle East, given that the entire Arab world is against the Israeli slaughter of the Palestinians.”
Ouch. The PM and his spin doctors will hate it. And from the Fiji Times! Will the Good Professor be invited back? We’ll be watching!
What happen to malice to no one…not taking sides
Slugs making decisions and leeches getting tax holidays. Welcome to Fiji under the potty PAP folks. Some hope that those who put them there are seeing the light and making comment now. But is it too late? Have they made enuf $$$?
Pretty obvious when the death toll is 30,000 approximately Palestinians to what? 2500 Israelis…..are Palestinian lives worth that much less than Israelis?
Kerekere Graham.
A small correction: Fiji Times has not gagged me. I have gone into retirement, only to be jolted out by the seriousness of the damage that they are doing to Fiji internationally.
Prof. Wadan Narsey
Vinaka for responding, Professor. I trust that the “retirement” is only occasional. Nonetheless, this article was significantly downplayed compared with the prominence the Fiji Times used to give you. A sad day for Fiji when a voice like yours is absent from the national debate. With respect and every best wish. GD
Fijis reputation internationally should be fine , when the dust settles. It may even be enhanced.
The entire world has not become “woke” … yet.
After all there is no such thing as bad publicity.
However the real damage was done to Fiji domestically by the band of academics and lawyers and other unlikely elites who collectively ground their personal axes in baying for a regime change which may have contributed to the success of the current inept lot coming into power.
Fix this serious damage !
Once his favorite topics, the good professor Narsey’s silence on economic policies and corrupt decisions – like the Fiji Water tax holiday – is deafening, as is his quietness on discrimination against IndoFijians. Perhaps the good professor cannot criticize his good friend. Perhaps the good professor would rather go into voluntary ‘retirement’ than criticize his good friend. As he himself said, it’s a self-imposed exile. The Fiji Times has nothing to do with it. Methinks the good professor lacks the balls to critique the finance minister. He lacks the ethics to be fair. The kilavata syndrome afflicts everyone in Fiji, one way or another. Even those who we thought were fair.
The commentator W Narsey is a professor of Economics. It does not appear he is a professor of world religions and/ or world history specialising in the Middle East !
However being academically qualified in the latter may not necessarily remove any incorrect diagnosis or inherent bias one may have either in relation to the current situation.
Re his RFMF in Suva analogy to better “educate” the readers:
How about the following being a better analogy:
Let’s say there are elements in a smaller neighbouring island state who are drug dealers with lethal products (illicit drugs) and have an absolute desire to infiltrate a neighbour , Fiji.
The drug dealers in lets say Microland know that they can eventually wipe out the entire population of their larger neighbour Fiji with their drugs and are single mindedly pursuing this objective. The RFMF tries to isolate and neutralise this enemy threat from within the Microland population but they are inflicting damage on the “innocent” Microlanders. In the meantime Fiji is still under threat of eventual annhilation and the RFMF is expected to protect the Fijian population. Amidst this is the external outcry ( from UN, other nations and commentators) for the RFMF to stop the collateral damage to the Microlanders. This means the drug dealers are able to carry on their objective of destroying Fiji. What is the RFMF to do …hold back , appease the spectator nations who are not the target ( yet) of the Microlanders and watch the “drug dealers” in Microland eventually wipe out Fiji ?? Which is the just cause of action or inaction…to let the currently 800,000 Fijian population be eliminated in the cause of saving the “innocent” population of 200,000 Microlanders ? What a dilemma ..or is it.
Cry Fiji soldiers and families ! It’s just become red hot in the Middle East with Fiji’s unbelievable declaration of support for Israel. You’ve just taken peace keeping back by decades SLR! What a fake of a soldier and a real idiot !