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Introduction: Confronting the future, confronting the past
| Content Provider | Semantic Scholar |
|---|---|
| Author | Doornbos, Martin R. Lodhi, A. Haroon Akram‐ |
| Copyright Year | 2016 |
| Abstract | It was October 1987, and one of the authors was at a social gathering in Suva. One of the guests told the gathering: 'there is the body of a dead soldier lying in the morgue, but the relatives are not being informed'. The guests being addressed allowed the announcement to sink in for a moment. The key point was then made: 'the question of course is why not?'. This was evidently not an unknown soldier. However, this made the question only more compelling. One of the others present provided further details, which sharpened the point: 'apparently, they are having some difficulty with the cause of his death. Will (Colonel Sitiveni) Rabuka be facing greater public embarrassment if the man has been killed by an opponent of the coup, or if he turns out a victim of a liquidation within the army?'. A third speaker reflected: 'Rabuka evidently cannot use either. Yet, an internal reckoning strikes me as the most likely explanation; who else has weapons in this country, or at least at this point in time?'. It was a month since the second coup of 1987. In the absence of newspapers and uncensored radio, rumour and speculation was passed on and exchanged continuously. That is, until the evening, when everybody rushed home before the nine o'clock curfew. Before reaching home, one had to pass more than one checkpoint, a new experience to all who lived in Fiji. A spokesman for the military government on the radio offered the encouraging news that the number of burglaries had gone down since the curfew was introduced. |
| File Format | PDF HTM / HTML |
| DOI | 10.22459/CFF.01.2016.01 |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | http://press-files.anu.edu.au/downloads/press/n1656/pdf/ch01.pdf |
| Alternate Webpage(s) | https://doi.org/10.22459/CFF.01.2016.01 |
| Language | English |
| Access Restriction | Open |
| Content Type | Text |
| Resource Type | Article |
