Indian Platoon (Fiji) - Disbandment

Disbandment

The platoon was disbanded in 1940 and the reason given for this action during a war was shortage of equipment as explained by the Governor two years later:

military considerations at the time necessitated the disbandment of the Indian Platoon, which had given eight years of voluntary service in the Fiji Defence Forces. This disbandment was not due in any sense to unwillingness on the part of the Indians to serve in the armed forces of the colony.

but the real reason for this action was that members of the platoon had asked for equal pay with the Europeans and the New Zealand military authorities (who commanded the Fiji Army at the start of the War) feared that this dissatisfaction could spread to the rest of the army, which was mainly ethnic Fijian.

According to Kelly, in November 1941, the soldiers of the platoon again asked to make a case for equal pay. Each member of the platoon was then separately asked to accept non-European pay, refused and was dismissed with the support of the new Governor.