Roshika Deo - Give me my right

 In childhood, father used to take him to nearby slums. The motive was to convince the daughter of the difference between richness and poverty. He wanted the daughter to know about the reality of life and she should know about the situation in the country. Papa was a businessman. He did not have any reduction in raising five children. His first priority was to give good education to children. One day he said to father, I want to become Prime Minister, I want to change the situation of the country. Papa scolded, "Don't talk unnecessarily, you have to become a doctor or a lawyer." She became a lawyer and started fighting for the rights of the people. His fight was not like any ordinary court case. She started raising voice for the rights of her countrymen, especially women and youth. Thousands of people, especially women, joined him. He demanded free and fair elections in the country. Then he felt that just agitation would do nothing. For this, the government will have to change or become part of the government itself. He declared to contest the election, which angered radical forces. He started getting threats. But he is not afraid. Recently the US honored her with the Woman of Courage Award. This brave daughter of Fiji is named Roshika Dev.


Roshika Deo


Roshika is the eldest of five siblings and father's dearly. He lived in the Narey area of ​​Fiji. Papa himself was very aware of social issues and wanted children to become responsible citizens. Being an elder daughter, Roshika was very close to him. As soon as something grew, she started asking different kinds of questions to Papa. Papa used to try to answer her every question. He would discuss with him about the military rule in the country and the suffering of the people. He would often take her to nearby slums and show her the difficult conditions poor people are forced to live under. She used to get distracted seeing the situation of those slums.

 She would ask, Papa why do these people live like this, why do they not have good houses? He passed class X from Suva Grammar School in the capital Suva. In the meantime, his father started his business in Australia. Roshika also had to go to Australia with her father. During this, he did a Foundation Studies course from Queensland University, Australia. She came to India in the year 2003. After meeting people in India, Roshika understood the true meaning of democracy and freedom. She went back to Fiji, her country. The tune of justice for the people inspired Roshika to study law and she became a lawyer.


She had excellent career opportunities abroad, but she decided that she would try to change the situation there by staying in her country. No one will come from outside for change, says Roshika. We youth will have to take initiative. Fiji is my home, I have my own country, I cannot leave it. Now she was well aware of the situation in the country and the world. He had realized that it is meaningless to expect prosperity without establishing democracy in the country. She started making people aware of democracy. The matter is of 2006. A military coup took place in Fiji. There was an emergency like situation in the country. In fact, there have been four military coup in Fiji during the last twenty years. The coup took place twice in the year 1987 and after that in the year 2000 also the rule was changed through the coup. For the fourth time in 2006, there was a forced change of power. 

Apparently, there was a great resentment among the people of Fiji towards governance. Roshika launched an awareness campaign called 'Be the Change' for change. The campaign was very successful. A large number of women and youth supported him. People said that they want to get rid of military rule. Demand for democracy started all around. Roshika strongly advocated the participation of women in the electoral process. Roshika says, once I told my father that I wanted to become Prime Minister, he was angry. Perhaps they thought I was imagining the impossible. But today, seeing the enthusiasm and support of the people, it seems that this dream is not impossible.


The current Fiji government has announced elections in September 2014. Roshika announced to stand as an independent candidate. The family did not like his decision. They knew that this announcement could have serious consequences. They were concerned about the safety of the daughter. His fears proved to be true. Fiji's malevolent society was infuriated by Roshika's declaration. He felt that a girl is challenging the system of the country. Roshika started getting threats. Some people threatened on the phone, some started spewing venom against them on social media. Some madmen even threatened to kidnap and rape her. The family members got scared. He asks Roshika to withdraw the announcement, but she persevered. They were threatening, says Roshika, because I am a girl, and also because I am young. But they could not scare me. People are with me Roshika campaigned on social networking site Facebook for discrimination and violence against women, which became very popular. "I want to see Fiji, where the government cares for the people, where women and youth have excellent opportunities to grow, they don't have to leave the country and go abroad," says Roshika. Where patriotism does not mean coup. In 2013, Amnesty International awarded him the Human Rights Defender Award.

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