USPSA President Assault On Campus

SUVA: Tension is brewing at the University of the South Pacific campus between indigenous Fijian and Indo-Fijian students after an Indian student and a security guard were manhandled by the president of USP Students Association on Friday night, reports the Sunday Sun.

Tensions intensified [during May] when the Fijian Students Association (USPFSA) staged a protest against Deputy Vice-Chancellor Professor Rajesh Chandra's nomination by the university's select committee as Vice-Chancellor ahead of Fijian economist Savenaca Siwatibau.

Esekia Solofa, a Samoan, currently holds the post that would be left vacant at the end of his term early next year.

According to a reliable source, the president of the USPSA, Veresi Bainivualiku was also in the select committee as a student representative.

Bainivualiku was alleged to have disclosed confidential information about the selection criteria and later instigated the protest.

The Indian Students Association (USPISA) has disassociated itself from the protest, saying that the banner Bainivualiku used included all university student affiliates and that he had acted unethically in using the USPSA emblem in the act.

The Association of the University of the South Pacific Staff has urged the university to immediately expel Bainivualiku because of his role in the protest and his assault on staff and students on campus.

The association urged the university to carry out police investigations into his role in the disturbances on campus.

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