an politician and former soldier
and trade union
ist. As a labour leader, he was a fighter for dock workers. As a soldier, he served in Malaya
and is currently the President of the Ex-Servicemen's League.
Tora has held a variety of political positions, most recently as a Senator
from 2001 to 2006. A convert to Islam
, he represents a small minority (numbered in the hundreds
) in both the indigenous Fijian
and Muslim
communities, the great majority of Muslims being Indo-Fijian.
"There is such a thing as freedom of speech in this country. It is a constitutional right. Too often these days when people speak out on certain matters there are attempts to intimidate or muzzle them and breach their rights by throwing allegations of racism or making hate speeches."
"Even our new Commissioner of Police Andrew Hughes went so far as to say that those involved in these kinds of things are called domestic terrorists. Someone should remind Mr Hughes, who is an Australian, what his own people did to our counterparts."
"They rounded the Aborigines up and ... committed wholesale murder and genocide to a whole group of people and they destroyed their culture".
"People have got to be careful coming to Fiji and say Fijian people or taukei be careful of what you are doing you are trespassing, you are committing domestic terrorism. I would like to warn Mr Hughes to be careful. To do his own work properly and not to tread where angels fear to tread."
"(The Constitution of Fiji|Constitution is) nothing less than a fraud on the Fijian people".