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Dr Steven Ratuva 's View |
Coups and rumours
Mon Jan 15, 2007 7:06 pm
Coups do not only involve the usurpation of power and consolidation of new forms of authority at the visible political level, there are also behind the scene activities and behavioral dispositions which result from the archaic social atmosphere created by the coup itself.
What normally captures the attention of the media and the public are the dramatic extra-legal changes and reconfiguration of the old order at the politico-public realm, however, what happens at the socio-cultural and private realms are often hidden and are usually transmitted through rumours. Rumours are no longer just mere snippets of stories banded around by curious and nosy individuals. They have in fact become a complex web of information flow with a particular set of dynamics and culture. Rumour mongering has become a socio-cultural institution in its own right.
Rumours galore
Apart from the news through the formal media, perhaps the most prevalent aspect of information flow is through the rumour machine, locally dubbed the “coconut wireless”. Some people literally thrive on rumours by enthusiastically inventing them, spreading them or internalizing them as if they constitute gospel truth. Because of restrictions on public speech and information by the military, people would go “underground” to voice their concerns about various issues, condemn their most hated military officer, spread lies about their detested neighbours or simply pass on what they have heard to as many people as possible either by whispered word of mouth, saucy text messages, mobile phone, telephone or mass distributed e-mail.
What may start off as a small socially engineered lie by a frustrated individual could snowball into a massive believable “truth” after going through a thousand mouths and sets of ears and millions of unaware brain cells. This works very well in a community like ours where oral discourse and exaggeration of events are culturally valued modes of community communication. Within the indigenous Fijian cultural ethos for instance, a story must have a “flavour” in the form of exaggeration or supernatural touch before it is considered a “good talanoa” that will attract admiring ears and sympathetic hearts.
Rumours abound in the capital city. There are rumours of soldiers’ wives having affairs while their boys are at the checkpoints and there are also rumours of military officers being bankrolled by rich business people to get rid of the Qoliqoli Bill. There are also rumours of Qarase’s countless corrupt deals, the latest of which is linking up with some rich people to “buy off” soldier’s loyalty. There are even rumours of warriors secretly training and ready to face the military head on using bamboo spears.
A number of rumours revolve around important people like the President, his wife, the military commander, CEOs and former politicians. Some of these rumours have conspiratorial political themes while some have the usual juicy sexual undertones. The formation of the interim cabinet has opened up new Sherlock Holmes type conspiracy theories packaged as rumours. These are to the effect that the long suspected “shadowy figures” have eventually been brought to light.
On of the significant things is that the subject of rumours are usually powerless to do anything because one cannot track down everyone who has heard and passed on the rumours, let alone identifying their origins. It is virtually impossible to reverse a rumour unless one starts a counter rumour to nullify the effect of the first one. Even this is not easy.
Dangerous and deliberate rumours
I have been part of such rumour mongering myself. I heard rumours circulating amongst some people at the University of the South Pacific, Forum Secretariat, within government circle and expatriate community that I was “an advisor” to the military. My first reaction was to laugh at how some people could possibly invent lies, spread them and had them believed even by very prominent and respectable people.
Ironically and interestingly there was another rumour, this time saying that the military was after me. I heard this rumour from three different people who told me that they heard rumours that the military was going to pounce on me because I was talking too much.
It seems that the rumour mongering culture in this coup is not as intensive as during the 2000 coup where there were deliberately planted rumours by the coup perpetrators in a big and systematic way. Rumours about the riches and the “evil” deeds of the Ratu Mara family, about Ratu Mara’s blood drinking antics or about Chaudhry trying to sell Fiji to India plus all sorts of conspiracy theories were circulated widely in pamphlets. Supernatural explanations were used to spice up the stories.
During the 2000 coup people lived their daily lives on the basis of responses to sudden rumours. Everyday there were rumours of the “boys from Parliament” intending to march down to the city. This was enough to send people rushing home as fast as possible before work ended. There was an atmosphere of constant fear fueled by an assortment of wild rumours of possible mass murder, of intervention by traditional Fijian gods and more. Rumours and counter-rumours became part of the psychological war between the military and the Speight group.
Moreover, I don’t think I will ever forget the rumour mongering incidents which got me into trouble with the military during the 1987 coups. Because I had just returned from the Soviet Union a couple of years earlier and was still full of youthful political idealism, it was rumoured that I was a KGB agent spying and conspiring against Rabuka’s military government. For this I was promptly arrested and interrogated by the military. Again not long after that it was rumoured that I was organizing a secret urban guerilla group which was planning to kidnap and kill General Rabuka’s wife who was then teaching at Lelean Memorial School. Again the military did not hesitate to arrest and interrogate me.
Every time the military heard a rumour about me they would come for me. Altogether I was arrested about four times and harassed countless times in nightclubs, streets and even at the airport by military personnel. I was amused by the fictitious and atrocious allegations contained in the rumours and my first reaction was often to laugh them off. I later learnt the horrifying lesson that to burst out in sarcastic and mocking laughter in front of angry and suspicious soldiers armed with M16 was not a very good idea at all. My bruised ribs were testimony to this.
E-rumours, e-coup and the silent war
The use of the internet to transmit and circulate rumours has been a common obsession in this coup. This is used by both sides of the political divide. Supporters of the coup have been circulating stories about corrupt practices by former Prime Minister Qarase and some of his close associates. Part of the story is that they ganged up to plunder the Fijian Holdings shares after the company became a limited liability company in 1992. They were portrayed as a bunch of evil conspirators who were out to atrociously deprive ordinary Fijians of their share of the wealth.
There are circulating rumours of Qarase’s stooges planted strategically in boards and other institutional arrangements and whose job is to channel money to his account. This sorts of rumours have provided the clean-up campaign more moral enthusiasm.
Opponents of the coup have also been active with their own e-rumour machine, manufacturing and distributing stories. Amongst these is the conspiracy theory about the Mara dynasty using the coup to reclaim their lost political glory. Some e-rumours talk about alleged behind the scene manipulation of the President by the military.
The use of e-rumours represents a dynamic silent war involving competing claims, ideas and perceptions of legitimacy. It is an unavoidable consequence of globalization where the IT culture shapes and reinvents our relationships with each other in a profound manner. The coup not only takes place in real political life, it is also carried out in the virtual realm where IT becomes the engine for the silent war. We may call this phenomenon “e-coup”.
Rumours and reality
Rumours are not all figment of imagination of some obscure conspiratorial propagandists. Some are based on real situations, some on interpretations of real situations, some on distortions (either intentional or unintentional) of real situations and some on pure invented fantasy. Some are meant to ridicule, some are meant to destroy characters, some are meant to amuse people while some are for serious information.
At some point, people can no longer distinguish between reality and fiction. People often believe rumours just because it has been reified and converted into “truth” after going through so many people.
It is often suggested that rumour mongering is a favourite pastime of uneducated and ignorant peasants and workers. Nothing is further from the truth. Rumour mongering is very much an established middle class culture. Even those who claim to be society’s intelligentsia are amongst the biggest perpetrators and most susceptible to this seemingly primitive behavioural disposition. The IT culture has made rumour mongering a highly sophisticated and intellectual activity in its own right. Even the media itself has, through its reporting, sparked off rumours or even directly validated rumours.
The 2006 coup in Fiji has become a fertile ground for rumour mongering, either in support or rejection of the coup. Seriously, we may say that we detest rumours, but in reality, we like listening to them and passing them on as if they would bring us good luck.
Let me finish off by passing on a fresh rumour to you. Sh…sh…I heard at Traps Bar the other night that Suva is a rainy city, with frequent water cuts and full of gullible, rumour mongering idiots. Sh…sh…please pass that on.
Dr Steven Ratuva is a political sociologist at the University of the South Pacific. These are his own views and not of the institution. (ratuva_s@usp.ac.fj)
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