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The Indian Imperial Association of Fiji (I.I.A.) was active in Fiji during the last years of the indenture system, safeguarding the interests of and assisting in the improvement of the Indian community.
Sadhu Vashist Muni was a Hindu missionary from India, who came into prominence in Fiji when he assumed the leadership of the strike in the western districts of Fiji in 1921. Mystery surrounded him during his short stay in Fiji and tales of his miraculous deeds still circulate in Fiji. The Government could not find out much about him from its sources of intelligence but deported him in the belief that he was an agent of Gandhi. After his arrest, the Government House in Suva was struck by lightning and destroyed which only heightened the belief in the power this mysterious sadhu.
Manilal Maganlal Doctor was a British Indian barrister and politician, who travelled to numerous countries of the British Empire, including Fiji, Mauritius and Aden, providing legal assistance to the local ethnic Indian population. He met Gandhi, who asked him to go to Mauritius, where he represented Indo-Mauritians in court and edited a newspaper, The Hindustani. Gandhi later informed him of the need for a barrister in Fiji and he arrived in Fiji in 1912. In Fiji he also represented Indo-Fijians in court, started a newspaper, Indian Settler and established an organisation for Fiji Indians, known as the Indian Imperial Association. In 1916 when he was by-passed for nomination to the Legislative Council of Fiji, his relationship with the Government of Fiji deteriorated. The Government accused him of the violence and sabotage of the 1920 strike and deported him. He was barred from practicing law in several British colonies. He later managed to practice law in Aden, Somalia and Bihar State in India but spent his final days in Bombay.
Pt. Vishnu Deo OBE was the first Fiji born and bred leader of the Indo-Fijians. From his initial election to the Legislative Council in 1929 to his retirement in 1959, he remained the most powerful Indo-Fijians political leader in Fiji. He was a staunch supporter of Arya Samaj in Fiji and also the editor of the first successful Hindi-language newspaper to be published in Fiji.
Parmanand Singh was one of the three Indo-Fijians elected to the Legislative Council of Fiji in October 1929 when Indo-Fijians were given the first opportunity to elect their own representatives. The other two were Vishnu Deo and James Ramchandar Rao. Singh was a landlord from Ba and undertook several business ventures which included publishing newspapers.
Kunwar Bachint Singh was an Indo-Fijian teacher and politician. He arrived in Fiji in 1927 as a teacher for the Arya Samaj but his association with Vishnu Deo led him to play an active role in aggressively promoting the Arya Samaj and finally into politics. He was elected into the Legislative Council as a protégé of Vishnu Deo but after the election took an independent stance opposed to the wishes of the majority of the Indo-Fijians. He supported nominated rather than elected representation, actively supported the war effort and even attempted to set up a farmers union opposed to a number of existing unions. The Government rewarded him for his loyalty by nominating him into the Legislative Council three times, appointing him as a Justice of the Peace and as the first Indo-Fijian member of the Executive Council.
The Arya Samaj was the first religious, cultural and educational Fiji Indian organisation established in Fiji. From its inception, in 1904, it attracted the young, educated and progressive Hindus into its fold. During the first three decades of the twentieth century, it was the sole voice of the Indian community in Fiji and as Fiji Indians won political rights, it was not surprising that first Indian members of the Legislative Council were all Arya Samajis. The influence of Arya Samaj over the Indians in Fiji gradually waned as other organisations representing Indians were established but it remained the dominant force in politics until 1959. The modern day Arya Samaj in Fiji still speaks out on issues affecting its members and its activities are visible through the numerous educational institutions that it manages.
Chandersen Chattur Singh was an Indo-Fijian politician. He caused a major sensation in the 1937 elections when he defeated A. D. Patel, a well known lawyer and political ally of Vishnu Deo.
Pandit Ami Chandra Vidyalankar was an Indo-Fijian educator, preacher, labour leader, politician and football administrator. He served as a member of the Legislative Council between 1947 and 1953.
Unlike the bulk of Fiji's Indian population, who are descendants of Indian indentured labourers brought to Fiji between 1879 and 1916, the Gujaratis came to Fiji as free immigrants beginning in 1904. While the indentured labourers, on becoming free, generally took up farming, the Gujaratis were traders and craftsmen. In the Indo-Fijian population as a whole, the caste system disappeared within a few years of indenture, but the Gujaratis still maintain it and very rarely marry outside their caste. The Gujaratis continue to maintain strong links with India, usually sending their sons and daughters to be married there while the rest of Fiji's Indian population have little contact with their country of origin.
The Arya Pratinidhi Sabha of Fiji is the national body for all the Arya Samajs in Fiji. It was formed in 1918 and registered as a religious body through the efforts of Manilal Doctor, who was in Fiji from 1912 to 1920 at the behest of Mahatma Gandhi to provide legal assistance to the Fiji Indians. Its first President was Swami Manoharanand Saraswati who had arrived in Fiji, from India, in 1913. The Arya Pratinidhi Sabha of Fiji is affiliated to Sarvadeshik Arya Pratinidhi Sabha based in New Delhi.
Babu Ram Singh was a Fiji Indian who had come to Fiji under the indenture system and was one of the few people who, after indenture, prospered and made an attempt to help his less fortunate ex-indentured brethren. Babu Ram Singhs surviving Business, Fiji Rubber Stamp Co Ltd is still under operation in Mark Street, Suva, and is looked after by his children.
The number of Fiji Indians that could be elected to the Legislative Council was fixed over the years as follows:
Hindu Maha Sabha was an organisation representing various Hindu organisations and was formed in Fiji in 1926, following the formation of All-India Hindu Maha Sabha in India. The formation of the organisation both in India and Fiji occurred after the assassination of Swami Shraddhanand, a Hindu activist in India. The formation of the Sabha in Fiji coincided with the formation of a national Muslim organisation, the Fiji Muslim League.
This is a synopsis of organisations formed by Indians in Fiji. When they became free from the bondage of indenture and were able to organise themselves, they founded numerous organizations to seek social and political justice. These organisations promoted the teaching of Indian languages and religious practices and also to help others in time of need. Some of the successful organisations are listed below in the order in which they were established. Some, such as the National Federation Party, are no longer exclusively Indian, but are still predominantly so.
The Indian Association of Fiji is the name used by organisations established in Fiji seeking to unite different groups within the Fiji Indian community to facilitate the plight of Indians in Fiji.
Arya Samaj is a Hindu reform movement in Mauritius. Established in 1911, the Arya Paropkarini Sabha was officially registered in 1913. Since its creation Arya Samaj has had a great influence on the religious, social, educational and political lives of the people of Indian origin on the island. It has endeavoured to uphold the principles and ideals set forth by Maharishi Dayanand and his reformist movement. Some of the more notable ideals are women parity and free access to education. It has provided Hindus with a choice of progressive Hinduism, has promoted education with particular emphasis on Hindi and established orphanages, primary schools, colleges and tertiary institution.
Indo-Fijians, also known as Indian Fijians, are Fijian citizens of South Asian descent, and include people who trace their ancestry to various regions of the Indian subcontinent. Although Indo-Fijians constituted a majority of Fiji's population from 1956 through the late 1980s, discrimination and the resulting brain drain resulted in them numbering 313,798 (37.6%) out of a total of 827,900 people living in Fiji as of 2007.
Brahmanand Raghvanand was an Indo-Fijian civil servant. He served as a member of the Legislative Council in the 1950s.
Sadanand Maharaj was an Indo-Fijian politician. He served as a member of the Legislative Council and Executive Council between 1950 and 1953.
References
- C.F. Andrews and W.W. Pearson, Indian Indentured Labour in Fiji, Perth, 1918
- Girmit Diwas 125 years commemorative magazine, 2004
- A. Ali, Plantation to Politics, Studies on Fiji Indians, University of the South Pacific, Suva
- K.L. Gillion, Fiji’s Indian Migrants, a History to the End of the Indenture in 1920, Oxford University Press, Melbourne, 1962
- K.L. Gillion, The Fiji Indians, A Challenge to European Dominance 1920-1946, Australian National University Press, Canberra, 1977
- J.D. Kelly, A Politics of Virtue, University of Chicago, Chicago, 1991