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Siddiq Muhy'Ddin Kwaja, officially known as Siddiq Moidin Khoya was a Fijian politician,Statesman and Opposition leader. He succeeded to the leadership of the mostly Indo-Fijian National Federation Party (NFP) on the death of the party's founder,A. D. Patel,in October 1969,remaining in this post until 1977. He later served a second term as leader of the NFP,from 1984 to 1987.
Lautoka is the second largest city in Fiji. It is on the west coast of the island of Viti Levu,in the Ba Province of the Western Division. Lying in the heart of Fiji's sugar cane-growing region,the city has come to be known as the Sugar City. Covering an area of 32 square kilometres,it had a population of 71,573 at the 2017 census,the most recent to date.
Sir Vijay Raghubar Singh,KBE was an Indo-Fijian lawyer and politician who held Cabinet office in the 1960s and 1970s. Vijay Singh served in Prime Minister Ratu Sir Kamisese Mara's government in a variety of positions,including Attorney-General,and was president of the Indian Alliance,a division of the ruling Alliance Party. He quit the party in 1979 following disagreement with Alliance leadership and later joined the opposition National Federation Party. Vijay Singh was involved in the restructure of the Fiji sugar industry and was a leading member of the Jaycees movement in Fiji.
Ambalal Dahyabhai Patel, better known as A.D. Patel,was an Indo-Fijian politician,farmers' leader and founder and leader of the National Federation Party. Patel was uncompromisingly committed to a vision of an independent Fiji,with full racial integration. He was one of the first to advocate a republic,an ideal not realized in his lifetime. He also advocated a common voters' roll and opposed the communal franchise that characterized Fijian politics.
Ayodhya Prasad Sharma was an Indo-Fijian farmers' leader and politician. He formed the most successful farmers' union in Fiji and forced the Colonial Sugar Refining Company to make concessions to farmers after 60 years of total control over Fiji's economy. However,other Indo-Fijian leaders formed rival unions and his initial success was not repeated. He also served as a member of the Legislative Council between 1953 and 1959.
Kisan Sangh was the first farmers' union formed in Fiji on 27 November 1937. This was the result of one man's determination to improve the plight of Fiji's Indian cane farmers. Ayodhya Prasad had arrived from India in 1929,and after a stint as a teacher took up cane farming and thus obtained firsthand experience of the problems faced by Fiji Indian cane farmers.
Akhil Fiji Krishak Maha Sangh was a sugar cane farmers' union formed on 15 June 1941 in opposition to the existing union,the Kisan Sangh. Supporters of Kisan Sangh tried to stop the formation of the Maha Sangh but were unsuccessful. The people responsible for the formation of a second sugar cane farmers' union were A. D. Patel and Swami Rudrananda. The union was supported by the South Indian sugar cane farmers in Fiji.
The Federation of Cane Growers was formed as an umbrella organisation to negotiate the new cane contract due to take effect from 1960 with the Colonial Sugar Refining Company.
The National Farmers Union' (NFU) is one of Fiji's largest trade unions. It was launched in Labasa in July 1978 under the auspices of the Fiji Trades Union Congress,with Mahendra Pal Chaudhry as its first General Secretary. The union was initially based in Vanua Levu but gradually extended its operations to Viti Levu.
Vishal Sangh was a cane farmers' union established in Fiji on 1 September 1946,by mainly Sikh farmers,who refused to re-join the Kisan Sangh after its reunification following its split into two factions in 1943. It was led by Mehar Singh,one of the founding members of the Kisan Sangh and its former vice-president.
Karam Chand Ramrakha was a former Fiji Indian lawyer,union leader and politician,who served in colonial Fiji's Legislative Council and independent Fiji's House of Representatives from 1966 to 1982.
Sugar Cane Growers Council represents the sugar cane farmers in Fiji. It is made up of 38 members elected by the farmers and eight members nominated by the government. The Sugar Cane Growers Council election is held every three years. The Council has a chief executive,the first one being Vijay R. Singh,and a chairman.
Jagannath Sami has been a soccer player representing a premier district side in the Fiji Football Association competitions,a leader of the sugar mill workers,a leader of a farmers' union,a politician and chief executive officer of the Sugar Cane Growers Council but he is best known for the controversy surrounding his dismissal as the CEO of the SCGC by the military regime of Commodore Josaia Voreqe (Frank) Bainimarama following the military coup of 2006.
The Fiji Cane Growers Association (FCGA) is a cane farmers' union established in 1992 by supporters of the National Federation Party (NFP).
Fiji Sugar Corporation (FSC) is the government-owned sugar milling company in Fiji having monopoly on production of raw sugar in Fiji. It is also the largest public enterprise in the country employing nearly 3,000 people,while another 200,000 or more depend on it for their livelihood in rural sugar cane belts of Fiji.
Unlike the majority of Fiji's Indian population,who are descendants of Indian indentured labourers brought to Fiji between 1879 and 1916,most of the Sikhs came to Fiji as free immigrants. Most Sikhs established themselves as farmers. Sikhs also came to Fiji as policemen,teachers and preachers. In recent years large numbers of Sikhs have emigrated from Fiji,especially to the United States,Canada,the United Kingdom,Australia and New Zealand. Sikhs in Fiji are generally referred to as Punjabis. Total population of sikhs in Fiji is around 3600. Discourse on the experiences and histories of Fijian Sikhs tends to subsume them under discourse framed in terms of other South Asian groups.
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.
Sugar Cane Growers Cooperative of Florida is an agricultural enterprise that harvests,transports and processes sugarcane grown primarily in Palm Beach County,Florida and markets the raw sugar and blackstrap molasses through the Florida Sugar and Molasses Exchange. The Cooperative is made up of 45 grower-owners who produce sugarcane on approximately 70,000 acres,located in the Everglades Agricultural Area (EAA). The raw sugar is marketed to one of the ASR Group's sugar refineries. The Cooperative produces more than 350,000 tons of raw sugar annually.
Manasa Ramasirai Vaniqi was a Fijian civil servant and lieutenant colonel. He was appointed Fiji's first Permanent Secretary for Sugar in 2009. As Permanent Secretary,Vaniqi oversaw reforms within the country's sugar industry. Under Vaniqi,the Ministry created the 2013–2017 Sugar Cane Industry Action Plan,which replaced the older Delloitte Report from New Zealand. Vaniqi also implemented future plans to diversify the focus of the sugar industry into newer,sustainable fields,such as ethanol and bio-gas production,which will be sold to the Fiji Electricity Authority (FEA) if the plans are successful. He met with chiefs and landowners on Vanua Levu and Viti Levu in an effort for increase sugarcane production and renew leases for sugar farmers. Vaniqi served as Permanent Secretary for Sugar from his appointment in 2009 until his death on January 1,2015.
References
- ↑ "Jai Gawander". GDN. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007.
- ↑ "Workshop on Raising Awareness on Linking Climate Forecasting and Decision Making Practices for the Fiji Sugar Industry" (PDF). AUSAID. Archived from the original (PDF) on 5 April 2012.
- ↑ "Election Results 2006 - Fiji Islands". Archived from the original on 2007-09-27. Retrieved 2007-03-31.
- ↑ "Fiji sugar cane growers accuse interim sugar minister of corruption and nepotism". RNZ. 14 June 2007. Retrieved 12 March 2023.