''Fiji Samachar'' (Fiji News) was a

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

language newspaper published in

Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...

from 1924 to 1974. It was published in

Suva Suva (, ) is the Capital city, capital and the most populous city of Fiji. It is the home of the country's largest metropolitan area and serves as its major port. The city is located on the southeast coast of the island of Viti Levu, in Rew ...

by the Indian Printing and Publishing Company and its first editor was Babu Ram Singh.

History

The newspaper started as a bi-lingual Hindi and English Monthly newspaper but from 1935 became a weekly Hindi newspaper. The editorial committee was headed by Pandit

Vishnu Deo Pt. Vishnu Deo (Hindi: विष्णु देव) OBE (17 July 1900 – 7 May 1968) 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 rem ...

and included Pandit Ami Chandra and Pandit Gopendra Narayan Pathik, all active members of the

Arya Samaj in Fiji 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 t ...

and consequently the newspaper was seen as the mouthpiece of the Arya Samaj. In the 1930s Vishnu Deo became the editor. The newspaper was involved in a number of controversies. In 1927, the newspaper was sued for making

allegation In law, an allegation is a claim of an unproven fact by a party in a pleading, charge, or defense. Until they can be proved, allegations remain merely assertions. Types of allegations Marital allegations There are also marital allegations: m ...

s against some Fiji Indian civil servants, with Ram Singh and Vishnu Deo being charged but the charges were withdrawn after a public apology arranged by S. B. Patel. In 1932, Deo was convicted of publishing objectionable material against the religious practices of others in the newspaper. In early 1943, the Fiji Government suspended the publication of ''Fiji Samachar'' for six months after it published record of the meeting of Central Indian Was Committee in November 1942, in which most of the speakers took the view that

Indians Indian or Indians may refer to: Associated with India * of or related to India ** Indian people ** Indian diaspora ** Languages of India ** Indian English, a dialect of the English language ** Indian cuisine Associated with indigenous peoples o ...

could not be expected to enlist for the army unless they were paid the same as

European European, or Europeans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe and other West ...

s. The ''Fiji Samachar'' enjoyed wide readership during the period from 1929 to 1959 when Vishnu Deo was active in politics, but lost its readers to numerous other Hindi language newspapers which began publication in the 1960s. In 1963 the newspaper was sold to S. M. Bidesi and labour problems caused it to cease publication in 1974.

References

{{Reflist 1924 establishments in Fiji 1974 disestablishments in Fiji Defunct newspapers published in Fiji Hindi-language newspapers published in Fiji Indian diaspora in Fiji Newspapers established in 1924 Publications disestablished in 1974