The Indian Reform League was formed 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 ...

in 1924, following the refusal of the

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 ...

Y.M.C.A. to admit

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 ...

. Its founder was A.W. McMillan of the

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Y.M.C.A and educated Indians and Government clerks and interpreters such as M. S. Buksh, S. S. Chowla, John F. Grant, Ilahi Ramzan, and Ram Narayan Deoki. Its aim was to carry out social work and apply pressure for social reform, like changes to marriage laws. Since most of its members were Indian

Christians A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the world. The words '' Christ'' and ''C ...

, it soon acquired a sectional character. It provided volunteer nurses during the

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epidemic of 1925. It had a women's wing known as the ''Stri Sewa Sabha'' (Women's Service League), founded in 1934, which carried out social work amongst Fiji Indian women. The League encouraged participation in sports, including in

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

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and

lawn tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

. In December 1927, it organised a schools football competition at Albert Park. Buoyed by the success of this tournament, the League met on 22 January 1928 and formed a Football Association committee which organised the first competition was on 26 May 1928 at the

Marist Brothers High School Marist Brothers High School is a Roman Catholic all-boys' high school situated in Suva, the capital of Fiji. It is a school in the Marist tradition, founded in 1946 by the order of Marist Brothers, which has had a presence in Fiji since 1844. T ...

ground. In 1936, the association was renamed, the Suva Football Association, which was one of the original Associations that formed the Fiji Indian Football Association. The Indian Reform League, with its Indian Christian power base came into conflict with another group of organised Indians accused the League of encouraging Indians to give up their culture and adopt European customs. The league was eventually ended after local Fijians took over Fiji football.

References

*{{cite book , last = Gillion , first = Kenneth , title = The Fiji Indians: Challenge to European Dominance 1920-1946 , publisher = Australian National University Press , year = 1977 , isbn = 0-7081-1291-9 Fiji Indian organisations Christianity in Fiji