Padri Mehar Singh was one of the founding members of

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 ...

Kisan Sangh 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 a ...

when it was established in 1937. He remained a prominent member of the union until 1943, when he and Ramcharan Singh led a faction that supported a strike instigated by the rival union,

Maha Sangh Akhil Fiji Krishak Maha Sangh (All Fiji Farmers’ Grand Union) 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 ...

, led by A. D. Patel. While most of his supporters rejoined the Kisan Sangh led by

Ayodhya Prasad Ayodhya Prasad Sharma (Hindi: अयोध्या प्रसाद शर्मा, 30 April 1909 – 28 February 1972) was an Indo-Fijian farmers' leader and politician. He formed the most successful farmers' union in Fiji and forced the ...

in 1946, Mehar Singh and his remaining supporters, mainly

Sikh Sikhs (singular Sikh: or ; , ) are an ethnoreligious group who adhere to Sikhism, a religion that originated in the late 15th century in the Punjab region of the Indian subcontinent, based on the revelation of Guru Nanak. The term ''Si ...

s, formed the

Vishal Sangh 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 ...

. This union with a small support base remained a junior partner to the Maha Sangh from then on.

References

Fijian trade unionists Fijian Sikhs Sugar industry of Fiji Year of birth missing Place of birth missing Year of death missing Place of death missing {{Labour-activist-stub