Parmanand Singh (born 1905) was one of the three

Indo-Fijians Indo-Fijians () are Fijians of South Asian descent whose ancestors were Girmitiyas, indentured labourers. Indo-Fijians trace their ancestry to various regions of the Indian subcontinent. Although Indo-Fijians constituted a majority of Fiji's ...

elected to the

Legislative Council A legislative council is the legislature, or one of the legislative chambers, of a nation, colony, or subnational division such as a province or state. It was commonly used to label unicameral or upper house legislative bodies in the Brit ...

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 October 1929 when Indo-Fijians were given the first opportunity to elect their own representatives. The other two were

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

James Ramchandar Rao James Ranchandar Rao ( a.k.a. James Ramchandar Maharaj ) 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 in the 1 ...

. Singh was a landlord from Ba and undertook several business ventures which included publishing newspapers.

Biography

Parmanand Singh was born in

Yalalevu Yalalevu () is a settlement in the Ba District, Fiji, District of Ba in Fiji, bounded by the Ba River (Fiji), Ba River on the east, Namosau River on the south and the settlement and village of Nailaga towards the north and west. Most of Yalalevu i ...

in the Ba District of Fiji in 1905. His parents had come to Fiji as

indentured labourer Indentured servitude is a form of labor in which a person is contracted to work without salary for a specific number of years. The contract called an "indenture", may be entered voluntarily for a prepaid lump sum, as payment for some good or serv ...

s and prospered in the opportunities available after indenture. He was educated at

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

College, graduating in 1923. While in

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

, he played rugby, a game rarely played by Fiji Indians. On his return to Fiji, he took advantage of a business opportunity by leasing land from Colonial Sugar Refining Company (CSR) and sub-leasing it to small farmers. Like most rich farmers from Ba, he joined the

Arya Samaj Arya Samaj () is a monotheistic Indian Hindu reform movement that promotes values and practices based on the belief in the infallible authority of the Vedas. Dayananda Saraswati founded the samaj in the 1870s. Arya Samaj was the first Hindu ...

and was chosen by

to contest the Northern & Western Division in the 1929 general elections, the first in which Indo-Fijians were allowed to vote. He won easily with the support of Deo and the Arya Samaj, an organisation to which most educated Fiji Indians belonged. However, two weeks after being sworn in he and the two other Indo-Fijians representatives resigned when a motion asking for equal political rights for Indo-Fijians was defeated. He was opposed to the immigration of

Punjabi Punjabi, or Panjabi, most often refers to: * Something of, from, or related to Punjab, a region in India and Pakistan * Punjabi language * Punjabis, Punjabi people * Punjabi dialects and languages Punjabi may also refer to: * Punjabi (horse), a ...

s and

Gujarati Gujarati may refer to: * something of, from, or related to Gujarat, a state of India * Gujarati people, the major ethnic group of Gujarat * Gujarati language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by them * Gujarati languages, the Western Indo-Aryan sub- ...

s, a cause later taken up by his brother, Chattur Singh who was later also a member of the Legislative Council. In 1948, he left for

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

for the education of his children and returned 3 years later. He saw opportunities in the printing industry and established a printing press in Ba, which he used to publish a newspaper, ''Awaaz'' (The Voice) in the

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. He was unable to keep the newspaper in circulation due to a natural disaster and poor staff. He then moved to

Lautoka Lautoka (, ) is the second largest List of cities and towns in Fiji#List, metropolitan area in Fiji. It is on the west coast of the island of Viti Levu, in the Ba Province of the Western Division, Fiji, Western Division. Lying in the heart of ...

and in 1956, started publishing another newspaper, ''Jai Fiji'', which remained in circulation until 1980. The family involvement in Fijian politics has continued with his son, Anand Singh, also serving in the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

and

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

and as the

Attorney General of Fiji The Attorney-General is a political and legal officer in Fiji. The attorney-general is the chief law officer of the State, and has responsibility for supervising Fijian law and advising the government on legal matters. Like other members of th ...

in the

Fiji Labour Party The Fiji Labour Party (FLP; ),() also known as Fiji Labour, is a political party in Fiji. Most of its support is from the Indo-Fijian community, although it is officially multiracial and its first leader was an indigenous Fijian, Dr. Timoc ...

government of

Mahendra Chaudhry Mahendra Pal Chaudhry (; born 9 February 1942) is a Fijian politician and the leader of the Fiji Labour Party. Following a historic election in which he defeated the long-time former leader, Sitiveni Rabuka, the former trade union leader beca ...

from 1999 to 2000.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Singh, Parmanand 1905 births Year of death missing Politicians from Ba (town) Fijian Hindus Arya Samajis in Fiji Indian members of the Legislative Council of Fiji Fijian businesspeople Fijian publishers (people) Fijian landlords University of New Zealand alumni 20th-century landowners