Sookdeo Bissoondoyal (25 December 1908 – 18 August 1977) was a

Mauritian Mauritians (singular Mauritian; french: Mauricien; Creole: ''Morisien'') are nationals or natives of the Republic of Mauritius and their descendants. Mauritius is a multi-ethnic society, with notable groups of people of South Asian (notably ...

politician and one of the leading figures in the independence movement.

Early life

Sookdeo Bissoondoyal was born in Tyack in 1908. He had two brothers Basdeo and Soogrim.

Education and career

At the Young Men's Hindu Aided Primary School (Port Louis) he acquired his primary education. He passed his Teacher's Examination and worked as Primary School Teacher from 1923 to 1945.

Political career

In 1946, Sookdeo Bissoondoyal left the teaching profession to join his elder brother Basdeo's movement

Jan Andolan Jan, JaN or JAN may refer to: Acronyms * Jackson, Mississippi (Amtrak station), US, Amtrak station code JAN * Jackson-Evers International Airport, Mississippi, US, IATA code * Jabhat al-Nusra (JaN), a Syrian militant group * Japanese Article Num ...

. Sookdeo become active in politics and was elected to the Legislative Council in the

Grand Port Grand Port () is a district of Mauritius, situated in the east of the island. The name means "large port" in French. The district has an area of 260.3 km2 and the population estimate was at 112,997 as of 31 December 2015. History Grand Por ...

Savanne Savanne () or Savannah is a district of Mauritius, situated in the south of the island. The district has an area of 244.8 km2 and the population estimate was at 68,585 as at 31 December 2015. The southern part of the island is one of the most s ...

constituency in the August 1948 elections. He was re-elected in 1953 within the same constituency. On 13 April 1958 he founded a political party, the

Independent Forward Bloc The Independent Forward Bloc (IFB) was a political party in Mauritius. History The Independent Forward Bloc (IFB) party was founded by Sookdeo Bissoondoyal on 13 April 1958. Since the 1930s the movement Jan Andolan had been founded by Sookdeo's ...

(IFB). He was re-elected in the

Rose-Belle Rose-Belle is a small town of southeastern Mauritius. Location It is located in Grand Port district, ten kilometers west of the district's well known town, Mahébourg Mahébourg is a small town on the south-eastern coast of the island of M ...

Constituency No.21 in the 1959 elections at a time when there were 40 constituencies, which saw the IFB win six seats. Following the elections, Bissoondoyal was appointed Minister of Local Government and Cooperative Movements. He was re-elected for the fourth consecutive time in the same Rose-Belle Constituency No.21 in the 1963 elections, whilst the IFB increased its representation to seven seats. In 1965 Sookdeo Bissoondoyal attended the Constitutional Conference in London (also known as 1965 Lancaster Conference) in preparation for the independence of Mauritius. The 1967 elections saw the IFB run as part of the

Independence Party (Mauritius) The Independence Party was the name of a coalition of 3 major political parties on the island of Mauritius in the 1960s and 1970s. It was also commonly known as Parti de L'indépendance. It was formed in 1966 to unite the Labour Party (Mauritius), ...

(IP) which became a coalition of the Labour Party and the

Muslim Committee of Action The Muslim Committee of Action, also known as the ''Comité d'Action Musulman'' or ''Comité d'Action Mauricien'' (CAM) was a political party in Mauritius. History The CAM was founded by Sir Abdool Razack Mohamed in February 1959 in preparation ...

. The IP alliance won the August 1967 elections, with Bissoondoyal re-elected in the Vieux

& Rose-Belle Constituency No.11, and subsequently becoming Minister of Cooperatives. The 1967 elections would be the fifth and last time for Sookdeo to be elected to the Legislative Council. He resigned from the Council of Ministers on 21 March 1969 due to a disagreement on some issues, including the postponement of the 1972 general elections by the Prime Minister

Seewoosagur Ramgoolam Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam (in traditional Hindi: Shivsagar Ram Gulam) (18 September 1900 – 15 December 1985; often referred to as ''Chacha Ramgoolam'' or ''SSR'') was a Mauritian physician, politician, and statesman. He served as the island's ...

. In 1974 Bissoondoyal became Leader of the Opposition. In 1976, he was candidate at the

general elections A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

in Constituency No.11 (Vieux Grand Port and Rose Belle) but was not elected, as he was defeated by rivals Gungoosingh, Basant Rai and Doongoor of

. In the aftermath of the 1976 defeat Sookdeo died within a year and his party IFB did not participate in any subsequent elections.

Bibliography

Sookdeo Bissoondoyal wrote the book "A Concise History of Mauritius" which was published for the first time in 1965 by Bharativa Vidya Bhavan. The book "Sookdeo Bissoondoyal, Life and Times" was written by R. Jeetah and published in 1989 and subsequent years.

Legacy

In honour of Sookdeo Bissoondoyal the Port Louis municipal council renamed Place d'Armes as Place Sookdeo Bissoondoyal where his statue has been erected. The statue faces that of his brother Basdeo. The secondary state schoo
Sookdeo Bissoondoyal State College
in Rose-Belle is also named after him. On 3 April 1987 the Sookdeo Bissoondoyal Memorial Museum (located on the main road in the village of Tyack, Rivière des Anguilles) was inaugurated. In 1998 the Bank of Mauritius issued new 500 Rupees bank notes featuring a portrait of Sookdeo Bissoondoyal on the obverse face.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bissoondoyal, Sookdeo Members of the National Assembly (Mauritius) Mauritian Hindus People from Savanne District 1908 births 1977 deaths Government ministers of Mauritius Mauritian politicians of Indian descent Independent Forward Bloc politicians