Ram Singh (Fiji)

Babu Ram Singh was a Fiji Indian who had come to Fiji under the indenture system and was one of the few people who, after indenture, prospered and made an attempt to help his less fortunate ex-indentured brethren.

Successful businessman

There were few roads in Fiji around 1900 and the main form of transportation was by boat. Ram Singh saw this as a business opportunity, acquired a launch and started providing passenger and cargo facilities to communities living along the coasts of the islands of Fiji and along the banks of its numerous rivers. [ cite book | last = Sanadhya | first = Totaram| title = My twenty-one years in the Fiji Islands | publisher = Fiji Museum| year = 1991 | id = ISBN 982-208-003-4 ]

Leadership through Indian Imperial Association

Ram Singh was one of the founding members of the Indian Imperial Association of Fiji (IIA) and together with Totaram Sanadhya was instrumental in pesuading Gandhi to sent an Indian lawyer, Manilal Doctor, to Fiji. Manilal arrived in 1912 and took up the leadership of the IIA, as President and Ram Singh became its Secretary. [ cite book | last = Gillion | first = K.L.| title = Fiji's Indian Migrants: A history to the end of indenture in 1920 | publisher = Oxford University Press| year = 1962 | id = ISBN 019-550-452-6 ]

Ram Singh remained an active member of the IIA and in 1919 joined in the campaign to stop the resumption of the indenture system. Ram Singh and Manilal Doctor organised a conference, of Fiji Indians, in Suva on 26 December 1919, which passed resolutions highlighting the difficulties being faced by Indians in Fiji. The Government tried to ignore the IIA but it lead to the strike of Indian labourers which began on 15 January 1920. As a result of the strike, Manilal was deported from Fiji and the IIA collapsed. In 1924, Ram Singh tried to revive the IIA as the Indian Association of Fiji, with representatives from all sections of the Indian community and with the aims of moral social educational and political uplift of the Indians. The IIA made representations to the Secretary of State for the Colonies, but was ignored and became ineffective. [ cite book | last = Gillion | first = K.L.| title = The Fiji Indians: Challenge to European Dominance 1920 - 1946| publisher = Australian National University Press| year = 1977 | id = ISBN 0-7081-1291-9 ]

Member of Arya Samaj in Fiji

Ram Singh was a member of the Arya Samaj in Fiji. He was the printer and publisher of the Hindi language newspaper, "Fiji Samachar" and together with Vishnu Deo (who was the editor) was involved in conflict with other sections of the Indian community as a result of which he was sued for libel. [ cite book | last = Gillion | first = K.L.| title = The Fiji Indians: Challenge to European Dominance 1920 - 1946| publisher = Australian National University Press| year = 1977 | id = ISBN 0-7081-1291-9 ]

See also

* Indian Imperial Association (Fiji)
* Arya Samaj (Fiji)
* "Fiji Samachar"

References