->Monkbot: Task 18 (cosmetic): eval 1 template: del empty params (1×);

2021-01-08T06:56:23Z

Task 18 (cosmetic): eval 1 template: del empty params (1×);

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{{Infobox Officeholder
| name= Parmanand Singh
| image=Parmanand Singh.png
| imagesize=140

| title= Member of the [[Legislative Council of Fiji|Legislative Council]] for Northern and Western
| term = 1929
| predecessor= ''Seat created''
| successor= [[Muniswamy Mudaliar]]

| birth_date= 1905
| birth_place= [[Ba Province|Ba, Fiji]]
| death_date=
| death_place=
| party=
| residence=
| spouse=
| profession= Businessman
| footnotes=
}}

'''Parmanand Singh''' (born 1905) was one of the three [[Indo-Fijians]] elected to the [[Legislative Council of Fiji|Legislative Council]] of [[Fiji]] in October 1929 when Indo-Fijians were given the first opportunity to elect their own representatives. The other two were [[Vishnu Deo]] and [[James Ramchandar Rao]]. Singh was a landlord from Ba and undertook several business ventures which included publishing newspapers.

==Biography==
Parmanand Singh was born in [[Yalalevu]] in the [[Ba District, Fiji|Ba District]] of Fiji in 1905. His parents had come to Fiji as [[Indian indenture system|indentured labourer]]s and prospered in the opportunities available after indenture. He was educated at [[Auckland]] College, graduating in 1923. While in [[New Zealand]], 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 (Fiji)|Colonial Sugar Refining Company]] (CSR) and sub-leasing it to small farmers.

Like most rich farmers from Ba, he joined the [[Arya Samaj in Fiji|Arya Samaj]] and was chosen by [[Vishnu Deo]] to contest the Northern & Western Division in the [[1929 Fijian general election|1929 general elections]], the first in which Indo-Fijians were allowed to vote.<ref>[http://fijielections.blogspot.com/2017/02/fiji-legislative-council-election-1929.html 1929 Fiji Legislative Council elections] Fiji Elections</ref> 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 people|Punjabi]]s and [[Gujarati people|Gujarati]]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]] 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 (town)|Ba]], which he used to publish a newspaper, ''Awaaz'' (The Voice) in the [[Hindi]] language. He was unable to keep the newspaper in circulation due to a natural disaster and poor staff. He then moved to [[Lautoka]] and in 1956, started publishing another newspaper, ''Jai Fiji'', which remained in circulation until 1980.<ref>{{cite book| last = Sharma | first = Guru Dayal | title = Memories of Fiji: 1887 - 1987 | publisher =Guru Dayal Sharma, Suva, Fiji | year = 1987 | pages = 151–152 }}</ref>

The family involvement in Fijian politics has continued with his son, [[Anand Singh]], also serving in the [[House of Representatives of Fiji|House of Representatives]] and [[Senate of Fiji|Senate]] and as the [[Attorney General of Fiji]] in the [[Fiji Labour Party]] government of [[Mahendra Chaudhry]] from 1999 to 2000.

== References ==
{{reflist}}

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

Parmanand Singh - Revision history

->Monkbot: Task 18 (cosmetic): eval 1 template: del empty params (1×);