Irene Jai Narayan: last of Fiji’s Indian-born Leaders

Mrs. Irene Jai Narayan, who died a few weeks ago, was the only woman born in India who became a member of the Fiji Legislative Council (Parliament).

Until the 1930s the Indian leaders in Fiji were mainly from India. This was because most of the Indians who were brought to Fiji as indentured labourers were illiterate and did not have the potential to provide leadership to the community. The few who could read and write looked up to India for leadership, especially to Mahatma Gandhi.

Gandhiji sent C. F. Andrews to Fiji in 1914 while the indenture system was still on.
Andrews successfully sought to end the system with the last batch of labourers coming to Fiji in 1916 on a five year contract which ended in 1920. He visited Fiji for a second time in 1917 while the indenture system was in the process of being abolished and again in 1936 and gave sound advice to the Indian settlers.

He emphasised multiracial schools and stressed the paramountcy of Fijian interests.
Even before Andrews, a lawyer from Baroda, Manilal Doctor had come through Mauritius who could be considered the first leader of the Indian community in Fiji.

His arrival was described as a ‘seminal’ event and Fijians seemed to have been as excited about it as the Indians and organised a grand reception.

Unfortunately the administration found it easy to find fault with him and arrange for his deportation. He was held responsible for the 1920 strike by the Indian workers. However, during his stay of a few years, he was able to provide leadership to the Indian community by fighting for their rights. In doing so he challenged the European vested interests and the colonial administration.

Sadhu Bhashisht Muni was the next person to come from India and assume leadership of the Indians. This time it was the internal divisions among the Indians which helped the administration to get rid of him. The Sadhu was a Sanatani (an orthodox Hindu) and the Sanatanis believed that the Arya Samajis (the reformed Hindus) had a hand in urging the government to send him away. He was blamed by the authorities for the 1921 strike and was also deported.

Pandit Vishnu Deo was the most important Indian leader in the 1930s. Unlike the other leaders so far, he was born in Fiji. He was the first Fiji-born Indian leader to be accepted by the whole Indian community as their leader. Vishnu Deo was first and foremost an Arya Samaji but Ahmed Ali had noted that he “was pundit to all Indians irrespective of religion; the community as a whole accepted his position as the leader”.

Swami Rudrananda, who was sent by the Ramakrishna Mission as a resident monk to help the Sangam (the South Indian association) became an important leader, not only of the South Indians but of the whole sugarcane farming community, which consisted of the majority of the Indians at that time. He also had a major role in getting A.D. Patel, a Gujarati lawyer practising in Fiji, who had been made the legal adviser of the Sangam, involved in the struggle to get a better deal for the sugarcane farmers of Fiji.

A.D. Patel was the most outstanding among all the leaders Indians in Fiji ever had. He was a lawyer like Manilal and had come to Fiji in 1928. He soon earned a name as an eloquent speaker and a brilliant advocate but he did not make a great impact as a politician. He was defeated at the polls twice. Later Swami Rudrananda persuaded him to join hands with him and help the sugarcane farmers. Until then even when approached by the farmers’ leaders to help them in their struggle Patel had refused because he did not feel any commitment to them. Finally he was drawn in by Swami Rudrananda. This involvement undoubtedly helped him in his political career but he gave a lot of his time and energy so it was not one sided.

Patel was fearless and highly principled and even his opponents appreciated his sincerity and commitments to his ideals. Patel saw the Fijian commoners also as victims of exploitation and genuinely wanted to help them as well just as he wanted to help the sugarcane farmers who were exploited. It was only after the 1968 by elections, when he saw the reaction of the Fijian people to his party’s attack on the Fijian chiefs that he realised that he was mistaken in his conclusions about the Fijian commoners.

When Patel realised the offence he had caused to Fijian sensibilities through his lack of understanding of the relationship between the Fijian commoners and their chiefs he hastened to make amends through a gesture of reconciliation. Unfortunately Patel died a year before independence and according to Satendra Nandan “the Indian Fijians never recovered from the death of their leader”.

In paying tribute to Patel at his death, Ratu Mara noted that as “the first Leader of the Opposition, he set a standard of dignity, of eloquence and of courtesy in the finest traditions of Parliamentary form of government”. He further noted that there were deep divisions between Patel and himself but they all respected his sincerity and the devotion to the cause for which he fought.

One scholar accuses the ‘expatriate’ Indian politicians of exploiting the Fiji Indians. This was far from the truth. It was true that they were not just helping the Indians as they had broader outlook and looked at what was best for Fiji. R. D. Patel, the brother of A .D. Patel, was the first one to advocate nationalising the Vatukoula Gold Mine which would have helped the workers who were mainly Fijians. Later NFP had it as its policy and if Patel had lived longer he would surely have taken it up. NFP leaders after Patel only looked at things that affected the Indians.

After independence there were two Indian born leaders in parliament, R. D. Patel and Mrs. Jai Narayan. R. D. Patel left the NFP in 1975 claiming that it was not what it was before as it slowly became a communal party. R.D. also resigned from Parliament and then there was only Mrs. Narayan left. Since she did not have a supporting team she was not as effective as she was before. But she cannot be accused of exploiting the Fiji Indians in anyway. She served Fiji sincerely for many years.

Mrs.Narayan was one of the two ladies in the Legislative Council/Parliament when Fiji became self governing. There was Mrs Narayan on the opposition side and on the ruling Alliance side was Adi Losalini Dovi, the wife of Ratu Dovi, the brother of Ratu Sir Lala Sukuna, and the mother of Ratu Joni Madraiwiwi.

Both Mrs. Narayan and Adi Losalini were such effective members and spoke boldly on any issue that they felt strongly about. They were so dignified and graceful at the same time and commanded the respect of the people. In Mrs. Narayan’s passing Fiji has lost a great leader. May her soul rest in peace.