Bikramsingh Ramlallah (1915-2000), also known as Beekrumsingh Ramlallah, Beekrum Ramlallah, or Vikram Ramlallah, was a Mauritian school teacher, social worker, activist, journalist, politician and minister.

Early life

In 1915 Bikramsingh Ramlallah was born in the village of Long Mountain,

British Mauritius Mauritius was a Crown colony off the Southeast coast of Africa. Formerly part of the French colonial empire, British rule in Mauritius was established de facto with the Invasion of Isle de France in November 1810, and de jure by the subsequent T ...

. His grandfather Ramlall and father Seenarain were Mauritian small planters. Bikramsingh Ramlallah's great-grandfather migrated from Ballia, a village in the northern region of India, to Mauritius as an indentured labourer.

Activism

Ramlallah worked as a teacher and social worker. He joined the Arya Samaj movement and was also chairman of the Port-Louis-based socio-cultural movement Hindu Maha Sabha (HMS). In 1940 Bikramsingh Ramlallah founded youth movement ''Sewa Samithi'' to train young members in recreational

Lathi khela Lathi khela ( bn, লাঠি খেলা) is a traditional Bengali martial art – a kind of stick fighting practised India and Bangladesh. A practitioner is known as a ''lathial''. Etymology The word ''lathi'' is the Bengali word meaning s ...

. For a number of years Ramlallah also imported books and newspapers in bulk from India, for subsequent retail sale at the Central Market of Port Louis. Given the popularity of these publications, by 1946 Ramlallah opened ''Nalanda Bookshop'' located on Bourbon Street, Port Louis. In 1954 Ramlallah, with

Kher Jagatsingh Keharsingh Jagatsingh, more commonly known as Sir Kher Jagatsingh (23 July 1931 – 19 July 1985) was a Mauritian politician and Labour Party (Mauritius) minister. Early life Keharsingh was born in India, the 14th child of a family of 16 childr ...

's assistance, founded weekly newspaper ''Mauritius Times''. In the 1960s Ramlallah noticed the archaeological remains of the Coolie Ghat where indentured labourers, mainly from India, landed after their sea voyages. He successfully campaigned for the protection, preservation and restoration of the Coolie Ghat, now known as Aapravasi Ghat. As founder-chairman of Mauritius Union of Journalists (MUJ) Ramlallah protested in 1984, along with 43 other journalists, against the government's proposed ''Newspapers and Periodicals (Amendment) Bill'' which would force print media owners to provide a security of Rs500,000, thus acting as a deterrent for small printing shops with limited financial means. Riot police arrested the 43 journalists but refused to arrest Ramlallah given his advanced age, thus prompting Ramlallah to walk to Line Barracks to support his arrested colleagues.

Political career

Bikramsingh Ramlallah supported Labour Party politicians Seewoosagur Ramgoolam, Harilall Vaghjee and Aunuth Beejadhur during the legislative elections of 1948 and 1953. Before the 1959 elections Ramlallah successfully canvassed Seewoosagur Ramgoolam in order to receive Labour Party "tickets" for journalists

, Doojendranath Napal, Premchand Dabee, Ramawad Sewgobind, Somduth Bhuckory and himself. Five of these journalists were elected, except for Somduth Bhuckory. Thus Ramlallah was a member of the Legislative Council and Legislative Assembly from 1959 to 1976, representing Constituency No. 6 Grand Baie-Poudre D'Or and he served in a number of roles including Parliamentary Secretary (PS) and Minister.

Legacy

To commemorate his contribution to education and politics the government of Mauritius changed the name of Mapou State Secondary School (SSS) to Beekrumsing Ramlallah SSS.

References

1915 births 2000 deaths Government ministers of Mauritius Members of the National Assembly (Mauritius) Labour Party (Mauritius) politicians Mauritian Hindus Mauritian politicians of Indian descent {{Mauritius-politician-stub