Karam Chand Ramrakha (18 March 1933 – 17 April 2021) was a former Fiji Indian

lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...

, union leader and politician, who served in colonial

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

's Legislative Council and independent Fiji's

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

from 1966 to 1982.

Entry into politics

K.C. Ramrakha joined the

Federation Party The Federation Party was Fiji's first formal political party. The Citizens Federation, which had won three of the four seats reserved for Indo-Fijians at the 1963 elections, decided to formalize its role as a political party, which was officia ...

when its support was concentrated in the sugar cane growing districts of Fiji. One of the four Indian members of the Legislative Council (

Andrew Deoki Andrew Indar Narayan Deoki (1917 – 12 June 1985) was an Indo-Fijian statesman who served his community as a social and religious leader, soccer administrator, member of the Legislative Council and Senate in independent Fiji and as Attorney Gen ...

, representing the Southern Constituency which included the districts of

Suva Suva () is the capital and largest city of Fiji. It is the home of the country's largest metropolitan area and serves as its major port. The city is located on the southeast coast of the island of Viti Levu, in Rewa Province, Central Divi ...

Navua Navua () is a town in Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast o ...

Nausori Nausori () is a town in Fiji. It had a population of 57,866 at the 2017 census. This makes it the fourth most populous municipality in the country. Situated 19 kilometers outside of Suva, it forms one pole of the burgeoning Suva-Nausori corrido ...

and

Tailevu Tailevu is one of the 14 provinces of Fiji. Overview One of the eight provinces based in Viti Levu, Fiji's largest island, Tailevu's 755 square kilometers occupy the south-eastern fringe of the island along with some central areas. At the 2017 ...

in the Central Division elected in 1963 was not a member of the Federation Party). In the 1966 election,

A. D. Patel Ambalal Dahyabhai Patel, better known as A.D. Patel (13 March 1905 – 1 October 1969), was an Indo-Fijian politician, farmers' leader and founder and leader of the National Federation Party. Patel was uncompromisingly committed to a vision of an ...

recruited Ramrakha as one of the candidates (the other was

Irene Jai Narayan Irene Jai Narayan (23 February 1932 – 29 July 2011) was an Indian-born teacher and politician, who had a significant influence on politics in Fiji. She came to Fiji in 1959 after marrying Jai Narayan, a well known school Principal in Suva, a ...

) to extend NFP's support into the Central Division. Ramrakha's main opponent was

K. B. Singh Kunwar Bachint Singh (1905 – 1979) was an Indo-Fijians, Indo-Fijian teacher and politician. He arrived in Fiji in 1927 as a teacher for the Arya Samaj in Fiji, Arya Samaj but his association with Vishnu Deo led him to play an active role in a ...

, a veteran politician who had first entered the Legislative Council in 1937. Ramrakha easily defeated Singh by 3,220 votes to 677 votes with a third candidate receiving 604 votes.

Leadership contender

Ramrakha soon proved himself to be an accomplished debator and was rewarded for his skills by being made the Opposition

Whip A whip is a tool or weapon designed to strike humans or other animals to exert control through pain compliance or fear of pain. They can also be used without inflicting pain, for audiovisual cues, such as in equestrianism. They are generally e ...

in the Legislative Council. He was also elected the General Secretary of the Fiji Teachers Union. In 1969, he aided A. D. Patel in the Court of Arbitration appointed for the new sugar cane contract. When A. D. Patel died in 1969, many people thought that Ramrakha was a suitable person to take up the leadership of the

National Federation Party The National Federation Party is a Fijian political party founded by A. D. Patel, A.D. Patel in November 1968, as a merger of the Federation Party and the National Democratic Party (Fiji, 1960s), National Democratic Party. Though it claimed to ...

(NFP), but the Party chose

Sidiq Koya Siddiq Moidin Koya (29 February 1924 – 25 April 1993) was a Indians in Fiji, Fijian Indian politician, Statesman and Leader of the Opposition (Fiji), Opposition leader. He succeeded to the leadership of the mostly Indians in Fiji, Indo-Fij ...

instead. After the 1972 elections, his relationship with Koya worsened and he resigned as General Secretary of the party and opposition whip in September 1972. However, he later withdrew his resignation.

1977 constitutional crisis

By 1976, the NFP was beginning to split into two factions and Ramrakha was seen to be Koya's main opponent. After the NFP patched up its differences and won the election of March 1977, Ramrakha's opposition to Koya's leadership was one of the reasons for the delay in NFP attempting to form Government. By the time elections were held again in September 1977, the NFP had split into two factions and Ramrakha became a prominent member of the

Flower A flower, sometimes known as a bloom or blossom, is the reproductive structure found in flowering plants (plants of the division Angiospermae). The biological function of a flower is to facilitate reproduction, usually by providing a mechani ...

faction, opposed to Koya's

Dove Columbidae () is a bird family consisting of doves and pigeons. It is the only family in the order Columbiformes. These are stout-bodied birds with short necks and short slender bills that in some species feature fleshy ceres. They primarily ...

faction. Ramrakha was seen as the natural leader of the Flower faction, but Irene Jai Narayan (another Flower faction leader), without consulting others, announced during the campaign that if

Jai Ram Reddy Jai Ram Reddy, CF (12 May 1937 – 29 August 2022) was an Indo-Fijian politician, who had a distinguished career in both the legislative and judicial branches of the Fijian government. In 1998, he received Fiji's highest honour, the Companion ...

defeated Koya in the Lautoka Indian Constituency, he would become the leader. Jai Ram Reddy did defeat Koya and became the new leader of the opposition and later the leader of a reunified NFP. Ramrakha showed his disappointment by sitting as an independent member for the rest of the parliamentary term. He did not contest the 1982 election and migrated to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

Lawsuit against Mahendra Chaudhry

Pacific Media Watch Auckland University of Technology (AUT) ( mi, Te Wānanga Aronui o Tāmaki Makau Rau) is a university in New Zealand, formed on 1 January 2000 when a former technical college (originally established in 1895) was granted university status. AUT ...

reported on 7 September 2004 that Ramrakha had announced his intention to sue former

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Mahendra Chaudhry Mahendra Pal Chaudhry ( hif, महेन्द्र पाल चौधरी; born 9 February 1942) is a Fijian politician and the leader of the Fiji Labour Party. Following a historic election in which he defeated the long-time former lead ...

. Ramrakha's grievance was related to allegations made by Chaudhry in his autobiography, ''Children of the Indus'', that Ramrakha and Narayan had advised Governor General Ratu Sir George Cakobau against appointing Koya as Prime Minister after the NFP's electoral victory, saying that Koya did not have the support of the whole NFP caucus. Ramrakha said that the allegations were false and had damaged his reputation.

Fiji Teachers Union President

He was elected the President of the

Fiji Teachers Union Fiji Teachers Union (FTU) is a union representing elementary and secondary education teachers in Fiji. It is a member of the Fiji Trades Union Congress,Neelesh Gounder, "A Long Road to Unity," ''Fiji Times,'' January 12, 2006. and Education Inter ...

, being the first non-teacher to hold this position. His election and his leading role in the National Federation Party caused the

Fijian Teachers Association Fijian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Fiji * The Fijians, persons from Fiji, or of Fijian descent. For more information about the Fijian people, see: ** Demographics of Fiji ** Culture of Fiji * The Fijian language ...

(a second teachers union representing ethnic Fijians) to withdraw from negotiations for amalgamation of the two unions.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ramrakha, K. C. National Federation Party politicians Fijian trade unionists Indian members of the Legislative Council of Fiji Indian members of the House of Representatives (Fiji) Fijian Hindus 1933 births 2021 deaths Fijian emigrants to Australia Australian people of Indo-Fijian descent Politicians from Suva