The Federation of Cane Growers was formed as an umbrella organisation to negotiate the new cane contract due to take effect from 1960 with the
Colonial Sugar Refining Company.
Negotiations for 1960 cane contract
Talks on the new contract started on 5 January 1960. The farmers’ representatives were
K. S. Reddy,
P.G. Shankar,
Ram Niwaz,
Ranga Reddy
Ranga Reddy district ( R. R. district) is a district in the Indian state of Telangana. The district headquarters is located at Lakdikapool, Hyderabad. The district was named after the former deputy chief minister of the United Andhra Pradesh, K ...
and
S.M. Koya, representing the
Maha Sangh Akhil Fiji Krishak Maha Sangh (All Fiji Farmers’ Grand Union) was a sugar cane farmers' union formed on 15 June 1941 in opposition to the existing union, the Kisan Sangh. Supporters of Kisan Sangh tried to stop the formation of the Maha Sangh but ...
,
Ram Swami Pillay,
Shankaran Nair and
Ram Narain representing a second faction of the Maha Sangh,
Shiu Dutt,
Biryam Singh,
Bechu Prasad,
Y. Subramaniam and
A. D. Patel representing the
Vishal Sangh Vishal Sangh was a cane farmers' union established in Fiji on 1 September 1946, by mainly Sikh farmers, who refused to re-join the Kisan Sangh after its reunification following its split into two factions in 1943. It was led by Mehar Singh, one of ...
,
Vijay R. Singh and
Girwar Prasad representing the
Labasa Kisan Sangh, and
John Percy Bayly
John Percival Bayly (4 January 1882 – 12 January 1963) was a Fijian businessman, politician and philanthropist.
Biography
Bayly was born in Levuka in 1882.Stewart Firth & Daryl Tarte (2001) ''20th Century Fiji: People who shaped this nation'', ...
,
Shiu Nath,
Abdul Gani and
Ayodhya Prasad
Ayodhya Prasad Sharma (Hindi: अयोध्या प्रसाद शर्मा, 30 April 1909 – 28 February 1972) was an Indo-Fijian farmers' leader and politician. He formed the most successful farmers' union in Fiji and forced the ...
representing the
Kisan Sangh
Kisan Sangh was the first farmers' union formed in Fiji on 27 November 1937. This was the result of one man's determination to improve the plight of Fiji's Indian cane farmers. Ayodhya Prasad had arrived from India in 1929, and after a stint as ...
. The united front did not last as the two Kisan Sanghs accepted the contract offered by the Company while the Maha Sanghs and Vishal Sangh opposed it and called their members out on strike. There were many cases of intimidation, damage to property burning of sugar cane. The crushing of sugar cane which normally begins in May was delayed until October and the growers suffered huge losses. Security forces were called out to break the strike. A Commission of Inquiry was set up and the growers were obliged to accept a contract that protected the millers from any financial risk and left the farmers with a worse outcome than they had had in the last contract.
From union to political party
The supporters of the 1960 strike put up candidates in the sugar cane districts in the 1963
Legislative Council election
An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual or multiple individuals to hold public office.
Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy has opera ...
under the banner of Citizens Federation and all won by large margins. The Federation of Cane Growers members of Legislative Council, together with other like-minded individuals formed the
Federation Party in 1964. The name was later changed to National Federation Party with the inclusion of two minor ethnic Fijian parties. Until 1987, the Federation of Cane Growers was the main farmers' union in Fiji, while the National Federation Party was the main party of the Fiji Indians.
See also
* Vishal Sangh
* Maha Sangh
* Kisan Sangh
*
National Farmers Union of Fiji
References
* A.P. Sharma, ''Farmers Struggle in Fiji: a History of Fiji Kisan Sangh'', Kisan Sangh, Lautoka, 1962
{{DEFAULTSORT:Federation of Cane Growers
Cane growers unions of Fiji
Fiji Indian organisations
1960 establishments in Fiji
Trade unions established in 1960