Mahendra Chandra Vinod (1922 – 2003) was a Fijian civil servant and editor who was also a member of the

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 ...

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 ...

. He was born in Nacokaika,

Naitasiri :see also Naitasiri District Naitasiri is one of the 14 provinces of Fiji and one of eight located on Viti Levu, Fiji's largest island. Geography and infrastructure Naitasiri covers an area of , and occupies the area mostly to the north of Suva, ...

, Fiji and was of Indian descent. After completing his

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

from the

University of Hawaii A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...

and Diploma in Journalism from New Delhi, joined the Fiji civil service. He retired from the civil service in 1979 and became the editor of the Hindi language newspaper, ''

Shanti Dut ''Shanti Dut'' (Peaceful Messenger) is a Hindi language newspaper published weekly in Suva Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of ...

'' in 1981. In August 1981, he was awarded an

Imperial Service Order The Imperial Service Order was established by King Edward VII in August 1902. It was awarded on retirement to the administration and clerical staff of the Civil Service throughout the British Empire for long and meritorious service. Normally a pe ...

(ISO) from

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...

for his contribution to Fiji. For the 1987 general election, the

NFP–Labour Coalition NFP–Labour Coalition was the coalition of the National Federation Party and Fiji Labour Party under the leadership of Timoci Bavadra, formed in 1987 to contest that year's general election. The coalition won the election with 28 seats in the Hous ...

chose him as a candidate for the Nausori/Levuka Indian Communal Constituency which he won easily, but was a member of Parliament for a month when the military coup of 1987 put a halt to his late entry into politics.

References

Fijian Hindus National Federation Party politicians Indian members of the House of Representatives (Fiji) 1921 births 2003 deaths Politicians from Nausori Companions of the Imperial Service Order Fijian expatriates in the United States Fijian expatriates in India {{fiji-politician-stub