Prince Gopal Lakshman (1949-2016) was a former Fijian politician of Indian descent. In 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 ...

he represented the Viti Levu South Kadavu Indian Communal Constituency from 1999 to 2006. He held the seat, one of 19 reserved for

Indo-Fijians Indo-Fijians or Indian-Fijians (also known as Fiji Indians) are Fijian citizens of Indian descent, and include people who trace their ancestry to various regions of the Indian subcontinent.Girmit by Suresh Prasad Although Indo-Fijians constitu ...

, for the

Fiji Labour Party The Fiji Labour Party (FLP; fj, Ilawalawa Cakacaka ni Viti), also known as Fiji Labour, is a political party in Fiji. Most of its support is from the Indo-Fijian community, although it is officially multiracial and its first leader was an in ...

(FLP) in the

general elections A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

and

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

. On 19 May 2000, he was among the 43 members of the People's Coalition Government, led by

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 ...

, taken hostage by

George Speight George Speight (born 1957) is a Fijian businessman and politician who was the leader of the 2000 Fijian coup d'état, in which he and rebel soldiers from Fiji's Counter Revolutionary Warfare Unit seized the Fijian Parliament and held Prime Ministe ...

and his band of rebel

Republic of Fiji Military Forces The Republic of Fiji Military Forces (RFMF, formerly the Royal Fiji Military Forces) is the military force of the Pacific island nation of Fiji. With a total manpower of about 4,000 active soldiers and approximately 6,000 reservists, it is one ...

(RFMF) soldiers from the

Counter Revolutionary Warfare Unit The Counter Revolutionary Warfare Unit or CRWU was the common name for the First Meridian Squadron, the unit's formal name, which had been disbanded in 2000. It was the only special forces group of the Republic of Fiji Military Forces, and was the ...

. He was released on 12 July 2000.Fiji Labour Party – Activities Report: 1999-2000
/ref> Lakshman announced early in March 2006 that he would be retiring from politics at the

parliamentary election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

scheduled for 6–13 May. He was succeeded by his brother's younger son

Chaitanya Lakshman Chaitanya Lakshman (born in 1968) is a Fiji Indian lawyer, social worker and politician who served in the multi-party cabinet of the Qarase Government as Minister for Local Government. Lakshman was elected from the Viti Levu South Kadavu India ...

Personal life

Lakshman was the son of late B. D. Lakshman, a trade unionist and member of the

colonial Colonial or The Colonial may refer to: * Colonial, of, relating to, or characteristic of a colony or colony (biology) Architecture * American colonial architecture * French Colonial * Spanish Colonial architecture Automobiles * Colonial (1920 au ...

Legislative Council (1940–1944, 1959–1963). His two sons, Prince Sachin Lakshman and Prince Jatin Lakshman, reside in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, Australia. Prince Gopal Lakshman died on 15 August 2016, in Navua Hospital, Fiji Islands.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lakshman, Prince Gopal 1954 births Fijian Hindus Fiji Labour Party politicians Indian members of the House of Representatives (Fiji) Politicians from Navua Fijian politicians of Indian descent 2016 deaths