Ayodhya Prasad

Ayodhya Prasad Sharma (30 April 1909 - 28 February 1972) was an Indo-Fijian farmers’ leader and politician, who formed the most successful farmers’ union in Fiji and forced the Colonial Sugar Refining Company to make concessions to farmers after 60 years of complete control over Fiji’s economy. However, other Fiji Indian leaders formed rival unions and his initial success was not repeated.

First trip to Fiji

Ayodhya Prasad was born in Butana village in the district of Rohtak in the state of Haryana in India on 30 April 1909. While studying in India, he learned about the freedom enjoyed by people in foreign countries and decided to go to one of these countries. He persuaded his father to let him travel overseas for three years and arrived in Fiji in January 1929. Since there was a shortage of teachers in Fiji he obtained a third grade teacher’s certificate and started teaching in Gurkul Primary School in Saweni, Lautoka. Due to public demand he soon left for Tunaliya, Nadi where he helped to build a school. There was no syllabus for teaching Hindi and when the school inspector found him teaching Hindi using a book which aroused nationalistic spirit amongst the Fiji Indians, Ayodhya Prasad was asked to stop using the book. He refused and his registration as a teacher was cancelled. In 1931 he returned to India. On his way to India, Ayodhya Prasad met an American, with whom he had a discussion about the political situation in India. At the end of the...
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