About us

Indian Association of Fiji has been the name used by organisations formed at different times in the history of Fiji, to unite different groups within the Fiji Indian community to work to improve the plight of Indians in Fiji. The Association was initially formed in 1920 by N. B. Mitter, who was the headmaster of a school in Nadi. In the early 1920s Ram Singh tried to revive the defunct Indian Imperial Association as the Indian Association of Fiji by having representatives from all sections of the Indian community, with Ilahi Ramjan (a Muslim) as President, Ram Singh (a Hindu) as Secretary and Deoki (a Christian) and Ram Samujh (a Hindu) as vice-presidents. On 9 December 1934, the Indian Association was reformed, this time as a successor to the controversial Fiji Indian National Congress (formed in 1929), to safeguard and further the political rights of the Indian community in Fiji. Its president was A. D. Patel and Vishnu Deo was its secretary. The Association was revived in 1946, but this time it concentrated on education. It started two schools: Deenbandhu Primary School and Indian High School (now known as Jai Narayan College) and which has, on record in the Fiji Islands Education System, the current best academic performance for over a decade), both located in Samabula, Suva. At the 26th Annual General Meeting of the Association, held at Indian High School, J. F. Grant retired as President and was replaced by Hari Charan.[1] In 1951, in Suva, a group of Indian people met and revived the Indian Association of Fiji which was formed in 1928 with Mr A.D.Patel as its first President. Mr Hari Charan persuaded the members of the Association to build a secondary school in Suva. The classes began in League Hall in Toorak with Ram Harakh Bechan as its first Principal. The school moved to its present location in Rewa Street after acquiring land from the government in 1953. The school was formerly known as Indian College but had to change the name to Jai Narayan College after the current government announcement that no school in Fiji should have a school name ethnically derived.