Police Break Up Unruly Meeting With Tear Gas

Confused Cane-farmer Politics in Fiji

The mild disturbance which took place in Nadi early in June as a result of which (a) the police used tear-gas to break up a mob of Indian demonstrators, and (b) certain Indian agitators have been howling at the police is merely an incident in the everlasting squabbling which goes on in Indian cane-farmer politics.

THERE are at least half-a-dozen organisations of Indian canefarmers, each employing paid organising secretaries. Some are moderate in character, and seem to maintain peaceful relations with the

CSR Company (which has a series of industrial and cane-buying agreements with the Indians), Others, like the Kisan Sangh. more or less influenced by Messrs. Nat Chalmers and A. D. Patel, keep the

economic-industrial pot stewidj and seem to live on agitation. ] These various organisations seen to fight much more savagely agains each other than against the Euro pean institutions.

THE row at Nadi appears to hav something to do with the Ramq krishna Mission —Sangam-Mah Sangh set-up.

The Maha Sangh, which is re garded as a moderate and respon sible body, and of which Mi Krishna Reddy is the legally appointed general secretary, a meeting of members in the Nal picture theatre. The proposals I the Reddy section apparently ar opposed by the henchmen of th Swami and of Mr. A. D. Patel, am they crowded noisily into th theatre.

Mr. Reddy had anticipated trout! of some kind, and asked for poliq protection. When he went to th meeting, he was accompanied b Mr. E. C. Woodward, represents the Registrar of Industrial Associi tions, and Mr. John Amputch, rep resenting the Labour Department! both attending as official observa of the proceedings.

The meeting which they faca contained a large, hostile elemea Mr. Reddy asked all those who wel not hona fide members of the Mali Sangh to leave.

Hostile persons shouted angrfl at him. Some of them wav! receipts for subscriptions paid t the Swami-inspired opposition boa which also calls itself Maha Sangl but which seems to have no offici? standing.

The argument developed furiouslj and it was apparent that the meej ing was getting out of control.

Assistant-S uperintendentj

Colclough, who is in charge of th Western District police, then steppa in; told the non-members of Ml Reddy’s party that they had no been invited to the meeting am should not be there, and he quiet! and tactfully requested them t leave.

They howled at him. Some yelled “Go on—turn the machine-guns oi us!”

MR. COLCLOUGH saw that 1 was impossible to separate th two parties, so he had a fei words with the organisers of th meeting, and then announced tha the hall would be cleared of ever! one. He would give them fhj minutes to depart quietly.

Mr. Reddy and his immediate followers, with the official obser! ers, then left the hall. The demors strators remained and kept oi shouting defiantly: they indicate that they welcomed the chance t* become martyrs in the struggle. I The five minutes expired. Ml Colcough gave the signal. Hi

; tossed two tear-gas bombs the centre of the hall, i demonstrators left, in a :y hurry, by every available -the would-be martyrs in the er, the anti-Reddy mob held t of meeting outside the hall, elected what they claimed to new lot of officers, and cir jd the list for publication. journals, including the Fiji ?, obviously confused by this icle of one group of Indians ng another, published the list it were authentic. : Indian Nadi newspaper, acific Review, which is con ■olled by Mr. A. D. Patel, came with wild scareheads, com ng that peaceful citizens had attacked by brutal police, lough tries to create another Hole” seemed to be its main i. Since then, Mr. Patel and bllowers have been holding lation meetings, and protest gainst the dastardly interfer by the police in the peaceful s of the Indian trade unions. ; simple truth, of course, is a crowd of hooligans tried to up a meeting that had been rly and lawfully called; the ners asked for police protec and the police stepped in to we law and order—and did it y and tactfully, opos of the howls of this n of Indians against the ►ean regime, it is amusing to : that in that same week the in India had to use tear-gas times, and finally to use fire in an attempt to quieten mobs i were rioting in the presence r. Nehru. idents like that at Nadi show, cler rly than anything else, these immigrant people as yet nfit for the responsibilities of nal government—and even of government.