the influence that N.B. Mitter had enjoyed. 1921 Strike Although the workers of the north-western districts were organised by N.B. Mitter, the strike which began on 11 February 1921, in Ba, was a spontaneous action of the workers and farmers. It spread to all the western districts and Labasa. The strike was peaceful and well organised. Deportation On 20 March 1921, while he was addressing a gathering of farmers and labourers at a school in Tavua, he was requested to accompany a police party to Lautoka, on the understanding that the Government wanted to have discussions with him. From Lautoka he was taken by ship to Suva and deported from Fiji on 23 March 1921. On the day when he was deported, the Government House in Suva was destroyed by lightning and the ship on which he was brought to Suva struck a reef. Return to India His deportation did not end the strike, which dragged on for six months. After his deportation to India, he made an appearance at the depot in Calcutta where ex-indentured labourers had gathered to ask for return to Fiji. He asked them not to return, undertook a hunger strike and publicly cursed C.F. Andrews, whom he accused of being a recruiter. This seemed to have the desired effect as Andrews was able to bring political pressure on the Indian Government to stop further labour ships departing for Fiji. Legacy Although Vashist Mini spent very little time in Fiji, his legacy lives on. There are a number of schools named after him, some of which are: Vashist Muni Primary School, Maqere, Tavua Vashist Muni Primary, Navua Vashist Muni College, Navua References 1888 births Year of death missing Indian emigrants to Fiji Indian Hindu missionaries Fiji sugar industry 1920s in Fiji People from Navua Scholars from Varanasi 20th-century Indian philosophers