Attar Singh

Attar Singh (born 1957 or 1958)^[1] is an Indo-Fijian trade unionist. From 2002 to 2018 he was General Secretary of the Fiji Islands Council of Trade Unions (FICTU), one of two major umbrella bodies for trade unions in Fiji.

Singh was educated at Labasa Sangam College.^[1] He became head of the Fiji Islands Council of Trade Unions in 2002.^[2]

Unlike many unionists in the rival Fiji Trades Union Congress (FTUC), Singh has been a harsh critic of the Republic of Fiji Military Forces, which seized power on 5 December 2006. He has attacked Commodore Frank Bainimarama, the coup leader who has since been sworn in as interim Prime Minister of Fiji. On 14 January 2007, Singh was quoted by Fiji Television as insisting that Military personnel and politicians should not participate in the Interim Government (Mahendra Chaudhry, whose Fiji Labour Party has links to the rival union group, was Minister of Finance in the Interim Government during 2007), and that the sole purpose of the interim government should be to prepare for elections, not to legislate new laws. He also condemned as "unconstitutional" the appointment of Bernadette Ganilau as Minister for Labour, according to a Fiji Television report (9 January 2007).

Singh's criticism of the Military-backed interim government provoked a hostile reaction from Commodore Bainimarama on 14 January 2007. That night, Singh was taken up to Suva's Queen Elizabeth Barracks for interrogation. Fiji Television further claimed that Singh had been taken from his Samabula home, locked in a cell, and assaulted.^[3]