Anup Kumar is a Fiji Indian politician who won the Vanua Levu West Indian Communal Constituency

Vanua Levu West (Indian Communal Constituency, Fiji)

Vanua Levu West Indian Communal is an electoral division of Fiji, one of 19 communal constituencies reserved for Indo-Fijians....

, one of the 19 seats reserved for Fiji

Fiji

Fiji , officially the Republic of Fiji , is an island nation in Melanesia in the South Pacific Ocean about northeast of New Zealand's North Island...

 citizens of India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

n origin, for the Fiji Labour Party

Fiji Labour Party

The Fiji Labour Party is a political party in Fiji, which holds observer status with the Socialist International. Most of its support at present comes from the Indo-Fijian community, although it is officially multiracial and its first leader was an indigenous Fijian, Dr. Timoci Bavadra. It is...

 during the 1999 elections for the House of Representatives

House of Representatives (Fiji)

The House of Representatives is the lower chamber of Fiji's Parliament. It is the more powerful of the two chambers; it alone has the power to initiate legislation...

. He then became the Minister for Commerce, Business Development & Investment in the Peoples Coalition Government led by Mahendra Chaudhry

Mahendra Chaudhry

Mahendra Pal Chaudhry is a Fijian politician and the leader of the Fiji Labour Party...

.

On 19 May 2000, he was among the 43 members of the People's Coalition Government

People's Coalition (Fiji)

The People's Coalition was an alliance of three political parties in Fiji, formed in March 1999 to contest the parliamentary election to be held in May that year...

, led by Mahendra Chaudhry, taken hostage by George Speight

George Speight

George Speight , occasionally known as Ilikimi Naitini, was the principal instigator of the Fiji coup of 2000, in which he kidnapped thirty-six government officials and held them from May 19, 2000 to July 13, 2000...

 and his band of rebel Republic of Fiji Military Forces

Military of Fiji

The Republic of Fiji Military Forces are the military of the Pacific island nation of Fiji. With a total manpower of 3,500 active soldiers and 6,000 reservists, it is one of the smallest militaries in the world. However, most of its surrounding island nations have no militaries at all...

 (RFMF) soldiers from the Counter Revolutionary Warfare Unit

Counter Revolutionary Warfare Unit (Fiji)

The Counter Revolutionary Warfare Unit or CRWU was the common name for the First Meridian Squadron, the unit's formal name, which had been disbanded in 2000...

. He was released on 12 July 2000.