Lok Sabha Speaker, who is currently in Canada for the 65th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference, will travel to Mexico where he will unveil statues of Swami Vivekananda and Maharashtra-born freedom fighter and agriculturalist Pandurang Khankhoje.

Who was Pandurang Khankhoje (1883-1967)?

• Born in Wardha, Maharashtra, in the late 19th century, Pandurang Khankhoje came in contact with other revolutionaries early on.
• As a student, Khankhoje was an ardent admirer of the French Revolution and of the American War of Independence.
• Closer to home, the Hindu reformer Swami Dayanand and his Arya Samaj movement, which called for a spirit of reform and social change, became the hero to a young student group led by Khankhoje.

Revolutionary activities abroad

• Khankhoje decided to go abroad for further training in revolutionary methods and militaristic strategy.
• At this time, the British government’s suspicions of him were also growing due to his anti-government activities.
• Before leaving, he visited Bal Gangadhar Tilak, by whom he was inspired.
• Tilak advised him to go to Japan, which was itself a strong, anti-West Asian imperialistic force then.
• After spending time with nationalists from Japan and China, Khankhoje eventually moved to the US, where he enrolled in college as a student of agriculture.

Participation in the Indian independence movement

• Khankhoje was one of the founding members of the Ghadar Party, established by Indians living abroad in 1914, mostly belonging to Punjab.
• Its aim was to lead a revolutionary fight against the British in India.
• While in the US, Khankhoje met Lala Har Dayal, an Indian intellectual teaching at Stanford University.
• Har Dayal had begun a propaganda campaign, publishing a newspaper that featured patriotic songs and articles in the vernacular languages of India.
• This was the seed from which the Ghadar Party would emerge.

How did Khankhoje reach Mexico?

• At the military academy, Khankhoje met many people from Mexico.
• The Mexican Revolution of 1910 had led to the overthrow of the dictatorial regime, and this inspired Khankhoje.
• He also reached out to Indians working on farms in the US with the aim of discussing the idea of Indian independence with them.
• Along with the Indian workers, militant action was planned by Khankhoje in India, but the outbreak of the First World War halted these plans.
• He then reached out to Bhikaji Cama in Paris, and met with Vladimir Lenin in Russia among other leaders, seeking support for the Indian cause.

Association with Mexico

• As he was facing possible deportation from Europe and could not go to India, he sought shelter in Mexico.
• Soon, in part due to his prior friendship with Mexican revolutionaries, he was appointed a professor at the National School of Agriculture in Chapingo, near Mexico City.
• He researched corn, wheat, pulses and rubber, developing frost and drought-resistant varieties, and was part of efforts to bring in the Green Revolution in Mexico.
• Later on, the American agronomist Dr Norman Borlaug, called the Father of the Green Revolution in India, brought the Mexican wheat variety to Punjab.
• Khankhoje was revered as an agricultural scientist in Mexico.

Return to India

• Both Pandurang and Jean returned to India after 1947.
• His application for visa was initially rejected by the Indian government due to the ban by the British Indian Government, but was eventually overturned.
• He settled in Nagpur and subsequently embarked on a political career.
• Pandurang Khankhoje died on 22 January 1967.

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