Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla, who is visiting Canada for the 65th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference, will also travel to Mexico where he will unveil statues of Swami Vivekananda and Maharashtra-born freedom fighter and agriculturalist Pandurang Khankhoje (1883-1967).
Who was Pandurang Khankhoje?
- Pandurang Khankhoje had a close connection with Mexico, the country in which he sought refuge due to his association with the radical pro-Indian independence Ghadar Party.
- Born in Wardha, Maharashtra, in the late 19th century, Pandurang Khankhoje came in contact with other revolutionaries early on.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- However, 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.
(Source: Indian Express)
