Pandurang. Scientist And A Freedom Fighter

Dr. Pandurang Sadashiv Khankhoje was born in 7 November, 1884 ,an Indian revolutionary, scholar, agricultural scientist and historian who was among the founding fathers of the Ghadar Party. Khankhoje was born in a Marathi Brahmin family at Wardha, where his father worked as a petitionwriter. Young Khankhoje spent his childhood in Wardha, where he completed his primary and middle school education before moving to Nagpur for higher education. From his schooldays he dedicated himself in freedom movement. He always believed that he had a mission in life. He want to free his motherland from the chains of British rule. He had a great respect for Bal Gangadhor Tilak. He met with him in Puna, both of them believed that military training of people would be necessary for freedom of India. For taking military

training that time in India one need to go outside. Tilak advised him to go Japan. For communication purpose he gave him a secret code. Observing his revolutionary working in student life, his father told him to marry and giving concentration in family. Pandurang knowing the marriage would surely come in his way to serve his motherland, he escaped from his own marriage ceremony. He want to go out, but the problem was that he had no sufficient money at that time for going outside India. Knowing it, his mother decided to sale her jewelries to gave him the required money. But Pandurang was not agree to sale his mother jewelries. At last his mother gave him some hand-made sweets and told him to take them at the time of great difficulties. Later Pandurang found that each of the sweet was containing one gold coin. In the year 1906, Pandurang left India. That time the best way for a revolutionary to go out was to take a job in any sheep going out of India. Pandurang took job in French sheep. At first the sheep went to Colombo, then Saigon and at last it reached Yeakohama. After that traveling in a train he went to Tokyo. There he met with the student of ‘India house’. For earning his livinghood,he started work sometime as industrial labour and again sometime as English teacher In Japan, 1908 he, along with some other Indian revolutionaries founded the Indian Independence League. Later in the year 1915,another revolutionary Rashbihari Bose took the charge of I.I.L. And during 2nd world war, I.I.L gave great support to Netaji Subash and I.N.A. In Japan, he met with a number of renown people including Japanese prime minister Kount Okuma and famous Chinese revolutionary Dr. san yeath who told him that development of agriculture is very important

for development of economy of free nation. Later Pandurang took both military and modern agriculture training very sincerely. After that Pandurang went to sanfransisco, America . He then got admitted himself in Oregon Agricultural College, His works also brought him close to other Indian nationalists in United States at the time, including Taraknath Das. In America, for earning living hood , he took the job of waiter, road labour. He met many labours of Mexico, and also a good number of Mexican revolutionaries. He got admitted himself in Mount Tamalpais Military academy. After study of 2 years, in the year 1910 he got the degree. His earliest nationalist work in U.S.A dates back to the time around 1908 when he, along with Pandit Kanshi Ram founded the Indian Independence League in Portland, Oregon. Pandit Kanshi Ram was the head, Mohan singh became secretary. Pandurang did not took any post, he loved to work behind others. In U.S.A he met with a number of people of shikh religion. He modified the name of I.I.L and after it became Azad-hi-hind . He was at the time one of the most influential members of the party. He met Lala Har Dayal in 1911.. In the years preceding the World War I, Khankhoje was one of the founding members of the Pacific coast Hindustan association, and subsequently founded the Ghadar Party. Lala hor Dayal became the secretary and also editor of Ghadar newspaper. The name of Ghadar headquarter was given ‘Jugantar’ inspiring from the Bengali revolutionaries. The activities of Ghadar was divided in two ways. propaganda and action group. Pandurang was the in charge of action group.

The first world war were to be started. Pandurang communicated with Germans and also with the Mexican revolutionaries. The first world war started. Members of Ghadar party went to Germany and Japan participate in world war against the British Govt. Pandurang decided to came back India via the way of Turkey, Iran and Afghanistan. Through World War I, Khankhoje was intricately involved in the Hindu-German Conspiracy when he was involved in the plans for the mutiny. He had joined a western He visited Europe during the war and subsequently went to Mesopotamia along with other members of what was the Berlin Committee. In the summer of 1915, he worked clandestinely among roops of the Indian expeditionary force, spreading nationalist literature and hoping to incite a mutiny. Through the course of the war, Khankhoje made his way through Turkey and Persia under different Muslim guises as far as Baluchistan, spreading Ghadarite propaganda en route. He is known to have attempted insurrections and raised at the Iran-Baluchistan border while Mahendra Pratap's Indo-German expedition attempted to rally the Afghan Emir Habibullah Khan against British India. Towards the end of the war, Khankhoje came to India and met with his ideal person Bal Gangadhor Tilak and after that he went to Germany and then Russia. Pandurang like most of the members of the Berlin committee began turning towards communism. He was known to have been in Soviet Union in company of the earliest Indian communist. He met with Lenin twice.

Khankhoje later moved to Mexico in the 1920s, There he concentrated in agricultural science. Research on maize gave him fame as a n agricultural scientist. Later he was instated the professor of

Botany and Crop Breeding in the National School of Agriculture in Mexico. In 1936, Khankhoje married Jean Alexandrine Sindic, a Belgian women in Mexico by whom he had two daughters. He was led the Mexican corn breeding program and was appointed director to the Mexican Government's department of Agriculture. 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 January 22, 1967. He recognized only three freedom movement, they were 1857 revolt, Ghadar movement and the movement of I.N.A . It was the common dream of every Indian revolutionary to participate in the fight against the British Government . Netaji Subash was able to implement their dream to some extent, under his leadership I.N.A fought against the British army . Pandurang in his last days used said that he had done all what was possible for him for serving his motherland, if there would anything to be done, he would be ready to do that also.In his young age when someone asked him if he was arrested by british what would he do. In reply he said he had done nothing wrong, he was just serving his motherland and nothing more. In his words “I shall never ask for pardon “