PANDURANG KHANKHOJE

CONTEXT

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla will travel to Mexico where he will unveil statues of Swami Vivekananda and Maharashtra-born freedom and agricultural scientist Pandurang Khankhoje.

REFORMER AND REVOLUTIONARY

• Born in Wardha.
• He was an ardent admirer of the French Revolution and the American war of Independence
• Hindu reformer Swami Dayanand and his Arya samaj movement, which called for a spirit of reform and social change, became the hero of a young student group led by Khankhoje.
• Khankhoje decided to go abroad for further training in revolutionary methods and military strategy. Before leaving, he visited Bal Gangadhar Tilak, who advised him to go to Japan, which was a strong,anti-west Asian power then.
• Khankhoje eventually moved to the US where he enrolled in college as a student of agriculture. He later joined the Mount Tamalpais Military Academy in California to fulfill his original purpose of leaving India.
• Khankhoje was a founder member of Ghadar in the US.

PASSAGE TO 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 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.
• Khankhoje was revered as an agricultural scientist in Mexico. The renowned Mexican artist Diego Rivera painted murals that featured Khankhoje, including one titled “our Daily Bread” that prominently depicted him breaking bread with people seated around a table.