Bhai Parmanand (4 November 1876 – 8 December 1947) was an
Indian nationalist and a prominent leader of the
Hindu Mahasabha.
Early life
Parmanand was born into a prominent family of the
Punjab
Punjab (; Punjabi: پنجاب ; ਪੰਜਾਬ ; ; also romanised as ''Panjāb'' or ''Panj-Āb'') is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia, specifically in the northern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising a ...
, Mohyal Brahmins. His father, Tara Chand Mohyal, came from
Kariala,
Jhelum District and was an active religious missionary with the
Arya Samaj movement.
Views on partition
While reading letters of Lala Lajpat Rai to him in 1909, he had jotted an idea that 'the territory beyond
Sindh could be united with North-West Frontier Province into a great
Musulman Kingdom. The
Hindu
Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...
s of the region should come away, while at the same time the
Musulmans in the rest of the country should go and settle in this territory'.
Overseas missions
In October 1905, Parmanand visited South Africa and stayed with
Mahatma Gandhi
Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...
as a
Vedic
upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the '' Atharvaveda''.
The Vedas (, , ) are a large body of religious texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute the ...
missionary. Parmanand visited
Guyana in 1910 which was the centre of the Arya Samaj movement in the
Caribbean. His lectures increased their following there. In 1911, he visited
Lala Hardayal
Lala Har Dayal Mathur (Punjabi: ਲਾਲਾ ਹਰਦਿਆਲ; 14 October 1884 – 4 March 1939) was an Indian nationalist revolutionary and freedom fighter. He was a polymath who turned down a career in the Indian Civil Service. His simple ...
when he was on retreat in
Martinique
Martinique ( , ; gcf, label=Martinican Creole, Matinik or ; Kalinago: or ) is an island and an overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France. An integral part of the French Republic, Martinique is located in ...
. Parmanand persuaded Hardayal to go to the United States to found a centre for the propagation of the ancient culture of the
Aryan people
The Aryan race is an obsolete historical race concept that emerged in the late-19th century to describe people of Proto-Indo-European heritage as a racial grouping. The terminology derives from the historical usage of Aryan, used by modern In ...
. Hardayal left for America, but soon located himself in Hawaii, where he again went on retreat on
Waikiki Beach
Waikiki (; haw, Waikīkī; ; also known as Waikiki Beach) is a neighborhood of Honolulu on the south shore of the island of Oahu in the U.S. state of Hawaii.
Waikiki is most famous for Waikiki Beach, which is one of six beaches in the district ...
. A letter from Parmanand prompted his departure for San Francisco where he became an activist in the
anarchist movement
The history of anarchism is as ambiguous as anarchism itself. Scholars find it hard to define or agree on what anarchism means, which makes outlining its history difficult. There is a range of views on anarchism and its history. Some feel anar ...
.
Parmanand toured several
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
colonies in South America before re-joining Hardayal in San Francisco. He was a founder member of the
Ghadar Party. He accompanied Hardayal on a speaking tour to
Portland in 1914 and wrote a book for the Ghadar Party called ''Tarikh-I-Hind''. He returned to India as part of the
Ghadar Conspiracy
The Ghadar Mutiny ( Hindustani: ग़दर राज्य-क्रान्ति (غدر بغاوت), ''Ġadar Rājya-krānti'', ''Ġadar Baġāvat''), also known as the Ghadar Conspiracy, was a plan to initiate a pan-India mutiny in the Br ...
claiming he was accompanied by 5,000
Ghadarites. He was part of the leadership of the revolt, and was sent to promote the revolt in
Peshawar
Peshawar (; ps, پېښور ; hnd, ; ; ur, ) is the sixth most populous city in Pakistan, with a population of over 2.3 million. It is situated in the north-west of the country, close to the International border with Afghanistan. It is ...
. He was arrested in connection with the
First Lahore Conspiracy Case and was sentenced to death in 1915. The sentence was later commuted to one of transportation for life: he was imprisoned in the
Andaman Islands until 1920 and subjected to hard labour. In protest against such harsh treatment of political prisoners, Bhai Parmanand went on hunger strike for two months. The King-Emperor,
George V
George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936.
Born during the reign of his grandmother Qu ...
, released him in 1920 as the result of a general amnesty order.
Death
Parmanand died on 8 December 1947 of a heart attack. He was survived by his son Dr.
Bhai Mahavir, a prominent member of the
Jana Sangh and BJP.
Legacy
An Institute of Business Studies was named after him in New Delhi, a Public School in East Delhi and a hospital also in Delhi.
See also
*
Arya Samajis
*
Hindu reformists
References
Further reading
*''The Story of My Life'' by Bhai Parmanand, translated by N. Sundra Iyer and Lal Chand, The Central Hindu Yuvak Sabha, Lahore, 1934
{{DEFAULTSORT:Parmanand, Bhai
1876 births
1947 deaths
Punjab, India politicians
Arya Samajis
Ghadar Party
Members of the Central Legislative Assembly of India
Indian revolutionaries
Hindu–German Conspiracy
Indian prisoners sentenced to death
Prisoners and detainees of British India