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{{Short description|Kenyan politician}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Isher Dass
| image =
| image_size =
| caption =
| birth_date = {{birth year|1900}}
| birth_place =
| death_date = {{death date and age|6 November 1942|df=yes|1900}}
| death_place =
| education =
| occupation = [[Politician]]
| years_active =
| nationality =
| citizenship =
| known_for =
| networth =
| title = first member of the Legislative Council
| spouse =
}}

'''Isher Dass''' (1900 – 6 November 1942) was an Indian born member of the [[Legislative Council of Kenya]] between 1933 and his death in 1942. He was the first member of the Legislative Council to be assassinated.

==Early life==
Dass was born in the [[Punjab Province (British India)|Punjab]], [[British India]], to a [[Hindu]] [[Punjabi people|Punjabi]] family. He enlisted in the [[British Indian Army]] at a young age, and served in [[France]], [[Egypt]] and [[Mesopotamia]].<ref name="auto1">Zarina Patel, Challenge to Colonialism: The Struggle of Alibhai Mulla Jeevanjee for Equal Rights in Kenya, Publishers Distribution Services, 1997</ref>

==Kenya==
In 1927 he met [[Alibhai Mulla Jeevanjee]] in [[London]] and was hired by him to sell radios in Kenya.<ref name="auto2">Sana Aiyar, Indians in Kenya, Harvard University Press, 6 Apr 2015</ref> The venture proved unsuccessful however Dass was soon made Jeevanjee's private secretary and then secretary of the [[Kenya Indian Congress]].<ref name="auto2"/> He made his first speech in December 1927 at a public meeting in [[Nairobi]], and being a professed [[Marxist]] he represented a new breed of Indian politicians in Kenya who denounced the sub-imperialist views of their predecessors.<ref name="auto2"/> He quickly acquired a reputation as an effective and copious speaker of the tub-thumping variety.<ref name="auto3">Robert G. Gregory, Quest for Equality: Asian Politics in East Africa, 1900–1967, Orient Blackswan, 1993</ref> Within a year of becoming its secretary, Dass caused a split within the Congress. His militant agenda led to Patel, [[Shams-ud-Deen]], Phadke and Tayabali Mulla Jeevanjee amongst others to leave Congress and found a new party.<ref name="auto3"/> His views were vindicated at an election in 1931, and in 1933 he entered the Legislative Council of Kenya.

Early on Dass became a supporter of African interests and in March 1929 he travelled with [[Jomo Kenyatta]] to London to petition the [[Colonial Office]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.open.ac.uk/researchprojects/makingbritain/content/jomo-kenyatta|title = Jomo Kenyatta | Making Britain}}</ref> In 1931 as a member of a Kenya Asian delegation, he assisted Kenyatta and Parminas Mockerie in submitting a list of grievances to the Join Committee.<ref name="auto3"/> In 1933 he formed part of the Carter Commission, asserting that no more land should be alienated to non-natives, irrespective of race – Indian or European.<ref name="auto3"/> As a member of LegCo Dass became notable for speaking at the request of Africans and repeatedly acted as the mouthpiece of the Kenya Central Association, the Maasai, and the Progressive Kikuyu Party.<ref>Indian Centre for Africa, 1967, Africa Quarterly, Volume 6</ref> In July 1938 he was involved in the [[Kamba people|Kamba]] protests march in Nairobi and accused of instigating the riot which followed the arrest of Samuel Muindi Mbingu.<ref name="auto3"/> In 1939, he voiced African objections to two imperial Orders in Council which sought to define the boundaries of the [[White Highlands]] and the [[Kikuyu people|Kikuyu]] reserve.<ref name="auto3"/>

==Assassination==
During the [[Second World War]], Dass accepted the position of Deputy Director of Asian Manpower and became an active supporter of the British war effort. The role gave Dass considerable power, including the recruitment of Asian clerks and artisans and control of Asian emigration, however it also caused resentment from parts of the Asian community.<ref name="auto3"/> This led to Dass being forced to leave the stage of the Playhouse Theatre in Nairobi when explaining the new regulations to a large crowd of Asians in 1942.<ref>Anthony Clayton, Donald Cockfield Savage, Government and Labour in Kenya 1895–1963, Routledge, 12 Nov 2012</ref> On 6 November 1942 Dass was shot dead at his office at the Desai Memorial Hall in Nairobi by Saran Singh and Balwant Rai.<ref>Nairobi Space Publications, 1999 – Executives</ref> Both assassins were later hanged for the crime.<ref>Richard T. McCormack, Asians in Kenya: conflicts and politics, T. Gaus' Sons, 1971</ref>

==Personal life==
He was married twice and his first wife, Lilly, was a [[Jewish]] lady of [[English people|English]] descent.<ref name="auto1"/> His second wife, Manorama was from Lahore.

==See also==
* [[Indians in Kenya]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dass, Isher}}
[[Category:1900 births]]
[[Category:1942 deaths]]
[[Category:Members of the Legislative Council of Kenya]]
[[Category:British Kenya people]]
[[Category:Indian emigrants to Kenya]]
[[Category:Kenyan people of Punjabi descent]]
[[Category:Punjabi people]]
[[Category:Indian Army personnel of World War I]]

Isher Dass - Revision history

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