>AngryHarpy: Setting DEFAULTSORT key to Hansrani, V P using Hot Default Sort

2021-04-13T06:31:45Z

Setting DEFAULTSORT key to Hansrani, V P using Hot Default Sort

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'''V P Hansrani''' was an [[Indian freedom fighter|Indian Freedom Fighter]] who was based in Britain.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|last=Nasta|first=Susheila|title=Indian Workers' Association|url=http://www.open.ac.uk/researchprojects/makingbritain/content/indian-workers-association}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite book|last=Kanwar|first=Ranjit|title=Who's Who Indians in Britain|publisher=Hayes: Barnett Press|year=1979}}</ref> He held leading positions in both the [[Indian Workers' Association|Indian Workers Association]] and [[India League|the India League]].<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite web|title=Notable Alumni|url=https://www.indialeague.org/british-indian-census}}</ref> He was a prolific author who worked with [[V. K. Krishna Menon|Krishna Menon]] and [[Sardar Ajit Singh]].

== Early life ==
Hansrani was born in the late 1910s in a [[Rurka Kalan]], a village in the 'Jullunder' (Jalandhar) district of Panjab. During his birth a 'Sheshnag' (snake) appeared, a sign of good fortune.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|last=Hansrani|first=Vidya Parkash|title=My Memories & Recollections: Indians in Britain, 1930 - 1970.|year=1980|location=Leicester}}</ref> This good fortune served him well as despite being ill as a young child, he survived and lived a life of adventure. He studied in [[D.A.V. College, Lahore]] but due to the [[Great Depression|Great Depression of the 1930s]] yearned to travel abroad to make a living for himself.<ref name=":2" /> The opportunity soon presented itself in 1939 as his best-friend, [[Ujagar Singh Rurka]] who had just returned to India from Singapore, was planning to travel to England. Upon get a made-to-measure suit and a few shirts, he packed his belongs and bedding into an iron trunk and started his journey to England.<ref name=":2" /> He left his village on 5 May and arrived on the 25th, paying 212 Rupees for the [[Anchor Line (steamship company)|Anchor Line ship]] voyage.<ref name=":2" />

== The [[India League]] and The Indian Workers' Association (IWA) ==
Hansrani stayed in an Indian workers commune - [[Petticoat Lane Market|No. 13 Sandy's Row, E.1. London]]. Here he met other likeminded revolutionaries.<ref name=":2" /> It was the men who lived, ate, and slept in this commune who then eventually founded the [[Indian Workers' Association|Indian Workers' Association (Hindustani Mazdoor Sabha)]].<ref name=":2" /> The jobs of these men varied but Hansrani was a [[peddlar]] and started life in England with only 50 [[shilling]], £2.50. They would send [[Remittances to India|remittances]] back to their families in India and in return receive news about the dire situation in the country.<ref name=":3">{{Cite book|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/802321049|title=India in Britain : South Asian networks and connections, 1858-1950|date=2013|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|others=Nasta, Susheila.|isbn=978-0-230-39271-7|location=New York|oclc=802321049}}</ref> This would often stimulate discussions amongst those in the commune and the highly political situation in [[World War II|Europe in 1939]] would turn these men into revolutionaries. One IWA revolutionary in particular stands out and that is [[Udham Singh]], the man who avenged the 1919 [[Jallianwala Bagh massacre|Jallianwala Bagh Massacre]].<ref name=":3" />

As the [[Phoney War]] was in full swing, Hansrani moved to Coventry where he and others set-up the IWA. In 1942, at the age of 23, he was elected their president.<ref name=":2" /> Hansrani organised marches as a part of the [[Quit India Movement]] in the English [[Midlands]] and was the Editor of the [[Indian Workers' Association|IWA's]] premier news bulletin, ''Azad Hind''.<ref name=":0" /> The bulletin was written in Urdu and used to educate Indians about atrocities back home, for example, the [[Bengal famine of 1943|Bengal Famine]]. Hansrani, was influenced by the young revolutionaries of the [[Hindustan Socialist Republican Association]], especially [[Bhagat Singh]]. For many years, he was one of the IWA's commanders and organised Indian workers in the UK against British colonial rule.<ref name=":3" /> This attracted the attention of [[Special Branch]] and he was soon under police surveillance for his ''[[satyagraha]]'' ([[Nonviolent resistance|non-violent protests]]).<ref>File IOR: L/PJ/12/645, African and Asian Studies Reading Room, British Library, St Pancras (de-classified documents)</ref>

He was in touch with other revolutionaries such as [[Sardar Ajit Singh]] ([[Bhagat Singh|Bhagat Singh's]] uncle) with whom he exchanged many personal letters with and [[V. K. Krishna Menon|Krishna Menon]].<ref name=":1" /> From hosting Krishna Menon at IWA events in the mid-1940s, Hansrani developed a long working-relationship with him.<ref name=":1" /> In the 1940s, the IWA and [[India League|the India League]] worked closely together as the former would organise the working classes.<ref name=":3" /> Such organisations worked with [[White British|native British]] people who were also [[Anti-imperialism|anti-imperialist]], notable names include [[Bertrand Russell|Bertrand Russel]] and [[Michael Foot]].<ref>{{Cite news|last=Smita Sarkar|last2=Anand Pillai|date=2017|title=India League in a league of its own|work=Asian Voice|url=https://www.asian-voice.com/News/India/India-League-in-a-league-of-its-own}}</ref>

After India won independence and then was hastily partitioned, Hansrani got involved with other activities of the IWA. Opting to make England his home, he worked on helping new migrants settle into English living. This involved ensuring that they were treated fairly at work and by landlords. He also got heavily involved with [[India League|the India League]] and became a President of it, a position that he would cyclically have until 1975.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /> Here he was focused on building bridges between the two communities in the U.K. This would entail putting on events to mark key dates such as [[Vaisakhi|Basakhi]], [[Diwali|Divali]], and [[Mahatma Gandhi|Gandhi's]] birthday. Additionally, providing free English classes to new arrivals from India and working on [[anti-racism]] campaigns. Hansrani had a love of [[penmanship]] and history, thus documented everything. Unfortunately, he trusted a researcher from Canada with important documents relating to the IWA and the League, who then lost them.<ref name=":2" />

==Personal life==
Hansrani, went back to India in 1949 to see his family and also got married. The newly weds soon arrived in England. In addition to his work in the 'Liberation of India', he successfully founded a wholesale knitwear business and was a member of the [[National Secular Society]].<ref name=":2" />

== References ==
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[[Category:1918 births]]
[[Category:2001 deaths]]

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V P Hansrani - Revision history

>AngryHarpy: Setting DEFAULTSORT key to Hansrani, V P using Hot Default Sort