Mahendra Pratap - Freedom Movement

Freedom Movement

In spite of objections from his father-in-law, Raja Mahendra Pratap went to Kolkata in 1906 to attend the Congress session and met several leaders involved in the Swadeshi movement. He decided to promote small industries with indigenous goods and local artisans. He was very much against social evils, especially untouchability. To eliminate this evil he dined with a Tamata family of Almora in 1911 and Mehtar family of Agra in 1912. He was influenced by the speeches of Dadabhai Naoroji, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Maharaja Baroda, and Bipin Chandra Pal. The speeches of these great leaders made him a patriot who turned Swadeshi. He started the movement to burn the foreign made clothes in his state.

He tried sincerely to liberate his motherland. On 20 December 1914, at the age of 28, Raja Mahendra Pratap left India for the third time, with a desire to liberate India from the clutches of the British colonial rule with outside support. In January 1915, on learning about his presence in Switzerland, Chatto alias Virendranath Chattopadhyay of the newly founded Berlin Committee (Deutsche Verein der Freunde Indien) requested Von Zimmermann of the German Foreign ministry to get Pratap invited to Berlin. Already Chatto had sent a first mission to Afghanistan led by the Parsi revolutionary Dada Chanji Kersasp. Informed about Chatto's activities from Shyamji Krishnavarma and Lala Hardayal, Pratap insisted on meeting the Kaiser Wilhelm II personally; Chatto rushed to Geneva to intimate Pratap of the Kaiser's eagerness to see him, and they went to Berlin together. Har Dayal, too, followed them. Decorating Pratap with the Order of the Red Eagle, the Kaiser showed his awareness of the strategic position of the Phulkian States (Jind, Patiala and Nabha), if India was invaded through the Afghan frontier. According to Pratap's wish, he was taken to a military camp near the Polish border for a firsthand knowledge of the army policies and functionings. On 10 April 1915, accompanied by the German diplomat Von Hentig, Maulavi Barkatullah and a few other members, Pratap left Berlin, with due credentials from the Kaiser. In Vienna, the delegation met the then Khedive of Egypt who, during a conversation with Pratap, expressed his desire to see the end of the British Empire. On their way, in Turkey they had an excellent contact with Enver Pasha, son-in-law of the Sultan and Defence Minister, who appointed a trusted military officer to guide the Mission. They were received by Rauf Bey with a detachment of 2000 soldiers at Ispahan. They reached Kabul on 2 October and were greeted by Habibullah. They had a number of discussions.