Amir Hyder Khan

AMIR HYDER KHAN

Date of Birth: 1900 and Date of Death: 26^th December, 1989

            Amir Hyder Khan, who fought not only against British Imperialism but also to establish socialist order of the society, and introduced the Communist movement to South India, was born in 1900 in a small peasant family at Kalian Sialian village in Gujjar Khan region of North Punjab Province, which is now in Pakistan.  He left his house in search of his eldest brother, who went out of the house.  He reached Bombay, where he worked in a London bound ship.  He fought with the management for the injustice done to his co-workers and succeeded.  Meanwhile, he reached New York in 1919.  He got acquainted with the Gadar Party and joined the Indian Independence Friends’ Council.  He met the revolutionary leader Ras Bihari Bose, who was in Japan.  This led to his arrest by the British Police.  But, he could escape with the help of the American Mariners and reached America.  Later, he joined the American Workers’ Party, which was a pro-labour organisation.  Amir Khan went to Russia with the help of the Gadar party, where he studied Communism.  He decided to join the freedom fighter in India to fight against the British.  At that time, Salt Satyagraha was going on in India.  To participate in that movement, he travelled to India from Moscow in disguise.  He reached Bombay, from where he went to Madras.  He took initiative to build Communist Movement in South India from Madras as his center.  During that time, he met Kambhampati Satyanarayana and Puchchalapalli Sundaraiah, who became stalwarts of the communist party in later period.  Since then he actively participated in the Indian National Movement as well as Communist movement.  The British Government branded him as a ‘very dangerous person’ and imprisoned him several times.  Once during his stay in the Jail, he met Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, who was also an inmate there.  Soon they became friends.  Amir Hyder Khan helped Netaji in his journey to Berlin in disguise, which was termed as ‘Great Escape’.  Later on, Amir Hyder Khan reached his native place in 1945 and took part in Anti-British agitations.  He took very active part in the Pakistan Communist Party.  In 1988, he visited India and met his Communist comrades.  Amir Hyder Khan passed away on 26^th December, 1989 in Rawalpindi with great satisfaction over the spread of Communist Movement in South India.