Mehr Chand Khanna (b. June 1, 1897 - d. July 20, 1970) was an Indian politician who served as the Union Minister for Rehabilitation from 1954 to 1962 and Law Minister from 1954 to 1957.

Early life and education

Mehr Chand Khanna was born in Peshawar

Peshawar

Peshawar is the capital of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and the administrative center and central economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan....

 on June 1, 1897 to Karam Chand Khanna, a rich businessman. He had his schooling in Peshawar and graduated from Edwardes College

Edwardes College

Edwardes College is an undergraduate and graduate institution in the city of Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province along Pakistan’s northwest border with Afghanistan...

, Peshawar. Khanna also graduated in law and practised for a time as a lawyer.

Politcs

Mehr Chand Khanna entered politics at an early age and founded the Hindu Sabha. He served for some time as a member of the Frontier Crimes Regulations Enquiry Committee set up by the Government of India

Government of India

The Government of India, officially known as the Union Government, and also known as the Central Government, was established by the Constitution of India, and is the governing authority of the union of 28 states and seven union territories, collectively called the Republic of India...

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In 1932, he was elected to the North West Frontier Province Assembly from the Peshawar Cantonment constituency as a member of the Hindu-Sikh Nationalist Party. When the Frontier National COngress captured power in the province in the 1937 elections and Khan Abdul Jabbar Khan

Khan Abdul Jabbar Khan

Khan Abdul Jabbar Khan popularly known as Dr. Khan Sahib was a pioneer in the Indian Independence Movement and a Pakistan politician.-Early life:...

 became the Premier, Khanna, whose party was in winning alliance, was made the Minister of Finance. Khanna was the only Hindu minister in the cabinet. He was also the only cabinet minister who was not related to Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan

Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan

Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan was an Afghan, Pashtun political and spiritual leader known for his non-violent opposition to British Rule in India...

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Khanna served as the Minister of Finance from 1937 to 1939, when Congress ministries all over India resigned in protest against Britain's declaration of war against Germany. He also served as Minister of Finance in the second Frontier Congress cabinet which ruled from 1945 to 1947.

Arrest

Khanna was serving as a cabinet minister in the NWFP government when the dominion of Pakistan was formed on August 14, 1947. However, the government was dismissed soon afterwards.

In January 1948 Khanna was arrested along with Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan

Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan

Khan Abdul Ghaffar Khan was an Afghan, Pashtun political and spiritual leader known for his non-violent opposition to British Rule in India...

 on charges of possessing firearms and lodged in Peshawar jail.The Indian government sent Anglo-Indian

Anglo-Indian

Anglo-Indians are people who have mixed Indian and British ancestry, or people of British descent born or living in India, now mainly historical in the latter sense. British residents in India used the term "Eurasians" for people of mixed European and Indian descent...

 lawyer Frank Anthony

Frank Anthony

Frank Anthony was a prominent leader of the Anglo-Indian community in India, and was until his death their nominated representative in the Parliament of India....

 to secure his release as no Hindu lawyer was willing to travel to Pakistan. Upon his release Khanna migrated to India and settled down in Delhi

Delhi

Delhi , officially National Capital Territory of Delhi , is the largest metropolis by area and the second-largest by population in India, next to Mumbai. It is the eighth largest metropolis in the world by population with 16,753,265 inhabitants in the Territory at the 2011 Census...

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In the Indian government

Khanna participated in the Lok Sabha elections in independent India and was elected from the New Delhi Lok Sabha constituency. He served as Minister of Rehabilitation in the Jawaharlal Nehru cabinet from 1954 to 1962. Being a refugee himself, he is believed to have handled the refugee problem well. From 1954 to 1957, he also handled the law portfolio. During the 1960s, he was also giving the portfolio of housing.