Mainstream WeeklyA Canine tale from the Raj which reveals the fault lines in society at that time
On 20th March, 1939, in the Central Legislative Assembly, Badri Dutt Pandey, raised a question regarding the misdemeanour of the men of Kameshwar Singh, the last Maharaja of Darbhanga during a train journey, and wanted to know what the government intended to do about it. Pandey had already made a mark in the freedom struggle through his role in the Coolie-Begar movement, and had suffered long imprisonment during which he produced a widely referred book on the History of Kumaon. But, on this occasion, his ire was not directed against the British, but towards someone who, as the nation headed towards independence, represented a group which stood in the way of a united and democratic India of the future. On his objection to the illegitimate nature of the journey and the public nuisance thereby caused, the Railway Member would reply that he would gather information about the incident from the concerned Railway officials and, based on that, take necessary action. [1]
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The episode in question took place on 9th February during a train journey Kameshwar Singh undertook from Delhi to Lucknow in a first-class compartment of 117 Up Delhi Express. He, however, was not travelling alone. In a third-class bogie of the same train, sat his retinue of 22 men with no less than 11 dogs. The royal trip continued undeterred until at the Gajroula station, the M.L.A., Chowdhury Vijaipal Singh, travelling on the same train with an intermediate class ticket, on hearing of the Raja