Pearay Mohan

Pearay Mohan Dattatreya (1895 - 23 December 1936) was an Indian lawyer, senior assistant editor of The Tribune, and author of An Imaginary Rebellion and How It was Suppressed, published shortly after the release of the Indian Congress report on the Punjab disturbances of 1919, and in which included a foreword by Lala Lajpat Rai.

Biography Pearay Mohan was born in 1895 in Lahore, to Brij Mohan Dattatreya Kaifi, an Urdu and Persian scholar and poet. In 1914 he co-authored with the journalist, Bishan Sahai Azad, a text in Urdu on the story of the war in Europe, titled Fasānah-i-Jung-i-Yurap. In 1915 he graduated from Government College, Lahore, having received the top prize in economics and philosophy.

In December 1919 Mohan wrote an account of martial law in Punjab, titled An Imaginary Rebellion and How It was Suppressed, published in 1920 shortly after the release of the Indian Congress report on the Punjab disturbances of 1919, and in which included a foreword by Lala Lajpat Rai. Upon its release it was banned and copies confiscated by the British government in India. In November 1920 he joined The Tribune, for which he became senior assistant editor, working with Kali Nath Roy.

Mohan brought several cases to court, including some against the Railway for reserving special seats for Anglo-Indians on trains. He later became senior vice-president of the Punjab Journalists’ Association, and was planning to contribute further in politics.

Mohan died on 13 December 1936, at the age of 41 years.

Selected publications