V P Hansrani was an Indian Freedom Fighter who was based in Britain. He held leading positions in both the Indian Workers Association and the India League. He was a prolific author who worked with Krishna Menon and Sardar Ajit Singh

VP Hansrani and Ujagar Singh had travelled from Rurka Kalan, a small village in the Indian state of Punjab, in their early 20s, looking for a new life in the UK.Inspired initially by the fight for Indian independence, the pair helped set up the Indian Workers Association (IWA) in Coventry soon after the start of the war.

At a terraced house in a suburb of Coventry on Christmas Eve 1939, a group of like-minded immigrants, including Mr Hansrani, met to formalise an organisation that had the aim of raising consciousness in the UK of the struggle for Indian independence.

Hansrani met other Indians in London to make a group called the Indian Work Commune in 1939. They travelled to west midlands and they found employment in metal works in Birmingham. Then Hansrani had received a certificate to work as a pedalar.