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Ghadar Party

Ghadar Party

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The Ghadar Party (Hindustani
Hindustani language
Hindustani or Hindi-Urdu is an Indo-Aryan language that spans several closely related dialects in Pakistan and northern India. Although Hindustani is based largely on the Khariboli dialect, it also includes several nonstandard dialects of the Hindi languages...

: ग़दर पार्टी, غدر پارٹی ) was an organization founded by India
India
India, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the Bay of Bengal...

ns of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 and Canada
Canada
Canada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 in June, 1913 with the aim to liberate India
India
India, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the Bay of Bengal...

 from British rule
British Raj
The British Raj was the British colonial rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; it can also refer to the period of dominion, and even the region under the rule...

. It was also known as the Hindi Association of the Pacific Coast.

The first issue of the Ghadr, their paper was published from University of California in Berkeley in November 1, 1913, In it Har Dayal
Har Dayal
Lala Har Dayal was an Indian revolutionary and founder of the Ghadar Party.-Early years:...

 wrote: "Today there begins in foreign lands, but in our country's tongue, a war against the British Raj
British Raj
The British Raj was the British colonial rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; it can also refer to the period of dominion, and even the region under the rule...

... What is our name? Revolution
Revolution
A revolution is a fundamental change in power or organizational structures that takes place in a relatively short period of time.Aristotle described two types of political revolution:...

. What is our work? Revolution. Where will be the revolution? In India. The time will soon come when rifles and blood will take the place of pens and ink."

Background



The economic downturn in India during the early nineteenth century witnessed a high level of emigration. Some of these emigrants settled in North America. These included Punjabis as well as people from other parts of India. The Canadian government decided to curtail this influx with a series of laws, which were aimed at limiting the entry of South Asians into the country and restricting the political rights of those already in the country. The Punjabi community had hitherto been an important loyal force for the British Empire
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom, that had originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height it was...

 and the community had expected, equal welcome and rights from the British and Commonwealth governments as extended to British and white immigrants. These laws fed growing discontent, protests and anti-colonial sentiments within the community. Faced with increasingly difficult situations, the community began organising itself into political groups. A large number of Punjabis also moved to the United States, but they encountered similar political and social problems.


The Ghadar Party, initially the Pacific Coast Hindustan Association, was formed in 1913 in the United States under the leadership of Har Dayal
Har Dayal
Lala Har Dayal was an Indian revolutionary and founder of the Ghadar Party.-Early years:...

, with Sohan Singh Bhakna
Sohan Singh Bhakna
Baba Sohan Singh Bhakna was as Indian revolutionary, the founding president of the Ghadar Party, and a leading member of the party involved in the Ghadar Conspiracy of 1915. Tried at the Lahore Conspiracy trial, Sohan Singh served sixteen years of a life sentence for his part in the conspiracy...

 as its president. The members of the party were Indian immigrants, largely from Punjab
Punjab (British India)
Punjab was a province of British India, it was one of the last areas of the Indian subcontinent to fall under British rule. With the end of British rule in 1947 the province was split between India and Pakistan...

. Many of its members were students at University of California at Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley is a public research university located in Berkeley, California, United States. The oldest of the ten major campuses affiliated with the University of California, Berkeley offers some 300 undergraduate and graduate degree programs in a wide range of disciplines...

 including Dayal, Tarak Nath Das
Tarak Nath Das
Taraknath Das or Tarak Nath Das , anti-British Bengali Indian revolutionary and internationalist scholar. He was a pioneering immigrant in the west coast of North America and discussed his plans with Tolstoy, while organizing the Asian Indian immigrants in favor of the Indian freedom movement...

, Maulavi Barkatullah
Maulavi Barkatullah
Maulavi Abdul Hafiz Mohamed Barakatullah or Maulana Barkatullah was a staunch anti-British Indian revolutionary with sympathy for the Pan-Islamic movement. Barkatullah was born on 7 July 1854 at Itwra Mohalla Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh, India...

, Kartar Singh Sarabha
Kartar Singh Sarabha
Kartar Singh Sarabha Grewal was an Indian revolutionary who was amongst the most famous accused in the Lahore conspiracy trial. A leading luminary of the Ghadar Party, Kartar Singh was executed at Lahore in November 1915 for his role in the Ghadar Conspiracy in February 1915.- Early life :Kartar...

 and V.G. Pingle
Vishnu Ganesh Pingle
Vishnu Ganesh Pingle was an Indian revolutionary and a member of the Ghadar Party who was one of those executed in 1915 following the Lahore conspiracy trial for his role in the Ghadar conspiracy.-Early life:...

. The party quickly gained support from Indian expatriates, especially in the United States, Canada
Canada
Canada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 and Asia.

The word "Ghadar"


Ghadar is an Urdu
Urdu
Urdu is a Central Indo-Aryan language of the Indo-Iranian branch, belonging to the Indo-European family of languages. It is one of the two official languages of Pakistan. It is also one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of five Indian states...

/Punjabi
Punjabi language
Punjabi or Panjabi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by inhabitants of the historical Punjab region ....

 word which means "revolt" or "rebellion." As Kartar Singh Sarabha
Kartar Singh Sarabha
Kartar Singh Sarabha Grewal was an Indian revolutionary who was amongst the most famous accused in the Lahore conspiracy trial. A leading luminary of the Ghadar Party, Kartar Singh was executed at Lahore in November 1915 for his role in the Ghadar Conspiracy in February 1915.- Early life :Kartar...

, one of the founders of the party, wrote in the first issue: "Today there begins 'Ghadar' in foreign lands, but in our country's tongue, a war against the British Raj
British Raj
The British Raj was the British colonial rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; it can also refer to the period of dominion, and even the region under the rule...

. What is our name? Ghadar. What is our work? Ghadar. Where will be the Revolution? In India. The time will soon come when rifles and blood will take the place of pens and ink." The party consisted of mainly revolutionaries and socialists.

The Ghadar Newspaper




The party was built around the weekly paper The Ghadar, which carried the caption on the masthead: Angrezi Raj Ka Dushman (an enemy of the British rule). "Wanted brave soldiers", the Ghadar declared, "to stir up rebellion in India. Pay-death; Price-martyrdom; Pension-liberty; Field of battle-India". The ideology of the party was strongly secular. In the words of Sohan Singh Bhakna
Sohan Singh Bhakna
Baba Sohan Singh Bhakna was as Indian revolutionary, the founding president of the Ghadar Party, and a leading member of the party involved in the Ghadar Conspiracy of 1915. Tried at the Lahore Conspiracy trial, Sohan Singh served sixteen years of a life sentence for his part in the conspiracy...

, who later became a major peasant leader of the Punjab: "We were not Sikhs or Punjabis. Our religion was patriotism". The first issue of The Ghadar, was published from San Francisco on November 1, 1913.

Following the voyage of the Komagata Maru
Komagata Maru
The Komagata Maru incident involved a Japanese steamship, the Komagata Maru, that sailed from Hong Kong to Shanghai, China; Yokohama, Japan; and then to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, in 1914, carrying 376 passengers from Punjab, India. The passengers were not allowed to land in Canada and...

 in 1914, a direct challenge to Canadian racist anti-Indian immigration laws, several thousand Indians resident in the USA sold their business and homes ready to drive the British from India. However, Hardayal had fled to Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian Sea, the Caucasus Mountains , and the Black Sea to the southeast...

 concerned that the US authorities would hand him over to the British. Sohan Singh Bhakna was already in British hands, and the leadership fell to Ram Chandra. Following the entry of Canada
Canada
Canada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 into World War I
World War I
World War I , also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Wars, was a global military conflict which involved most of the world's great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances: the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance...

, the organisation was centred in the USA and received substantial funding from the German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...

 government. They had a very militant tone, as illustrated by this quote from Harnam Singh
Harnam Singh
Raja Sir Harnam Singh, KCIE was the second son of Raja Sir Randhar Singh Bahadur,GCSI, Raja of Kapurthala and younger brother of Raja Karak Singh Bahadur, Kaiser-i-Hind, Raja of Kapurthala. Although raised a Sikh from birth, Sir Harnam later became a pious Christian and missionary, eventually...

:
No pundits or mullahs do we need

The party rose to prominence in the second decade of the 20th century, and grew in strength owing to Indian discontent over World War I and the lack of political reforms.

Ghadar activists undertook what the British described as political terrorism, but what was revolution to most Indians. Ghadar activists were responsible for bombs planted on government property.

In 1917 some of their leaders were arrested and put on trial in the Hindu German Conspiracy Trial
Hindu German Conspiracy Trial
The Hindu German Conspiracy Trial commenced in the District Court in San Francisco, California on November 12 1917 following the uncovering of the Indo German plot for initiating a revolt in India...

 in which their paper was quoted.

The Ghadar party commanded a loyal following the province of Punjab
Punjab region
The Punjab The Punjab The Punjab (pronounced or ; Punjabi: ਪੰਜਾਬ, The Punjab (pronounced or ; [[Punjabi language|Punjabi]]: [[Gurmukhī script|ਪੰਜਾਬ]], The Punjab (pronounced or ; [[Punjabi language|Punjabi]]: [[Gurmukhī script|ਪੰਜਾਬ]], [[Shahmukhi script|, ), also spelled Panjab ' onMouseout='HidePop("20477")' href="http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Mexico">Mexico
Mexico
The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

, Japan
Japan
is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, People's Republic of China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

, China
China
China is a cultural region, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....

, Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island city-state located at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, lying north of the equator, south of the Malaysian state of Johor and north of Indonesia's Riau Islands. At , Singapore is a microstate and the smallest nation in Southeast...

, Thailand
Thailand
The Kingdom of Thailand is an independent country that lies in the heart of Southeast Asia.It is bordered to the north by Laos and Burma, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the west by the Andaman Sea and Burma...

, Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines officially known as the Republic of the Philippines, is a country in Southeast Asia with Manila as its capital city. It comprises 7,107 islands in the western Pacific Ocean....

, Malaya
British Malaya
British Malaya loosely described a set of states on the Malay Peninsula that were colonized by the British from the 18th and the 19th until the 20th century. Before the formation of Malayan Union in 1946, the colonies were not placed under a single unified administration...

, Indo-China and Eastern
East Africa
East Africa or Eastern Africa is the easterly region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. In the UN scheme of geographic regions, 19 territories constitute Eastern Africa:...

 and Southern Africa
Southern Africa
Southern Africa is the southernmost region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. Within the region are numerous territories, including the Republic of South Africa ; nowadays, the simpler term South Africa is generally reserved for the country in English.-UN...

.

Members of the Ghadar Party

  • Kartar Singh Sarabha
    Kartar Singh Sarabha
    Kartar Singh Sarabha Grewal was an Indian revolutionary who was amongst the most famous accused in the Lahore conspiracy trial. A leading luminary of the Ghadar Party, Kartar Singh was executed at Lahore in November 1915 for his role in the Ghadar Conspiracy in February 1915.- Early life :Kartar...

  • Baba visakha Singh
  • Harnam Singh Tundilat
  • Harnam Singh Kahira Sahira
  • Sohan Singh Bhakna
    Sohan Singh Bhakna
    Baba Sohan Singh Bhakna was as Indian revolutionary, the founding president of the Ghadar Party, and a leading member of the party involved in the Ghadar Conspiracy of 1915. Tried at the Lahore Conspiracy trial, Sohan Singh served sixteen years of a life sentence for his part in the conspiracy...

  • Lala Har Dayal
    Har Dayal
    Lala Har Dayal was an Indian revolutionary and founder of the Ghadar Party.-Early years:...

  • Tarak Nath Das
    Tarak Nath Das
    Taraknath Das or Tarak Nath Das , anti-British Bengali Indian revolutionary and internationalist scholar. He was a pioneering immigrant in the west coast of North America and discussed his plans with Tolstoy, while organizing the Asian Indian immigrants in favor of the Indian freedom movement...

  • Pandurang Sadashiv Khankhoje
    Pandurang Sadashiv Khankhoje
    Dr. Pandurang Sadashiv Khankhoje was an Indian revolutionary, scholar, agricultural scientist and historian who was among the founding fathers of the Ghadar Party....

  • Ganda Singh
    Ganda Singh
    Ganda Singh , district Hoshiarpur was one of the original freedom fighters and ghadarites. He was the son of Nikka Singh of Pandori, Hariana, Hoshiarpur.- Life as a Ghadarite :...

     (Phangureh)
  • V. G. Pingle
  • Bhai Randhir Singh

External links