{"id":321,"date":"2020-06-08T08:14:10","date_gmt":"2020-06-08T08:14:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/?p=321"},"modified":"2020-06-08T08:14:10","modified_gmt":"2020-06-08T08:14:10","slug":"the-ghadarites","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/2020\/06\/08\/the-ghadarites\/","title":{"rendered":"The Ghadarites"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The\nGhadarites played an important role in the national struggle for freedom. They\nplaced before them the ideal of complete independence from the inception of\ntheir struggle and were thus the forerunners of the Purna Swaraj<\/em>\n(complete independence) resolution of the Indian National Congress passed at\nits Lahore session on December 31, 1929. They derived their inspiration\nfrom the national revolutionary intellectuals abroad, the most prominent among\nwhom was Lala Hardayal. He gave up his government scholarship for study at\nOxford and devoted himself completely to the cause of national freedom. He went\nto America at the invitation of Indian revolutionaries and set up at San\nFrancisco the Hindustani Association of the Pacific Coast along with other\ncomrades like Bhai Parma Nand, Sohan Singh Bhakna and Harnam Singh \u2018Tundilat\u2019,\nprobably in April or May 1913.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nprimary objective of the Association was to overthrow the British raj<\/em> in\nIndia and establish a national republic based on freedom and equality. This\ncould be achieved only through an armed national revolt on the pattern
\nof 1857. Every member of the Association was bound both by his honour and duty\nto fight against slavery prevalent anywhere in the world. The Association\nestablished its headquarters at 436 Hill Street, San Francisco and named it as Jugantar\nAshram <\/em>after the renowned revolutionary journal of Calcutta. For the\npropagation of its ideology and programme, it decided to bring out a weekly\njournal captioned Ghadar<\/em> in three languages\u2014Urdu, Gurmukhi and Marathi.\nThe name of the weekly journal also put its imprint on the Association which\ncame to be known as the Ghadar Party.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nfirst issue of the weekly journal Ghadar<\/em> saw the light of the day on\nNovember 1, 1913. It boldly stated, \u201cToday there begins in foreign land a war\nagainst the British raj.<\/em> What is our name ? Mutiny. What is our\nwork ? Mutiny. Where will mutiny break out ? In India. The time will\nsoon come when rifles and blood will take the place of pens and ink.\u201d It\nclearly indicated the lines of propaganda to be made by the journal. Every\nissue also contained some regular features like Angrezi raj ka kacha chithha<\/em>  (an open account of the misdeeds of the\nBritish rule) and Ankron ki gawahi<\/em> (evidence of statistics) and\npatriotic poems. The feature Angrezi raj ka kacha chithha<\/em> highlighted\nfourteen points, important among them were : the Britishers take away fifty\ncrore rupees every year to England; the alien government spends only two crore\nrupees on health care but twenty-nine crore rupees on the army; the English\nresidents in India are never punished by the authorities for murdering men and\ndishonouring women; efforts are made to foment discord between the Hindus and\nthe Muslims; aggressions are committed by the imperialists by sacrificing the\nlives of Indian soldiers and the money of the Indian masses. The patriotic\npoems always exhorted the young men to shed their sluggishness and serve their\ncountry with utmost devotion of both mind and body.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nGhadar<\/em> became very popular among the Indians living abroad. It had its\nspecial appeal to the sturdy peasants of Punjab working as unskilled labourers,\nfarm workers, farmers and contractors on the Pacific Coast of North America.\nThey worked hard from dawn to dusk and were able to earn enough by virtue of\nhigher minimum wages in America with reference to their living standards, but\nwere not respected by the white people. They were called \u2018coolies\u2019 or \u2018dirty\npeople\u2019, ridiculed and bullied everywhere they went. To this mental torture of\ntheirs, the Ghadar<\/em> provided an answer :<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cruel\nEnglish nation is very obnoxious. They have looted and eaten up Hindustan,\nBrothers.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\ndogs of the Firangees eat to their fill. And human beings in India die of\nstarvation.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lala\nHardayal, the architect of the Ghadarite philosophy and editor of the journal,\nwas an eloquent speaker. He inspired his followers with his sincerity and\nstraightforward approach to the problems. For him, the British rule had ruined\nIndia and was responsible for the misery and degradation of people. The raj<\/em>\nsustained itself on administrative highhandedness, arrest without trial,\nrepression of freedom and Press censorship. It was, therefore, wrong to call it\nthe British empire which, in fact, was the British vampire. It was unfortunate\nthat Lala Hardayal could not stay in America for long and had to shift his base\nof activity to Geneva where he edited a paper called the Vande Mataram<\/em>.\nHis successor, Ram Chander, gave a new name to the journal Hindustan Ghadar<\/em>\n but ably carried forward the work of Lala Hardayal. It carried the\nfollowing advertisement in its issue dated August 11, 1914 :<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wanted<\/em>      …  Fearless, courageous soldiers for spreading mutiny in India<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Salary         <\/em>…  Death<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reward<\/em>       …  Martyrdom and Freedom<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Place\n          <\/em>…  The field of India.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nmessage was manifest\u2014go to India, sacrifice your life for the country and\nbecome a martyr.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\noutbreak of war between England and Germany on August 4, 1914 brought to the\nGhadarites and other revolutionaries abroad their long-cherished opportunity\nfor action. Rich patriotic Indians abroad like Shyamji Krishna Varma at London\nand Sardar Singh Rana at Paris had always been able to attract revolutionaries\nlike Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, Lala Hardayal and Madan Lal Dhingra around them.\nThey gave them shelter and financial assistance to carry on their work. Shyamji\nfounded the Indian Home Rule Society at London in February 1905. He also\nstarted a paper called the Indian<\/em> Sociologist<\/em>. It stressed the\nabsolute freedom from British control as the political goal of India. His\nassociate, Madam Bhikaji Rustam K. R. Cama, \u201cThe Mother of the Indian\nRevolution\u201d, along with Sardar Singh Rana attended the International Socialist\nCongress at Stuttgart (Germany) in August 1907 and made a fiery
\nspeech there exposing the disastrous results of the British rule in India. At\nits conclusion, she unfolded the national flag of India\u2014a tricolour flag in\ngreen, yellow and red.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In\nGermany, the revolutionaries became extremely active during the war. The German\nUnion of Friendly India came into being with the  active \nsupport of the German Government on September 3, 1914, i.e., within a\nmonth after the start of hostilities. This was later rechristened the Indian\nIndependence Committee to be exclusively manned by the Indians. The main\nfunction of the Committee was to help the revolutionaries both in India and\nabroad. They could be of advantage to the Germans in two ways: one, to create\nanti-British feelings in the minds of Indian soldiers fighting on the western\nfront and, second, in compelling the British authorities to divert their troops\nfrom the front to suppress the activities of the revolutionaries at home. There\nwas no dearth of funds or arms for the use of the revolutionaries. Very\nambitious plans were contemplated. Three ships full of arms and ammunition were\nto be despatched to India. They were also to carry soldiers to start the\nhostilities. According to the plans, when the Germans attack through Burma and\nAfghanistan, there would also be revolutionary outbursts in Bengal and Punjab.\nUnfortunately, none of these grand plans materialised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nIndian Independence Committee of Berlin also made contacts through Chandra\nKanta Chakraborty with Ghadarites in America to send men and arms to India. In\nthis venture, Ram Chander was able to send more than three thousand Indians for\nrevolutionary work through Shanghai but his efforts to despatch arms and\nammunition proved abortive. Both Chakraborty and Ram Chander were later\narrested along with their other supporters in March-April 1917 and convicted.\nOn the last day of trial, Ram Singh, a co-accused, shot Ram Chander dead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nIndian Independence Committee of Berlin also made some attempts to create\ndisaffection among the Indians in various far Eastern countries like Indo-china,\nSiam (Thailand), Burma (Myanmar), Japan and the Philippines through\nrevolutionaries like Abdul Hafiz, Barkatullah, Heramba Gupta and Bhagwan Singh,\nbut without any substantial result. In pursuance of these attempts, Raja\nMahendra Pratap visited Germany along with Lala Hardayal and met Kaiser. The\nlatter accorded him a royal reception. He also met the German Chancellor\nBethmann-Hollweg and was assured of the German help in the fight of Indians for\ntheir independence. Raja Mahendra Pratap was later able to establish rapport\nwith the Afghan government with the help of Germans and set up a provisional\ngovernment of India at Kabul in December 1915. He himself became the President\nof the new government with Barkatullah as Prime Minister and Obeidullah as the\nHome Minister. His government made efforts to incite the King of Nepal and the\nCzar of Russia as well as the native princes to turn against Great Britain, but\nwithout success. He had, therefore, to go back to Berlin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before\nwe discuss the plans of the Ghadarites for an open rebellion and their\nexecution, it is necessary to mention the incident of Kama Gata Maru.<\/em> It\nwas a Japanese ship chartered by Baba Gurdit Singh in March 1914 to carry intending\nimmigrants to Canada. When it reached its destination, the passengers were not\nallowed to land for what they called \u2018Mounting Oriental Invasion\u2019. They\nremained in the ship for about two months under the most trying conditions\nduring which the Ghadarites raised the funds and moved the Supreme Court for\nenforcing their right to land. The court refused to intervene with the decision\nof Immigration Department. The ship had, therefore, to return. The authorities\ndid not allow it to land en route<\/em> at Hong Kong and Singapore where some\npassengers had their kith and kin. The First World War had already started\nbefore the ship could reach Calcutta. The Government now looked towards these\npassengers as revolutionaries. It, therefore, decided that all of them should\nleave for Amritsar by a special train immediately on their landing. This caused\na clash between the passengers and authorities, as a result of which eighteen\npassengers were killed, twenty-nine slipped away and about 200 arrested.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nactivities of the Ghadar Party and the Indian Independence Committee at Berlin\nwere cheering up revolutionaries at home, especially in Bengal and Punjab. The\nnews that their comrades along with foreign arms were coming to help them in\nstarting a final crusade against the British raj<\/em> filled their minds with\nnew hopes and aspirations. Elaborate arrangements were made for safe landing\nand storage of arms at Balasore on the Orissa coast and Raimangal in the\nSundarbans under the stewardship of Jatin Mukherji and Jadugopal Mukherji.\nUnfortunately, these plans leaked out to the police. A fierce encounter took\nplace near Buribalam. The revolutionaries displayed an exemplary valour. Jatin\nMukherji died of the wounds he received during the fight. The foreign arms also\ndid not reach their destination at Raimangal through the Maverick.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before\nthe Ghadarite leaders sailed for San Francisco on August 29, 1914 by S.S.\nKorea,<\/em> the government got an advance information about their plans. It\narmed itself with the ingress into Indian Ordinance of 1914. It kept a strict\nwatch on their arrival in India and their subsequent activities. This could not\ndeter the Ghadarites. They openly preached to the people at public fairs to\nrise against the British. In fact, plans were made twice in November 1914 to first\nattack the military depots at Lahore and Ferozepore and later to declare an\nopen rebellion throughout the country, but without success. Hopes, however,\nbrightened with the arrival of Rash Behari Bose from Bengal on the scene in\nJanuary 1915. Not a day was to be lost now. Immediate contacts were, therefore,\nestablished with the soldiers at various cantonments throughout Northern India.\nA large number of them were ready to join their brethren once the first shot of\nrebellion was fired. The date of destiny was fixed. It was to be February 21,\n1915. All hopes were centred on the 23rd Cavalry at Lahore which was to get the\nhonour of hoisting the flag of independence. This was expected to be followed\nby other regiments. The information was believed to be communicated to the\nauthorities by Kirpal Singh who was a police informer and had intruded into the\ndecision-making body of the Ghadarites. On suspicion, the leadership advanced\nthe day of destiny by three days to February 18, 1915. Again, the treachery of Kirpal\nSingh helped the government and proved disastrous to the Ghadarites. The police\nimmediately raided their hide-outs and made a large number of arrests. Rash\nBehari Bose escaped and reached Japan. In three trials, generally known as\nLahore conspiracy cases, forty-two Ghadarites were sentenced to death, 114\ntransported for life and 93 sentenced to long terms of imprisonment. The\nrebellious regiments were disbanded. Ring leaders were executed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nIndian soldiers stationed abroad, in a way, showed greater courage and valour\nthan those at home. The 5th Light Infantry at Singapore staged a revolt against\nthe Britishers on February 15, 1915 under the leadership of Jamadar Chisti Khan\nand Subedar Dundey Khan under the inspiration of the Ghadarites. For three days,\nthey were on their own and were crushed only after a fierce resistance.\nSoldiers had killed eight British officers against which the bosses took the\nlives of 38 by executing them in public, in addition to those killed during the\nencounters.\n\nThe Ghadarites and other revolu-tionaries abroad were great patriots.\nThe Ghadar Party had its supporters all over the world\u2014Canada, Japan, South\nAfrica, Mexico, Philippines, Thailand, Singapore, Hong Kong and Shanghai. They\ndaringly attempted to snatch the independence of their country on the pattern\n\u2018catch the time by forelock\u2019. No tears need be shed on why and how they failed.\nHats off to them that they embarked upon this adventure with courage.\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Ghadarites played an important role in the national struggle for freedom. They placed before them the ideal of complete independence from the inception of their struggle and were thus the forerunners of the Purna Swaraj (complete independence) resolution of the Indian National Congress passed at its Lahore session on December 31, 1929. They derived their […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/321"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=321"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/321\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":322,"href":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/321\/revisions\/322"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=321"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=321"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.competitionreview.in\/blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=321"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}