The Ghadar Party was a global movement of Indians living abroad who aimed to free India from British rule. It all started with a meeting in the United States, where many Indians lived and worked. When World War I broke out in 1914, Ghadar Party members returned to Punjab to join the fight for India’s independence.

Introduction

In the early 20th century, Indian expatriates kickstarted the Ghadar Party, a transnational political organization aimed at putting an end to British rule in India. What began on the Western Coastline of the USA and Canada evolved into a movement that reached India and Indians worldwide. The Ghadar movement officially took shape on July 15, 1913, in Astoria, Oregon, with its newspaper, Hindustan Ghadar, headquartered in San Francisco, California.

As World War I erupted in 1914, Ghadar activists ventured into Punjab, with the mission of sparking an armed uprising for Indian independence. They smuggled weapons into India, rallying Indian soldiers for a mutiny against the British. Unfortunately, the Lahore Conspiracy Case trial ensued, resulting in the suppression of the Ghadar movement uprising, leading to the execution of 42 mutineers. Between 1914 and 1917, with support from Germany and Ottoman Turkey, the Ghadar Party engaged in covert anti-colonial activities, known as the Hindu-German Conspiracy. This clandestine effort culminated in a dramatic trial in San Francisco in 1917.

History

In the early 1900s, as the Indian Independence Movement gained momentum, a sense of patriotism flourished among students and people from the Indian subcontinent worldwide. Lala Har Dayal and Taraknath Das, two passionate intellectuals, took the initiative to bring these students together and promote nationalist ideas. On July 15, 1913, they founded the Pacific Coast Hindustan Association in the USA, later known as the Ghadar Party. This party found substantial support among Indians in the United States, East Africa, Canada, and Asia.

Founder

The Ghadar Party was multiethnic and included Muslim, Sikh, and Hindu leaders when it was founded. The Ghadar Party was founded by the members listed below.

• Sohan Singh Bhakna (President)
• Kesar Singh, Baba Jawala Singh (VP)
• Kartar Singh Sarabha (Editor)
• Pt. Kanshi Ram (Treasurer)
• Munshi Ram (Secretary)
• Lala Thaker Das (VS)
• Tarak Nath Das
• Lala Hardayal
• Bhai Parmanand
• Udham Singh
• Bhagwan Singh Gyanee
• V. G. Pingle
• Rehmat Ali
• Balwant Singh
• Santokh Singh
• Nidhan Singh Chugha
• G. D. Verma
• Harnam Singh Tundilat
• Mangu Ram Mugowalia
• Baba Harnam Singh
• Baba Chattar Singh Ahluwalia
• Karim Bakhsh
• Maulavi Barkatullah
• Sant Baba Wasakha Singh
• Amir Chand
• Karim Bux
• Baba Prithvi Singh Azad
• Ganda Singh Phangureh
• Harnam Singh Saini
• Pandurang Sadashiv Khankhoje
• Sohanlal Pathak
• Pt. Ram Rakha
• Gulab Kaur

Background 

• At the beginning of the 20th century, the Indian Independence Movement stirred up strong nationalist sentiments not only in India but also among Indian students and emigrants worldwide. Influential thinkers like Taraknath Das and Lala Har Dayal played a crucial role in spreading nationalist ideologies among these students.
• To organize revolutionary activities, activists had set up the “Swadesh Sevak Home” in Vancouver and the “United India House” in Seattle. This laid the groundwork for the formal establishment of the Ghadr Party in 1913. Lala Har Dayal, along with Sant Baba Wasakha Singh Dadehar, Baba Jawala Singh, Santokh Singh, and Sohan, founded the Ghadar Party on July 15, 1913, in the United States.
• The Ghadar Party gained significant popularity among the Indian diaspora in the United States, Canada, East Africa, and Asia. The party became a focal point for those advocating Indian independence and played a crucial role in uniting and mobilizing Indians around the world for the cause.

Features 

The Ghadar Party was formed in the United States with a clear mission – to secure India’s independence. What set this group apart from other Indian revolutionary organizations were its unique characteristics. Let’s delve into some key features of the Ghadar Party.

• The Ghadar Party was a group of Indian revolutionaries, mostly made up of Punjabi, Hindu, Sikh, and Muslim members. Around the early 1900s, there was an increase in revolutionary and terrorist activities in Bengal.
• Before the planned Ghadar revolt in 1915, a small gang of terrorists was active in Madras and the Poona province. Bengal emerged as a significant center for revolution, especially among the educated elite known as the bhadralok.
• The Ghadar Party, originally rooted in the rural Punjabi immigrant population in California, had its headquarters in San Francisco. Their goal was to achieve India’s independence through revolution. Interestingly, unlike Bengal, Punjab saw the impulse for terrorism and revolutionary violence not from disgruntled intellectuals but from Punjabi peasants who had migrated to the United States and Canada.

Revolution

• The Ghadar programme had several goals, including organizing official assassinations, producing anti-imperialist literature, collaborating with Indian troops abroad, acquiring weapons, and inciting uprisings in all British colonies.
• A working committee was set up, and the Ghadar Party launched a free weekly newspaper called “The Ghadar.” They also established Yugantar Ashram in San Francisco as their headquarters.
• Ghadar militants actively spread their message by visiting farms and mills where many Punjabi immigrant laborers worked.
• The Ghadar newspaper, in both Urdu and Gurmukhi, strongly opposed British rule. Each issue exposed British actions, including the destruction of Indian industries, famines, epidemics, and attempts to create discord between Hindus and Muslims.
• The newspaper serialized Savarkar’s “The Indian War of Independence – 1857” and highlighted heroic acts from various individuals and groups.
• The Ghadar had a wide reach, reaching populations in the Philippines, Hong Kong, China, the Malay States, and among Indians in North America. It sparked debates and discussions, and its poems were chanted in meetings.
• In a short time, the Ghadar transformed the self-image of Punjabi immigrants from loyalists to the British Raj to rebels aiming to overthrow British control in India.
• Some Ghadar Party members traveled to Punjab in 1914 to spark armed uprisings for India’s independence. They were involved in smuggling firearms and inciting rebellions among Indian soldiers serving in the British Army.
• The Ghadar Mutiny in 1915 was brutally suppressed by the British, resulting in the death of 42 mutineers after the Lahore Conspiracy Case trial.
• Despite the suppression, from 1914 to 1917, the Ghadar Party opposed colonialism with the support of Central Powers like Imperial Germany and the Ottoman Empire, both of which were against the British.
• The Ghadar explicitly called for brave soldiers to ignite rebellion in India, especially after the Komagata Maru Incident in 1914 and the challenge to Canadian anti-Indian immigration rules.
• Following the incident, hundreds of Indians in the US sold their properties to support the Ghadar Party, increasing its numbers and strengthening its anti-British stance.

Reasons for Failure

Before reaching India, many Ghadar leaders were arrested, and upon their arrival, they were put behind bars. Among those who escaped capture were Kartar Singh Saraba, Pandit Kanshi Ram, and G. Pingale, who gathered in Punjab to lead the uprising. At that time, Michael O’Dwyer was the Lieutenant-General of Punjab.

In their efforts, Ghadar Party leaders in Punjab used various tactics, but both the local Punjabi population and the British considered them as troublemakers. Some Punjabi Sikhs even viewed the Ghadar leaders as traitors. Despite Sikhs being highly dedicated soldiers in the British Army, O’Dwyer ordered the detention of all Ghadar party members, whether legally justified or not.

The Ghadar Party’s success lay in its ideology, promoting militant nationalism while maintaining a secular approach. However, its political and military impact fell short due to a lack of organized and sustained leadership. The movement underestimated the necessary preparations on all fronts – organizational, ideological, financial, and tactical strategic levels.

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