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Ghadar Party
President	Sohan Singh Bhakna
Founder	Sohan Singh Bhakna
Founded	1913
Dissolved	1948
Preceded by	Pacific Coast Hindustan Association
Ideology	Indian independence movement
Colours	Red, Saffron and Green

The Ghadar Party (Punjabi: ਗ਼ਦਰ ਪਾਰਟੀ) was an Indian revolutionary organisation primarily founded by Indians.^[1] The party was multi-ethnic and had Sikh, Hindu and Muslim leaders. The party was headquartered in San Francisco, United States. Key members included Bhai Parmanand, Sohan Singh Bhakna, Bhagwan Singh Gyanee, Har Dayal, Mohammad Iqbal Shedai, Kartar Singh Sarabha, Abdul Hafiz Mohamed Barakatullah, Sulaman Choudhary, Aamir Choudhary, Rashbehari Bose and Gulab Kaur.

After the outbreak of World War I, Ghadar party members returned to Punjab to agitate for rebellion alongside the Babbar Akali Movement.^{[citation needed]} In 1915 they conducted revolutionary activities in central Punjab and organised uprisings. Their presence challenged the hold of the British Empire; police surveillance in Punjabi villages increased in an attempt to crush the rebellion. The party is known for setting the foundation for future Indian revolutionary movements and served as a stepping stone for independence. Though predominantly Sikh, the party included members and leaders of many religions, demonstrating a pluralistic and democratic attitude towards all Indians.^[1] Following the war's conclusion, the party in the United States fractured into a Communist and an Anti-Communist faction. The party was formally dissolved in 1948.^[1]

Etymology

Ghadar is an Urdu word derived from Arabic which means "revolt" or "rebellion." As Kartar Singh Sarabha, 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. 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 name of the organisation was primarily spelled "Gadar Party" or "Ghadr Party" by its members.

Background

The economic downturn in India during the early twentieth^{[dubious – discuss]} 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 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.^[2]

RasBihari Bose on request from Vishnu Ganesh Pingle, an American trained Ghadar, who met Bose at Benares and requested him to take up the leadership of the coming revolution. But before accepting the responsibility, he sent Sachin Sanyal to the Punjab to assess the situation. Sachin returned very optimistic.,^[1][3] in the United States and Canada with the aim to liberate India from British rule. The movement began with a group of immigrants known as the Hindustani Workers of the Pacific Coast.^[1]

Ghadar di Gunj, an early Ghadarite compilation of nationalist and socialist literature, was banned in India in 1913.

The Ghadar Party, initially the Pacific Coast Hindustan Association, was formed in 1913 in the United States but before a decision to create head quarter at yugantar ashram in San Francisco was taken at a meeting in Astoria ( Oregon) Canada under the leadership of Har Dayal, Sant Baba Wasakha Singh Dadehar, Baba Jawala Singh, Santokh Singh and Sohan Singh Bhakna ^[4]as its president. The members of the party were Indian immigrants, largely from Punjab.^[2] Many of its members were students at University of California at Berkeley including Dayal, Tarak Nath Das, Maulavi Barkatullah, Harnam Singh Tundilat, Kartar Singh Sarabha and V.G. Pingle. The party quickly gained support from Indian expatriates, especially in the United States, Canada, East Africa and Asia.

Newspaper

Ghadar Newspaper (Urdu) Vol. 1, No. 22, March 24, 1914

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, 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 in San Francisco on November 1, 1913.

Following the voyage of the Komagata Maru [Guru Nanak Jhaj] in 1914, a direct challenge to Canadian anti-Indian immigration laws, several thousand Indians resident in the United States sold their business and homes ready to drive the British from India. However, Hardayal had fled to Europe concerned that the U.S. 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 into World War I, the organisation was centred in the USA and received substantial funding from the German government. They had a very militant tone, as illustrated by this quote from Harnam Singh:

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.^{[citation needed]} 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 in which their paper was quoted.

In 1914, Kasi Ram Joshi a member of the party from Haryana, returned to India from America. On 15 March 1915 he was hanged by the colonial government.^[5]

The Ghadar party commanded a loyal following the province of Punjab^{[citation needed]}, but many of its most prominent activists were forced into exile to Canada and the United States. It ceased to play an active role in Indian politics after 1919. The party had active members in other countries such as Mexico, Japan, China, Singapore, Thailand, Philippines, Malaya, Indo-China and Eastern and Southern Africa.

Founding members

1. 
   Sohan Singh Bhakna (President)


2. 
   Kesar Singh (Vice-President)


3. 
   Kartar Singh Sarabha (Editor, Punjabi Gadar)


4. 
   Baba Jawala Singh (Vice-President)


5. Sant Baba Wasakha Singh Dadehar


6. Bhagwan Singh Gyanee


7. Balwant Singh (Ghadarite)


8. 
   Pt. Kanshi Ram (Treasurer)


9. Harnam Singh Tundilat


10. G. D. Verma


11. 
    Lala Thaker Das (Dhuri) (Vice Secretary)


12. 
    Munshi Ram (Organizing Secretary)


13. Bhai Parmanand


14. Nidhan Singh Chugha


15. Santokh Singh (Ghadarite)


16. Master Udham Singh


17. Baba Chattar Singh Ahluwalia (Jethuwal)


18. 
    Baba Harnam Singh (Kari Sari)


19. 
    Mangu Ram Mugowalia^[6][7]


20. Karim Bakhsh


21. Amar Chand


22. Rehmat Ali (Ghadarite)


23. V. G. Pingle


24. Sant Baba Wasakha Singh


25. Maulavi Barkatullah


26. Harnam Singh Saini


27. Tarak Nath Das


28. Pandurang Sadashiv Khankhoje


29. Ganda Singh Phangureh


30. Bhai Randhir Singh


31. Karim Bux


32. Baba Prithvi Singh Azad


33. Wadhawa singh warwal & sons (Rana singh & Bhana singh)

In popular media

A character in the World War II thriller The Tenth Unknown by author Jvalant Nalin Sampat is a member of the Ghadar Party and is involved in the Ghadar Mutiny.

See also

• Ghadar Mutiny


• Communist Ghadar Party of India


• Hindu–German Conspiracy

References

• 
  Strachan, Hew (2001), The First World War. Volume I: To Arms, Oxford University Press. USA, ISBN 0-19-926191-1.

Further reading

• 
  Ramnath, Maia (2011). Haj to Utopia: How the Ghadar Movement Charted Global Radicalism and Attempted to Overthrow the British Empire. University of California Press. ISBN 9780520950399.
  

Ajmer Singh - Gadari Babe Kaun San -https://archive.org/details/GadriBabeKounSanByAjmerSingh

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ghadar Party.

• A Gallery on Gadar Party


• Ghadar Party materials in the South Asian American Digital Archive (SAADA)


• 
  Ghadar: The Indian Immigrant Outrage Against Canadian Injustices 1900 - 1918 by Sukhdeep Bhoi


• 
  The Hindustan Ghadar Collection. The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley
  


• Communist Ghadar Party of India