The Ghadar Party (Hindustani: ग़दर पार्टी (Devanagari), غدر پارٹی (Nastaleeq); Punjabi: ਗ਼ਦਰ ਪਾਰਟੀ) was an organization founded by Punjabi Indians, 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.
After the outbreak of World War I, Ghadar party members returned to Punjab to agitate for rebellion alongside the Babbar Akali Movement.
In 1915 they conducted revolutionary activities in central Punjab and
attempted to organize uprisings but their attempts were crushed by the
British Government. After the conclusion of the war, the party in America split into Communist and Anti-Communist factions. The party was formally dissolved in 1948.
Ghadar is an Urdu/Punjabi 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 economic downturn in India during the early nineteenth[dubious ]
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
The Ghadar Party, initially the Pacific Coast Hindustan Association, was formed in 1913 in the United States under the leadership of Har Dayal, with Sohan Singh Bhakna as its president. The members of the party were Indian immigrants, largely from Punjab. Many of its members were students at University of California at Berkeley including Dayal, Tarak Nath Das, Maulavi Barkatullah, Kartar Singh Sarabha and V.G. Pingle. The party quickly gained support from Indian expatriates, especially in the United States, Canada and Asia.
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 from San Francisco on November 1, 1913.
Following the voyage of the Komagata Maru 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
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 into World War I, the organization was centered 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:
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.[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.
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.
Members of the Ghadar Party
- Baba Bhagwan Singh Dhosanjh
- Maulavi Barkatullah
- Kartar Singh Sarabha
- Baba Visakha Singh
- Harnam Singh Tundilat
- Harnam Singh Kahira Sahira'
- Harnam Singh Saini
- Sohan Singh Bhakna
- Lala Har Dayal
- Tarak Nath Das
- Pandurang Sadashiv Khankhoje
- Ganda Singh Phangureh
- V. G. Pingle
- Bhai Randhir Singh
- Munsha Singh Dukhi
- Karim Bux
- Harikrishan Talwar
