This is the second and concluding part of the article on the Ghadar movement.

Dr. Harjinder Singh Dilgeer

The war between England and Germany broke on July 28, 1914 (Kamagata Maru ship left Vancouver on July 23, 1914). The Ghadar leaders now, decided to move to their native lands. The August 4, 1914 issue of “Ghadar” weekly asked the people to move to their country and to incite native troops against the British. In August 1914 the first party (Kartar Singh Sarabha, Harnam Singh Tundi Laat etc) left for India. It was followed by the main jatha of 70 persons by the S.S. Korea” which left San Francisco on August 29, 1914. After this about 6 to 8 thousand persons mostly Sikhs, left for Calcutta. The British government had already received intelligence reports. Ordinance V of 1914 named “Ingress into Indian Ordinance 1914” had already been passed. It empowered the government to restrict any person’s liberty who entered India after the issuance of the said Ordinance. Under this ordinance, according to a report, 311 persons were interned and 2576 persons were restricted to their villages between the 19141917 war period. Ismonger and Slattery have estimated the number (up to 1918) 370 interned and 2212 restricted to their villages. Those interned in jails included Sohan Singh Bakhna Kesar Singh, Jawala Singh, Dr. Thakar Singh, Kartar Singh Sarabha, Jagjit Singh, Harnam Singh, Bibi Gulab Kaur escaped.

The underground Ghadarites, now planned Ghadar. It was decided to be launched on Nov. 15, 1914 but for want of ammunition it was postponed. A number of meetings were held by the leaders from that period onwards but except for some minor daooities and killings, no action could materialize.

Finally the Ghadar’s major action was decided. February 21, 1915 was fixed as the date for the general uprising. The troops had been sounded for readiness by Harnam Singh, Gurmakh Singh, Lalton, Udham Singh, Piara Singh Langeri, 23rd Cayaly, 25th Punjabis, 128 Pioneers, 9th Bhopal, 12th Cavalry had fully responded to and had agreed for action. Under the planning the troops would mutiny, murder their British officers, … ‘would seize the magazines, arms and ammunition and bring about a general uprising.” The outbreaks would be simultaneous at Lahore, Ferozepore and Rawalpindi under the command of Baba Wisakha Singh Dadehar. Majha people were to loot arms from Lopoke Police station on 20th and to reach Lahore on 21st. From Malwa, Randhir Singh, Kartar Singh Sarabha, and Sajjan Singh Narangwal were to arrange their share.

On the other hand the police was very cautious. Kirpal Singh Brar, a CID man, had joined the party and had become (to the foolhirdiness of the organizers of the Ghadar Party) a member of the innermost circle just nine days before the final date of the Ghadar. His antecedents, soon, came under suspicion. The date of the Ghadar was then advanced for two days. The same however, could not remain concealed for Kirpal Singh. As a result on 19th of February at 4:30 pm some hours before the final action the police raided the headquarters of the Ghadar party and arrested a large number of leaders. With the wholesale arrests the whole plan of the Ghadar failed thus giving a premature death to the movement, and, causing great losses.

The reasons of failure of the movement can be summed up as lack of good leadership no maintenance of secrecy, lack of organization, miscalculations, lack of arms, efficiency of the C.O.D. departments, unchecked enrollment, role of Hindu so-called nationalists, lack of coordination, and government repression of the Ghadarites.

To quote Ismonger and Slattery: The Ghadar failed because of “lack of organization, bad leadership, incapacity to maintain secrecy and the Indian habit of regarding the ideal as the fact accomplished, no doubt played, their part in defeating the revolutionaries but on more than once occasion their designs were dangerously near fulfillment and disaster was narrowly averted.”

Although the Ghadar movement failed to achieve its target yet it succeeded in educating the people by reminding them of their path and the Violent stage of agitations, which later on came to be true in the Babbar Akali movement.

As professed in the beginning of this chapter, the Ghadar movement was basically a Sikh movement, aimed at revival of the lost glory of panth and the achievement of sovereignty for the Sikh nation in particular and Punjabis and the others in general.

The whole movement was run by the Sikhs, the centres of the movement in the foreign countries were the Gurdwaras, the Sikh Saints working for it Teja Singh, Randhir Singh etc. the organizations were Khalsa Diwan Societies etc. the real base was only Khalistan i.e. Sikh zone. Every source Ghadar party history proves this.

 

The non-Sikhs who were associated with this movement particularly the Chaudhries like Hardyal, Darma Nand, Ram Chand ete were either corrupt or were traitors and later on turned approvers or applied for amnesty. To quote communist writer Gurcharan Singh Sehnsara: “The British considered it only a Sikh movement. Mostly the Sikhs with unshorn hair were interned while Hindus and Muslims were released. Jagat Ram, Parma Nand, Pirthi Singh and a large number of other workers thus escaped internment.”

To quote Harding,” on the request of O’Dwyer, I arrested more than 300 Sikh revolutionaries and much big number of them got put under strict police surveilance, under Ilird Regulation (Laws) of Bengal, 1813 (Lord Harding: “My Indian Years, 19101916), p, 116.

An Intelligence Report further confirms the above view,” the movement has been kept alive by returning Sikh emigrants, many with Moscow training and nearly all having been infected with revolutionary ideas and by the numerous Sikh extremist residents of the Punjab whose hatred of British rule and natural instinct for revolt predisposes them to join eagerness in any plan aimed at the subversion of British authority.”

The above thesis is seconded by the events of the post1917 period visavis the members of the Ghadar party. Most Ghadar leaders, joined the Sikh league, Shiromani Akali Dal, Babbar Akalis ete or started their activities of either propagation of Sikhism or for preparing for a struggle for sovereignty. Dr. Thakar Singh of Ikkolaha, Baba Wasakha Singh, Baba Gurdit Singh, Bhai Randhir Singh, Bhai Piara Singh Langeri joined Shiromani Akali Dal. Dr. Thakar Singh was the General Secretary of the Akali Dal (192627) Baba Gurdit Singh was President (192627) Baba Wishaka Singh was Chairman of the Akali Parliamentary Board (1936).

Bhai Karam Singh Jhingar, Bhai Karam Singh Daulatpur and various others joined Babbar Akali Dal. To quote CID report, The Babbar Akali movement was 2 revival of the “Ghadar revolutionary movement of 1915. A large number of the Babbar Akalis were the returned emigrants and used 32 bore revolvers and Mauser pistols like the Ghadarites.”

After the Ghadar movement had failed a “Caidi Parivar Sahaik Committee” was formed to help the families of the galled Ghadarites.

This committee was formed on November 21, 1924. It emerged with another committee which had been formed by the Sikh league. The merger was completed on February 1, 1925. It was decided that the 21 members of the committee would have Ghadarites 13, Sikh Leagues 4, Cooption 4. The first meeting elected Baba Wisakha Singh as President, Harchand Singh Lyalipuri as General Secretary and Dr. Thakar Singh Ikkolaha as Joint Secretary. Thus the Ghadar movement was positively a movement of the Sikh emigrants and was aimed at the expulsion of the foreign element from the Sikh land i.e. Khalistan.

The continuance of this struggle can be seen in the Gurdwara reform movement 192025 and Khalistan Movement (1978 onwards).

Article extracted from this publication >>  September 1, 1989