Write short note on Ghadar Movement.

The Ghadar movement was started by Punjabi immigrants who had settled on the West Coast of North America. They were heavily indebted farmers of Punjab especially Jalandhar and Hoshiarpur, many of whom had served under the British Indian Army. Racial discrimination, restrictive immigrant laws, hostile attitude toward Indian made them understand that they must organised themselves in order to resist brutal laws and blatant racial discrimination being imposed on them.

These revolutionaries began their activities in 1907 when Ramnath Puri in order to support swadeshi movement brought out a circular-e-Azad, Free Hindustan started by Tarak Nath Das and Gurmukhi paper Swadesh Sewak by G.D. Kumar was brought out in order to support social reform and to provoke Indian troops to rise in revolt. Then in-1913, Bhagwan Singh in Canada openly preached the violent overthrow of British rule, as result he was extended from Canada after three months.

The need of a central organisation and a leader was felt among the Indian Community in North America, in order to arouse national consciousness and consistent political agitation against _the British rule. Lala Har Dayal, a political leader exile from India to U.S. in 1911 was not interested in the affair of Indian immigrants.

But the News of bombs attack on the Viceroy in Delhi in December 1912 changed his attitude and convinced him to assumed the leadership of the immigrants Indian community in May 1913. And the central organisation was set-up with the setting up of the Hindi Association in Portland later named as “Hindustan Ghadar Party”. Baba Sohan Singh, Pandit Kanshi Ram Mardi, Bhai Parmanand and Harman Singh were its other important members. Yugantar Ashram was its headquarter which is situated in San Francisco and started a weekly paper ‘the Ghadar’.

Lala Hardayal believed that only armed revolt could overthrown the British rule, and for this purpose Indian Immigrants should go to India and convey this message to masses and soldiers of the Indian army. They believed that Indians would not get equal status in abroad until and unless they gained freedom of their own country. On the basis of this ideology they launched propaganda campaign every where where Indian immigrants worked,

The Hindi association (later Hindustan Gadar Party) launched the paper “Ghadar” on November 1, 1913. The name of the paper i.e., Ghadar meant revolt. Angrizi Raj Ka Dushman or An enemy of British rule, was the caption which inscribed on its masthead. Inside pages carried the ‘Angrezi Raj ka kacha chittha or An expose of British rule which consist of exploitative policies of Britisher which were highly criticized by Indian nationalist.

Such as drain of wealth, high land revenue, low per capital income, re occurrence of famines, high expenditure on army, low expenditure on health, divide and rule policy etc. And it also highlighted the difference in number i.e. small number of Englishmen present in India in caparison to the crores of Indians, in order to provoke Indians for mass revolt..

It was the free circulation-paper, circulated among the Indian immigrants in North America but soon it reached the immigrants in Hong Kong, China, Malay states, Philippines, Singapore etc. It was sent to India as well as Indian regiments on different countries. It had tremendous affects, the issue raised by Ghadar party became the topic of discussion among the Indian immigrants. The collection of poem Ghadar Ki Gunj were received and sung at gathering of Indians. Lala HarDayal himself surprised with the success of this paper.