GHADAR PARTY, NEEDED AGAIN : By Faheem Aamer

The young men known as “Ghadri Babay” were extraordinary individuals. Despite facing exile to Andaman Jail and the threat of hanging for treason, these young men ignited the flames of the freedom movement from North America to various cities in India, including Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur, Ferozepur, Lahore, Peshawar, and even extending to Lyallpur and Sargodha’s Check Number Four. This movement was connected to Bhagat Singh’s involvement with Chauk Bhagat Singh in Lahore, where he declared, “Pakistan is divided into two mentalities.”
Among these young men were peasants, laborers, those who had left their homeland, and highly educated individuals who had graduated from prestigious universities like Columbia and Oxford. They represented not only Sikhs and Punjabis but also included Muslims like Barkatullah and Kareem Bakhsh, as well as Bengali Hindus like Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, Kanshi Ram, and the founder of the “Ghadar Party” in America, Lala Hardayal, and Taraknath Das. Additionally, there were numerous Sikh youth’s such as Visakha Singh, Sohan Singh Bhakna, Kartar Singh Sarabha, and Bhagat Singh.
These individuals were active in gurdwaras, railway unions from Peshawar to Calcutta, Indian Railways, orchards in Punjab, fields in California, and even in Vancouver, Canada.
Even today, in San Francisco, California, there stands a place known as the Ghadar Party Hall, serving as a poignant reminder of the young men who initiated a newspaper called “Ghadar” in Urdu and Gurmukhi languages, leading to the establishment of the Ghadar Party.
The Ghadar Party was founded in America on November 1, 1913, and its centennial celebrations are being observed by Ghadri supporters worldwide.
It is a remarkable tale that in the early 20th century, without the internet or modern communication methods, the Ghadar newspaper reached various cities in India from San Francisco, including Jalandhar, Ludhiana, Lahore, Hoshiarpur, Amritsar, Ferozepur, and even up to Lyallpur and Sargodha’s Chak Number 4, as well as locations in Sindh and other regions. Historians have found evidence of its clandestine distribution even in
military barracks in Sargodha.
In San Francisco, the Ghadar Party’s significant documents bore the slogan “Enemy of British Rule” and published a seven-day newspaper named “Ghadar” in Urdu and Gurmukhi languages. It featured advertisements recruiting courageous soldiers with terms like Salary: Death, Price: Martyrdom, Pension: Freedom, and Battlefield: India.
While the Ghadar Party aimed to overthrow British rule in India through force, their ultimate objective was to secure independence for India from oppressive rulers.
The Ghadar Party was established by patriotic Indians in America, including Punjabis and Bengalis who were nationalists. The party was characterized by its non-sectarian and secular nature. As the prominent Eastern Punjabi farmer leader Sohan Singh Bhakna stated, “Ghadris were not defined by their religion or ethnicity; their only allegiance was to patriotism.”
In a documentary film about the Ghadris, Bhagat Singh Bilga mentioned that Punjabi Ghadris had a deep affection for the Punjabi language and advocated for every Punjabi to learn to read and write.
It is remarkable that the Ghadar Party was founded in America not only to benefit from the freedoms of the world’s oldest democracy but also to spread the message of their freedom struggle among Indians across various regions, with India being the focal point of their efforts. The youth of the Ghadar Party spent the first decade of the 20th century in India, influencing a wide range of individuals, although their primary base was in North America.
Even today, the grave of Kareem Bakhsh, who initiated the Ghadar Party in California, remains in California.
Punjabi poet Onkar Singh Dhami in New York remarked, “The mission initiated by the Ghadris Babay is still ongoing.”
The interviewer noted that instead of utilizing the youth of Ludhiana and Jalandhar for the freedom movement, the colonels from Jalandhar seized power and failed to honor the legacy of the Ghadri Babay in Lahore, which is a dishonorable reflection on the nation of Pakistan.
However, the legacy of the Ghadri Babay continues to inspire freedom movements today from the UNO’s monitory exploitation.