Punjabis, particularly the brave from Sikh community have always been at the forefront in our Indias freedom struggle. Not only that they wanted to liberate the country from the foreign yokes politically, they had the vision to burn a fire in the consciousness of the people for working towards rewriting and balancing the equation of wealth by exposing and thwarting designs of imperialist forces. The sufferers were the poor peasantry and the labour class families. Arose on the horizon some people from Punjab and other parts of India who were among other South Asians emigrants that had entered North America, mostly from the rural regions of central Punjab between 1903 and 1913 approximately 10,000 in numbers to seek better jobs and standard of life. At that time the majority of people from Punjabs rural side had served in the British military also and such Punjabis were exposed to the world at large where there were British ruled colonies. Canada which though was independent since 1867, It was in 1931, through the Statute of Westminster, dominions of Canada that it got formal recognition of its independence and equal status with England. Canada fascinated Punjabis due to their love for land as there were vast tracks to be tilled and developed and they continue to migrate there till today. But, the natives discrimination in Canadian land forced many of them there and in India to look towards US soil as a destination for making a living. Canada already had decided to curtail this influx of emigrants 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 which were Christians who mistreated new entrants. Many migrants then came to work in the USA fields, factories, and logging camps of Northern California and the Pacific Northwest, where they were exposed to labour unions and the ideas of the radical Industrial Workers Of the World (IWW ). The migrants of the Pacific Northwest banded together in Sikh gurdwaras and formed political Hindustani Associations for mutual aid. Wealthy farmers from Punjab helped the people on the soil of America. The Ghadar Movement was initiated, which was an early 20th century, international political movement founded by such expatriate Indians to overthrow British rule in India as they felt their peoples woes back home . The early movement was created by revolutionaries who lived and worked on the West Coast of the United States and Canada, but the movement later spread to India and Indian diasporic communities around the world. The official founding has been dated to a meeting on 15 July 1913 in Astoria, Oregon( US) with the Ghadar headquarters and Hindustan Ghadar newspaper based in San Francisco, California.Following the outbreak of World War I in 1914, some Ghadar party members returned to Punjab to incite armed revolution for Indian Independence. Ghadarites smuggled arms into India and incited Indian troops in which were people from all the provinces of India including Sikh soldiers to mutiny against the British. This uprising, known as the Ghadar Mutiny, was unsuccessful, and 42 mutineers were executed following the Lahore Conspiracy Case trial. From 1914 to 1917 Ghadarites continued underground anti-colonial actions with the support of Germany and Ottoman Turkey, known as the Hindu–German Conspiracy, which led to a sensational trial in San Francisco in 1917 also. Kartar Singh Sarabha: He was born in Village Sarabha on 24 May 1896 into a Grewal Jat Sikhfamily in Sarabha, a village near Ludhiana in Punjab. His father was Mangal Singh Grewal and his mother was Sahib Kaur. He was very young when his father died and his grandfather brought him up. After receiving his initial education in his village, Singh entered the Malwa Khalsa high school in Ludhiana; he studied there until 8th standard. He sailed to San Francisco in July 1912 for higher education. He was supposed to get enrolled in University of Berkeley but the evidence that he did study there varies. A historical note by Baba Jwala Singh mentions that when he went to Astoria, Oregon in December 1912, he found Kartar Singh working in a mill factory. Some say that he studied in the Berkeley, but the college did not find any record of enrolment with his name.His association with Nalanda club of Indian students at Berkeley aroused his patriotic sentiments and he felt agitated about the treatment of immigrants from India, especially manual, worker received in the United States. Sohan Singh Bhakna, the founder of the Ghadar Party, inspired Kartar Singh to campaign against British colonial rule for the sake of an independent country. Sohan Singh Bhakna called Kartar Singh -Baba General-. He learnt from Americans how to shoot a gun, and how to make detonating devices. Kartar Singh also took lessons for flying aeroplanes. He frequently spoke with other Indians, many of whom supported colonial rule, on the need for India to become independent from British rule. Kartar Singh stopped his university work, moved in with Lala Hardyal and became his helpmate in running the revolutionary newspaper Ghadar (revolt). He undertook the responsibility for printing of the Gurmukhi edition of the paper. He composed patriotic poetry for it and wrote articles. With the start of World War I in 1914, British India became thoroughly engrossed in the Allied war effort. Thinking it to be a good opportunity, the leaders of the Ghadar Party published the -Decision of Declaration of War- against the British in an issue of The Ghadar dated 5 August 1914. Thousands of copies of the paper were distributed among army cantonments, villages and cities. Kartar Singh reached Calcutta via Colombo on board SS Salamin in October 1914: he accompanied two other Ghadar leaders, Satyen Sen and Vishnu Ganesh Pingle, along with a large number of Gadhar freedom fighters. With a letter of introduction from Jatin Mukherjee, the Jugantar leader, Singh and Pingle met Rash Behari Bose at Banaras to inform him that 20,000 more Ghadar members were expected very soon. A large number of leaders of the Ghadar Party were arrested by the government at the ports. In spite of these arrests, a meeting was held by members of the Ghadar Party at Ladhowal near Ludhiana in which it was decided to commit robberies in the houses of the rich in meeting the requirements of finance for armed action. Two Ghadris, Waryam Singh and Bhai Ram Rakha, were killed in a bomb blast in one such raid. Kirpal Singh, a police informer in the ranks of the Ghadar Party, had a large number of members arrested on 19 February and informed the government of the planned revolt. The government disarmed the native soldiers and the revolt failed.After the failure of the revolution, the members who had escaped arrest decided to leave India. Kartar, Harnam Singh Tundilat, Jagat Singh, and others were asked to go to Afghanistan and made a move towards that area. On 2 March 1915, he came back with two friends and went over to Chak No. 5 in Sargodha where there was a military stud and started propagating rebellion amongst the army men. Risaldar Ganda Singh had Kartar, Harnam Singh Tundilat, and Jagat Singh arrested from Chak No. 5, Lyallpur district. All of these accused in the Conspiracy Case, for Indias freedom who had worked long years and suffered privations and sacrificed everything that man runs after, were executed in the Lahore Central Jail. In the Court room, as also standing before the gallows the condemned men refused to accept their endeavour to be termed a conspiracy. They contended that it was an open challenge to the foreigners who charged the patriots. Kartar Singh averred that every slave had a right to revolt and it could never be a crime to rise in defence of the primary rights of the sons of the very soil. Vishnu Ganesh Pingle: He belonged to Telegaon Dhamdhera, in District Poona, went to Canada to study but after having been denied admission there, he applied and was admitted to a college in Seattle, USA. He came back to India on 20 November 1914 .There he came in contact with Lala Hardayal and was friends with the great revolutionary Kartar Singh Sarabha . Seeing a golden opportunity to liberate the country by creating a mutiny in the country, Vishnu Ganesh returned to India with other comrades and started preparing to bring revolution in the forces of British India. He met Sri Rash Behari Bose in Calcutta. He came to Punjab with Sachindranath Sayal . At that time, complete arrangements were made for military revolution in Punjab, Bengal and Uttar Pradesh, but due to the betrayal of a traitor, the entire plan failed. Vishnu Pingle got arrested by a person named Nadir Khan. At the time of his arrest, he had ten bombs. He was tried and hanged in the Central Jail, Lahore along with compatriots . Shaheed Jagat Singh Sur Singh Jagat Singh Sur Singh hailed from Sur Singh village of district Taran Tarn (erstwhile Amritsar). He was born in 1883 in the home of Aroor Singh Dhillon and Gulab Kaur. At the age of twenty, he joined the 35 British Cavalry. After resigning, he migrated to Shanghai and then further to Vancouver. At Westminster city, he worked in a lumber mill. Here, with the help of community members, he established a Gurdwara. He was one of the seven members of the Gurdwara Committee to look after its day-to-day affairs. Canadas democratic environment but the hypocritic character of the government caused much resentment in his mind.Newly acquired political consciousness in Canada pushed him towards the Ghadar Party which was established in America by Sohan Singh Bhakna. Jagat Singh became an active member of the organization. With the outbreak of World War I, Ghadar Party asked its cadre to reach India to foment a revolution. Before boarding to India, Jagat Singh, on 17 August 1914, killed Harnam Singh, who was working as an agent for British intelligence officer William Hopkinson.On 1 September 1914, he reached India. Here, he joined Kartar Singh Sarabha and other party members. Along with his two comrades, he visited Ferozepur railway station to collect a packet of weapons. But here, policemen were patrolling with the station master. Ghadarites, in suspicion, killed the station master and fled. Later, he took part in nationalistic dacoities at Sahnewal in Ludhiana and Chabba in Amritsar. He distributed Ghadar literature in villages and appealed to the people to rise against British rule. In a meeting, he offered to mortgage his land to raise money for the publication of a paper in Punjab. Ghadarites decided to attack Mian Meers cantonment on 26 November 1914. For the execution of this plan, Jagat Singh along with some other revolutionaries reached there but this plan was shelved due to certain reservations of the army personnel. When Michael ODwyer got the whiff of the 21 February 1915 rebellion by the Ghadarites, he disarmed the soldiers of all cantonments. Many Ghadar Party members were rounded off. Jagat Singh, along with Kartar Singh Sarabha and Harnam Singh Tundilat went towards Afghanistan. But the trio resolved not to flee and to lay down their lives for the liberation of their country. They reached Chak no. 5 of Sargodha district to meet Jagat Singhs old friend to procure rifles. Here, Rasaldar Ganda Singh informed the police. Jagat Singh, along with Kartar Sigh Sarabha and Harnam Singh Tundilat were arrested and tried in the First Lahore Conspiracy Case. He was hanged along with the other six ghadarites on 16 November 1915 in Lahore Central Jail. Shaheed Harnam Singh Sialkoti Harnam Singh: Resident of Bhatti Goraya, Sialkot (now in Pakistan); s/o Arura,aged 24 years; took an active part in the revolutionary work in the Punjab in the winter of 1914-15; in touch with the headquarters at Amritsar; took part in the abortive attack on Ferozepore Cantonment in February 1915 with Arjan Singh of Khokran and Banta Singh in the Anarkali murder; took part in the abortive attacks on the Doraha bridge guard raid; convicted under Section 121, 121A, 122, 395, 396,397 and 398 of IPC; sentenced to death, forfeiture of his property to Government and hanged on 16 November 1915. Shaheed Bakshish Singh Gilwali Bakshish Singh belonged to Gillwali village of Amritsar district. His fathers name was Santa Singh. A peasant activist, Bakshish Singh was attracted to the Ghadar Partys ambitious program to overthrow British rule and became one of its most active members. The Ghadar Party was founded in Oregon in 1913 by Sohan Singh Bhakna, Kanshi Ram, Harnam Singh Tundilat, Lala Har Dayal, and others. It was an Indian organization that sought to overthrow British rule in India through an armed uprising. The organizations headquarters were in San Francisco. In India, Bakshish Singh attended numerous Ghadarite meetings. On behalf of the party, he also contacted troops in army cantonments. Ghadarites established contact with Bengal revolutionaries and invited Ras Bihari Bose to lead this movement in Punjab. When Bose arrived, the planning for an uprising began. The date was set for 21 February 1915, but it was later pushed back to 19 February. Kirpal Singh, a returnee from abroad, was working as a police spy, and thus the entire plan was revealed to British authorities. The British clamped down on the activists and arrested them before the Ghadarites could stage an uprising. Bakshish Singh was arrested and sent to Lahore Central Jail, where they were charged in the First Lahore Conspiracy Case. The trial began on April 26, 1915, under the Defence of India Act 1914, and the verdict was delivered on September 13, 1915. He was charged under sections 121, 121A, 122, 396, and 302/109 of the IPC. He was awarded the death sentence and was executed in the Lahore Central Jail on November 16, 1915 with other compatriots. Shaheed Surain Singh (Senior) Surain Singh was born in the Amritsar district of Gillwali in the house of Bur Singh. Surain Singh, a peasant activist, was drawn to the Ghadar Partys ambitious plan to overthrow British rule and became one of its most active members. In 1913, the Ghadar Party was founded in Oregon. Sohan Singh Bhakna, Pt. Kanshi Ram, Harnam Singh Tundilat, Lala Har Dayal and others founded this revolutionary party. The Ghadar Party attempted to overthrow British rule in India through an armed uprising. The headquarters of the organization were in San Francisco. Surain Singh attended several Ghadarite gatherings. He also contacted troops in Ferozepur, Lahore, Rawalpindi, and other cantonments on behalf of the party. The Ghadar Party set the date for the uprising as 21 February 1915, but it was later pushed back to 19 February. Kirpal Singh, a British returnee, was working as a police spy, and thus the entire plot was revealed to British authorities. Before the Ghadarites could stage an uprising the British arrested Ghadar activists. Surain Singh was arrested as well and taken to the Lahore Central Jail, where they were charged in the First Lahore Conspiracy Case. Under the Defence of India Act 1914, the trial began on April 26, 1915, and the verdict was delivered on September 13, 1915. He was charged under IPC ( Indian penal code) sections 121, 121A, and 396. Surain Singh, Kartar Singh Sarabha, and five other ghadarites were executed on November 16, 1915, in the Lahore Central Jail. Surain Singh (Junior) Amritsar, Punjab Surain Singh was born in Gillwali village of Amritsar district. He was a peasant activist and was drawn to the Ghadar Partys ambitious plan to overthrow British rule and became one of its most active members. Sohan Singh Bhakna, Kanshi Ram, Harnam Singh Tundilat, Lala Har Dayal, and others founded the Ghadar Party. The Party aimed to overthrow British rule in India through an armed uprising. The headquarters of the organization were in San Francisco. Surain Singh attended numerous ghadarite meetings in India. He also contacted troops in army cantonments on behalf of the party. Ghadarites made contact with Bengal revolutionaries and invited Ras Bihari Bose to lead the Punjab movement. The planning for an uprising began when Bose arrived. The date was originally set for 21 February 1915, but it was later moved to 19 February. Kirpal Singh, a British returnee, was working as a police spy, and thus the entire plot was revealed to British authorities. Before the Ghadarites could stage an uprising, the British clamped down on the activists and arrested them. Surain Singh was apprehended and taken to Lahore Central Jail, where they were charged in connection with the First Lahore Conspiracy Case. Under the Defence of India Act 1914, the trial began on April 26, 1915, and the verdict was delivered on September 13, 1915. He was charged under IPC sections 121, 121A, and 396. Surain Singh, Kartar Singh Sarabha, and five other ghadarites were executed on November 16, 1915, in the Lahore Central Jail. Note: The information above has been taken from Wiki and other sources.
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