Beacons of Light

Some forgotten chapters of the Indian Independence Movement

(This is the centenary year of the founding of the Hindustan Ghadar Party in USA in 1913. This chapter of our independence movement, together with few other allied movements, is almost completely forgotten in the subcontinent and finds little mention in history books. We are beginning an exciting new series to remember the Ghadar Party together with two other important movements of that time – the Berlin Committee and the Muslim Hijrat Movement. We invite readers to contribute and enrich this history.)

By Ahmed Kamran

The City Council of an obscure sleepy town in the north-east of US on the Pacific coast is busy with planning a unique centenary celebration in October of this year. One of the City Councilors, Karen Mellin, is particularly excited about it. The city is Astoria, situated near the mouth of Columbia River in the state of Oregon in the United States of America. It is served by the deep-water Port of Astoria.

What is the significance of this event for us? What connection it has with our today’s discussion on some forgotten chapters of the Indian Independence Movement?

‘It was 1913 when a group of Punjabi Sikh Indians in Astoria, working in Alderbrook and along the Columbia River, had an idea. Sparked by the history of the American Revolution, a group of inspired immigrants who were not treated equally at home or in America held a meeting at the Finnish Socialist Hall, where the Dunes Motel on Marine Drive now sits.

It was there that the group founded the Ghadar political party, eventually leading to the freedom of the Indians from British rule. And on the 100th anniversary of the party’s creation – a party that no longer exists – Astoria will be celebrated as the birthplace of “the shot heard around the world,” says, Chelsea Gorrow in The Daily Astorian, Mar 27, 2013¹.

India’s Independence Movement

India’s heroic struggle for its defense against European colonial expansion, in early stages, and for its liberation and independence against occupation, in its later stages, is long and tortuous. In the early phase, for the defense of India many heroic battles were fought, which included, among others:

1. The Battle of Plassey in Bengal by Sirajuddaulah (June 1757)
2. The Battle of Baxar, near Patna in today’s Behar (October 1764)
3. Four Mysore wars fought by Haider Ali and his son, Tipu Sultan between 1766 and 1799, the last was fought by Tipu Sultan at Srirangapatam (in today’s Karnataka) in May 1799,
4. Three Anglo-Maratha Wars fought between 1775 and 1818. The Capital City of Delhi was lost to English army under General Gerard Lake in the Second Maratha War in September 1803.

The struggle for independence and wars of liberation, in the second stage, starts with the Great War of Independence (Mutiny or Ghadar) during May-September 1857. Indian soldiers of the British Indian army rose in rebellion in Meerut in May 1857. After taking control of the military cantonment at Meerut, the rebel soldiers left for Delhi, igniting a series of rebellions and battles against British occupation. The control of Delhi was taken over by the rebel Indian army and tens of thousands of peasants joined the struggle. Soon the flames of rebellion had engulfed most of the major British army garrisons across northern India and some parts in the South. After initial setbacks, the British army, however, regrouped and, with reinforcements joining from the Punjab and the North West, launched a counter offensive. Pitched battles were fought in Delhi, Lucknow, Faizabad, Jhansi, Gwalior, Behar, Bengal, and scores of towns across India.

The war was eventually lost by the Indians in September 1857.

A reign of terror was unleashed. It’s a long story, spread over about ninety years till 1947, in which thousands of brave sons and daughters of united India laid their lives by hanging in public or being executed before the firing squads. Many thousands more ended up with life imprisonments, or exiles to remote islands, euphemistically known in India as Kala Pani.

The glorious struggle for the independence of India had many facets and streams, acting independently in various parts of India, and hardly coordinating with each other before these independence movements and revolutionary groups started converging in the 1^st quarter of 20^th century.

The formation of the Communist Party of India was one such convergence. Many of the prominent leaders and workers of the independence movement, coming from different backgrounds and experiences converged and joined hands giving the independence struggle a new organizational structure and a global dimension.

The role of the Communist Party of India in the Indian Independence Movement and its subsequent far reaching impact on the Indian society in general cannot be fully appreciated, unless it is seen in the backdrop of three very powerful, but largely forgotten, movements of their time. These movements grew quite independent of each other and played crucial role in the history of the freedom movement of the united India. Later, in a strange way, these movements converged, preparing the ground for the formation of the first Communist Party of India in 1920.

These movements are, undoubtedly, an integral part of the long and tortuous struggle for the independence of India. These are: the Ghadar Party (1913-1931), the Berlin Committee (1914-1918), and the Hijrat Movement (1915-1921) of the Indian Muslims.

Here we will try to remember these forgotten chapters of the history of the Indian Independence Movement in a series of posts.

Notes

1. http://www.dailyastorian.com/free/indian-revolutionaries-have-roots-in-astoria/article_a5dc3278-9707-11e2-8d4e-0019bb2963f4.html

To be continued…

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Tags: Centenary, Ghadar Party, History, Indian Independence Movement, Mutiny