90th Gadar Memorial Anniversary
San Francisco, CA: Nine-year-old Charan Singh Langford would be mistaken for any blonde American kid anywhere in America. But Charan, of Oklahoma City is special - he carries with him a lineage of history, which every person of Indian origin owes a deep debt of gratitude. You see, he is named after his great grandfather Charan Singh Sandhu of the Hindustan Gadar Party, founded in San Francisco by Lala Hardayal, Sohan Bhakna, Kartar Singh Sarabha, Pandit Kanshi Ram and others of the San Francisco Bay Area. “Gadar” or “Gadr”- meaning ‘Revolution” was the name of the first Non resident Independence movement of India. Started in 1913, in San Francisco Bay Area, the movement had deep impact on India’s independence from the British in 1947.
The historic Gadar memorial Hall or Gadar Ashram still exists at 5 Wood Street in San Francisco. This was the final place of operation for the Gadri Babas to meet, operate and launch the fiery weekly paper called “Gadar” to propagate the cause of Indian independence.
It is a shame that the modern history books in India barely mention these heroic people, many of who were deported, hanged or imprisoned by the British. It is yet a matter of great shame, that a major portion of the history books in India is devoted to biographies of oppressive British rulers. On hearing about the 90th Gadar memorial celebrations in Santa Clara, Arvind Vasudev, a young engineer-commented, “I had never heard about Gadar Party but I will check more details on the Internet. More young people should appreciate the sacrifices of many people so that we can now live in freedom.”
The 90th anniversary of the Gadar movement was celebrated at the Santa Clara Marriot Hotel on May 31-June 1, 2003. National Federation of Indian American Associations (NFIA), Global Organization of People of Indian Origin (GOPIO), the Global Punjabi Diaspora and the local FIA, along with support from the Indian Consulate San Francisco, organized the event. While the efforts are laudable, it is still disheartening to see that the many Indian organizations have not made significant contributions to the Gadar movement and its propagation over the years. Furthermore the tenor of the two-day event was marred by having a Cocktail hour and a banquet dinner.
The seminar presentation on Sunday June 1, attended by about 50 people was the highlight of the event. It included many dignified speakers, and a detailed display of the various martyrs of the Gadar movement by long time volunteers Dr. Maharaj Kaul and Sham Murti of the Gadar Memorial Foundation. The speakers included Gadarite Dr. Sulakhan Singh, Prof. Dr. Jane Singh, University California-Berkley, Prof. Ted Sibia, Chief Librarian, UC-Davis, Prof. Ved Vatuk and others.
Other speakers at the event were Mr. Bhisma Agnihotri, Ambassador-at-large, and Mr. Ujjal Dosanjh, Former Premier, British Columbia, Canada etc. Agnihotri outlined the achievements of present day Indian Americans while mentioning Gadarites and the history of oppression in Punjab.
Prof. Ted Sibia - a great repository of documents and photographs, presented his website with valuable information on the Gadar movement and its history. Tibia also spoke of the extensive documentation available of the second-class treatment accorded to the Indian community in America. He reminded all of the years when Indians were denied citizenship and treated ‘no better than slaves’. He also spoke of the incident of infamous ship Komagatu Maru in which 376 Indian refugees were denied entry into several ports and had to endure a hellish ordeal. Tibia also spoke about the 1967 Anti-Hindu riots in Bellingham, which resulted from an anti-immigrant attitude due to prevailing racism and poor economic conditions, which reminded the audience of current times. Ms. Rani Johnson of Rhode Island, a descendant of a Gadar Baba, spoke about her new found Indian relatives - as a result of exploring her Indian roots.
Coming all the way from Oklahoma City, Jassa Singh Sandhu, a third generation Gadarite with his grand mother Anne Sandhu of Berkeley reminisced about other Gadri Babas. They also remembered fondly the octogenarian poet and a luminary Mrs. Kartar Singh Dhillon- a resident of the Bay Area, but who could not make it to the event. In attendance were Dr. Meiji Singh - a member of Gadar party in Berkeley since 1963, and Dr Harmesh Kumar- a member of the Steering board of Gadar Foundation for the past decade.
The picture display of a line up of all the Gadar Martyrs - hanged by the British on being deported by USA as well as several who were banished for life called “Kaala Paani” or Black water often in the Andaman Islands - was very moving. This painstaking display was put together by Gadar Memorial Foundation.
Commenting on the fact that Gadar movement had not got its due recognition even by the Indian government Dr. Kaul, who came to Berkeley as a student in 1965, quoted prof. Ved Vatuk as "Shahido Ko Kya Pata Tha ki Kaatilon Ka Raaj Hoga - Little did the Martyrs know that the Murderers will be ruling Now.
For more information visit Gadar memorial Hall, 5 Wood Street, San Francisco.
www.Gadar.homestead.com and
www.lib.ucdavis.edu/punjab/index.html/
www.lib.berkeley.edu/SEAL/echoes/echoes.html
Sam Rao