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Garma
Garam More |
A Saga of Sacrifice & Struggle |
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Background on this upcoming film starring Raj Babbar: 1857 was the year of
Ghadar, the first war of
independence. 1915 was the year of GHADAR KI
GOONJ.
It is the story of monumental human courage of ordinary
people against might of an empire upon which the sun never set. It highlights
the discrimination and exploitation that our forefathers had to bear.
It is the story relevant in all ages because it shall
inspire the people to fight against injustice and oppression. Most importantly
it fills us with a sense of pride and patriotism for our country and her people.
In different parts of the country, the popular
discontent against British rule manifested itself in armed revolts even after
the great uprising of 1857 had been crushed. These continued throughout the
remaining years of the 19th century. Peasant, tribal people, certain religious
sects and, in some cases, sections of old ruling families were up in arms.
But since failure of the first war of independence, the
British had become more and more cruel and exploitative. Kuka Guru Baba Ram
Singh was the first to lead an uprising but he was arrested and externed and
scores of his followers blown of by cannons. But he had made a beginning and
soon Punjabi Hindus too came under the banner of Arya Samaj and an anti-British
sentiment simmered in the people of Punjab. Land Alienation Act 1900, Canal
Colonization Bill and excessive taxation were driving the peasantry to poverty
and starvation they were forced to revolt under the leadership of Sardar Ajit
Singh, Syed Haider Raza and Lala Lajpat Rai. Again the rebellion was crushed
brutally and Ajit Singh and lalaji were sent to Mandlay Jail in Burma.
Thousands of Indians, mostly from Punjab, were settled
in Canada and USA. Initially organized the fight against racial discrimination,
they became the largest group of fighters for India's freedom, under the
influence of revolutionaries. There, the pioneer of Indian revolutionaries was
Tarak Nath Das in Canada. By 1913, the Ghadar party, named after the journal
Ghadar (Rebellion) published in America in many Indian languages. The leading
figure in the revolutionary movement in America was Lala Hardayal. Other
important leaders included Sohan Singh Bhakna, Barkatulla and Darisi Chenchaiah.
When the great War broke out, thousands of Ghadarites entered India, and along
with sections of the Indian army, began preparations for an uprising.
Anti-British feelings were running high, particularly in Punjab, as a result of
the shooting down and arrest of many Punjabi emigrants who, after being refused
entry into Canada, had returned to India aboard the ship Komagatamaru.
Rashbehari Bose and Sachin Sanyal, who were in contact with the Ghadarites and
Indian soldiers, were coordinating simultaneous uprisings on 21 February 1915 in
different parts of north India. However, the uprising failed to come off due to
treachery, and the Ghadarites were crushed by the British. Many of them were
hanged, included to 19-year old Kartar Singh Sarabha. Many more were sentenced
to transportation for life and long imprisonment. Sohan Singh Bhakna was
arrested on his arrival in India in October 1914. Chenchaiah was arrested in
Bangkok on his way to India and detained. Rashbehari Bose managed to escape to
Japan. Inspired by the Ghadarites, Indian soldiers, led by Chisti Khan and
others, mutinied in Singapore, but were brutally suppressed. Only the ghadarites
among them had some kind of a mass base in India. Their passion for freedom
brought them together, irrespective of their religious, regional and any other
loyalties. Their contacts with the progressive, socialist and revolutionary
movements of other countries broadened their outlook. The torch of India's Freedom
movement had already crossed the seas and revolutionary paper GHADAR, GHADAR DI
GOONJ, TALWAR and INDIAN SOCIOLOGIST were being printed and circulated. Some
were smuggled into India and reproduced. Ghadar Party had been formed in San
Francisco and was actively working towards obtaining arms and recruiting members
to overthrow the British Government and liberate India. Some of these active
Ghadarites were also abroad the illfated KOMAGATAMARU. In the summer of 1914 Sardar Gurdit Singh and a group of
372 people sailed aboard a Japanese ship KOMAGATAMARU for thepromised land, the
land of great opportunities and abundance. they had hope and dreams in their
eyes because they thought that now ultimately they shall be able to yank off the
yoke of tyranny under which they and their brethren had been forced to live.
Almost all of them were Punjabis, a people known for their valor and hard work.
But the hostilities of the great Pacific Ocean ere a
naught compared to what awaited them at their destination: Vancouver, British
Columbia, Canada. The authorities refused the ship to dock or disembark the
passengers. The Punjabis argued that as citizens of British Empire they had
every right to live in Canada, which was also British territory. But under the
provision of a draconian law, which smelt every bit of racialism and apartheid,
the passengers were denied entry. An empasse ensued for two months during which
the ship ran out of food and medical supplies, drinking and sanitation water but
the Canadian government did not budge. For two months the sons of Punjab fought
against despair, depravation and disease hoping that one day dawn of their
dreams shall come but what appeared on the horizon the Horizon were Canadian gun
boats ready to blast the fateful KOMAGATAMARU from the face of the earth. All
along the Ghadarites had argued and reasoned with the authorities and kept up
the morale of the people destined to be persecuted and yet they were humans.
They saw no reason in burying four hundred lives in a watery grave and decided
to retreat to fight the might of the British empire another day at another
place. An embittered lot returned to Calcutta and was to return
to Punjab by a special train but the devil had not finished with them. On 29th
of September, 1914, at Budge Budge near Calcutta police fired at them, an
allegedly unruly mob. According to British's own erstwhile Sedition Committee
Report, 19 Sikhs were killed, many were arrested and 29, including Gurdit Singh,
disappeared. It was heard that Ghadar Party had been able to load arms abroad
the ship on her return journey. The unsuccessful emigrants did ignite a new fire for
people when they returned to their homes. An influx of Indians living abroad was
on. So was a master plan to overthrow the colonial government. Bombs were
prepared, arms were collected and instruments were made ready for destroying
Railways and Telegraph wires. But the British got a scent of it. One Kirpal
SIngh squeeled, and the whole operation was blown off. The government cracked down upon the
activists. Special Tribunals under the Defense of India Act tried nine batches
of them. 26 Ghadarites were hanged and many more were sentenced to imprisonment
and transportation.
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