LITMIR.BIZ

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between the plight of indigenous Canadians and his own Punjabi people, who nevertheless from one sentence to the next seem to have grown less landlocked: “This pride in the Feringhis will uproot us and throw us into salt sea water, and no trace of the name Bharat will be left ”; then, “Sikhs, Hindus and Muhammadans all will be treated alike. Brother, the means of salvation is this. Educate all your children, boys and girls. Hindus, Muhammadans and Sikhs must cultivate love among themselves and then the work will gradually be accomplished. Read to all what I have written and also the paper I am sending. The paper may be read by anybody, but do not give the letter to anyone. Burn it after you have gone through it yourself and read it to others. The paper may be read by anyone; there is nothing to fear on that account as the paper is printed in America and the English cannot stop it.” ⁶⁰

      Another letter, this time sans newspaper, was written from a Sikh in California to a soldier in the Eighty-second Punjabis at Nowshera: “At first there were about ten thousand of our countrymen here but now only about six thousand remain. The English no longer require us and have stopped our migration here. These badmashes have plundered us and we shall not escape disgrace unless we get out of their hands…. All Indians living in America and Canada are prepared to kill and die. No one wishes to see these evil Englishmen…. It is written that it is far better for the community which loses its sacred places to die…. The only remedy against these tyrants is that the troops should mutiny.” The writer then repeats some of the facts contained in Balance Sheet of British Rule concerning economic drain and plague. As with the first letter, the writer’s concern for the control of Sikh sacred places by foreigners points the way toward the Akali Dal.

      The writer concludes: “All these facts which I have written have been copied from a paper called Ghadr, which is printed in America. I intended to send you the paper in original, but as its entry into India is prohibited I have written these few things in this letter…. You should write to me what is going on in India at the present time…. Do not let the white men know what I have written. Remember, lest you get into trouble; but understand and inform your friends.” ⁶¹

      It is easy to forget in the homosocial environment of work, study, and political organizing abroad, that some of these men still had wives and children in India—the restriction on whose immigration to North America had been a sharp goad to early discontent. Among the intercepted messages was one from a husband to a valiant wife: “Times are hard, very hard; there is no certainty of life. Here I hope the war with Englishmen is beginning and that in a short time there will be a great mutiny. The tyrants are ruling over us. We are justified in killing. We shall see the sword and gun in our hands and pressing forward we shall kill and die…. We shall meet if we survive. Is there any disturbance about the Government in India? Write about this. Receive Fateh like a brave woman. Pain comes first, but is followed by comfort. Do not despair, for the days of your comfort are drawing near.” ⁶²

       The Action Committee

      Next to the propaganda corps helmed by Har Dayal, the second-most important committee among the Yugantar Ashram inner circle was focused on militant action and directed by Pandurang Khankhoje, in collaboration with Vishnu Ganesh Pingle and Harnam Singh Tundilat.⁶³ While Har Dayal’s pracharak (propaganda) project depended by definition on broadcasting its message as loud and far as possible, the praharak (action) branch depended upon secrecy. Khankhoje was adamant on this point, wary of the danger of infiltration from British intelligence, and not without good reason, as it happened. So although he recalled in his memoir that there was no lack of “young freedom lovers” willing to “fight and die for the revolution,” he still maintained strict screening procedures. Even once enrolled, the workers oft en did not know what was going on beyond their own tasks. (Sadly, it would seem that as the mutiny preparations got under way, not everyone was up to Khankhoje’s disciplined security standards.)

      The action committee derived a great deal of tactical inspiration not only from the previous Indian extremists but from Sun Yat-sen’s republican nationalists, who had recently effected a successful Chinese revolution from abroad in 1911, just as the Indians wanted to do. This had even included an “assault force” of Chinese militants launched from San Francisco.⁶⁴ Har Dayal had already been in communication with Sun when he was in Hawaii, and Sun’s son, as it happened, was a contemporary of Chenchiah’s at the University of California. Chenchiah met with his classmate’s illustrious parent in Tokyo in 1912; Dr. Sun encouraged the Ghadarites’ enterprise of overthrowing British rule and offered them the benefits of his party’s experience. Though the leader of the San Francisco expedition, renegade American Homer Lea, had recently died, Emily Brown speculates that some of his veterans or confederates may have been available in San Francisco to speak with Khankhoje and his Ghadar action squad.⁶⁵ Khankhoje had been in the habit of visiting Chinatown during his period at Tamalpais, with a Chinese classmate who was one of Sun’s veterans. There, says Savitri Sawhney, “he had many discussions with the Chinese about India’s independence and his own aspirations…. The idea that Chinese and Indians could join in their quest for freedom and help each other fulfill their mutual goals was never far from his mind. He had developed a tremendous rapport with the Chinese whom he admired for their tenacity and grit. Some years later, after the inception of the Ghadar, this was to translate into a more meaningful exchange of ideas.” Sawhney comments further: “It was only natural that the cadets in the academy—particularly the Chinese, the Mexicans and the Irish—with insurrection on their minds would meet and discuss problems common to their countries.” Khankhoje also drew inspiration from the Mexican revolutionaries, who were never far from his awareness; he had friends among the Zapatista patriots who joined the Yaqui rebellion in southern California, and hoped they might help train the (Asian) Indians in “practical warfare.” ⁶⁶

      The plan the Chinese recommended was to start by cutting communications and telegraph lines, disrupting railways, and then destroying police outposts and military camps. When all of that was under way, they should proceed to establish revolutionary bases in the jungles, hills, valleys, and border regions, from which to harass British administrative and military functioning. They should get weapons and ammunition by raiding armories and military encampments; they couldn’t buy them. This, recalled Khankhoje, was exactly how they began to mobilize. (It seems the basic blueprint of guerrilla insurrection has remained unchanged for a hundred years!)⁶⁷ But once in motion, events quickly got away from such a neat, efficient plan.

      Har Dayal’s arrest came only a few months after the launch of the paper, on 25 March 1914. He fled the country not long afterward. Although he continued sending incendiary articles back for publication—notably, “Do Cheezon ke zarurat hai … Ghadar aur banduqen” (Two Things Are Necessary: Ghadar and Guns) and “O Soldiers of the Ghadr! O Stars of the Eyes of India!” (which appeared 14 July 1914)—and played a role in the Berlin India Committee’s work in Europe and the Ottoman realm, this was the end of his functional involvement in the North American organization. Yet belying the notion that the movement’s radicalism went no deeper than Har Dayal’s idiosyncrasies, Isemonger and Slattery took note that far from dampening the Yugantar Ashram’s work, his departure actually seemed to give “fresh incentive to the revolutionary movement.” ⁶⁸ The “Big Three” triumvirate of Ram Chandra, Bhagwan Singh, and Mohammed Barakatullah stepped into the momentary leadership gap, taking on the duties of the endless round of motivational tours, editing the paper, and handling finances and ashram affairs. One matter that shortly required their urgent attention was the Komagata Maru.

      The Komagata Maru Incident

      The Komagata Maru incident is one of the most amply documented episodes in the history of South Asian immigration to North America.⁶⁹ The facts in brief are these: in May 1908 the government of India had discreetly authorized the Canadian government to take the necessary steps to defend the whiteness of its shores without being too obvious in “express discrimination against British Indians.”⁷⁰ The governor-general announced the continuous journey stipulation (that only those who had sailed directly from their port of departure would be allowed to enter, which disqualified every voyage originating in India) and a prohibitive entry fee of $200 a head. British authorities (including then viceroy Lord Minto) expressed their appreciation for the subtle

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