It is amazing that one of the most glorious chapters in the history of freedom struggle of India, like the one described in this book, should have missed the highlight it deserves, for so long. As the authors of the book “War against King Emperor” say, “it is nothing less than a miracle that these semi-literate rustic Indians, mostly Sikhs, who had gone to Canada and America in the hope of earning, imbibed the fire and zeal of revolutionaries, and threw their lot with their very own Ghadr movement, and that too within a span of just three to four years.”
After annexation of the areas under the Sarkar-e-Khalsa in 1849, which completed the British occupation of the entire Indian sub-continent, this movement appears to be the only serious effort made to throw the British occupation forces out of India. It is often referred to as Ghadr of 1914 – 15, and compared with Ghadr of 1857. While both were revolts against the foreign rule, both lacked involvement of masses, and consequently both flopped. But the Ghadr of 1914-15 differed from the earlier in some vital respects. In the latter case, the revolt was led by some erstwhile monarchs fighting for their own lost territories, or other personal interests. Independence was to be only incidental, and was not intended to be shared by the common man. The declared aim was to install the deposed Mughal ruler, Bahadur Shah Zaffar, as the emperor of India, which was not a very attractive proposition for those who had not forgotten the bigotry and tyranny of the earlier Mughal emperors. The Indian armies did take part in the revolt. Their motivation, however, was largely religious, rather than national. The Ghadr of 1914-15, on the other hand, was a fight for the rule of common man not hegemony of any particular class or community. None of the participants had any personal ambitions. Nobody hankered after leadership, which is clear from the fact that at a crucial stage, they invited Rash Bihari Bose to lead the movement, although there were stalwarts like Bhai Sahib Randhir Singh, Kartar Singh Sarabha, Baba Nidhan Singh Chugha, Baba Wasakha Singh, Baba Rur Singh, actively engaged in planning and execution of the fight.
While British considered the 1857 uprising as no more than a ‘Sepoy Mutiny’, the revolt of 1914-15, was aptly termed as ‘War against King Emperor’, for its aim was not to settle some personal score, but to supplant His Majesty’s government with a truly national government of the Indian people. But it was a most unequal war. The revolutionaries had no army, no arms, no ammunition or other ways and means to conduct a war against a mighty regular army. It was only an incomparably small mass of people, a little over 6000 strong, in a foreign hostile environment who decided to wage this war, and sailed to India. Most of them were taken captives as soon as they disembarked. Only a few managed to escape. Undaunted, they organized a revolt which could force the British, already engaged in the World War, to quit India much earlier. The revolutionists had counted on the support of the leaders then spearheading the Indian independence movement. They also sought the co-operation of the Indian army, which was more responsive, and some key persons in the ranks had aligned themselves with their cause. Unfortunately, their plans leaked and all of them were hounded out, tried and hanged or sent to the Andaman for life imprisonment. Thus ended the most daring attempt ever made to free India from the British yoke.
Group photo og Ghadrites taken in 1936
“War against King Emperor”
by Prof. Malwinder Jit Singh & Prof. Harinder Singh
Bhai Sahib Randhir Singh Trust