11) REMEMBERING AN UNSUNG DALIT HERO
By Gurpreet Singh
As secularist and progressive groups celebrate the Ghadar Party centenary this year, those organizing the events need to highlight the role played by many unsung heroes of the freedom struggle. Among them was Mangu Ram Muggowal, a prominent Dalit icon of Punjab. He was a part of the Ghadar party launched in the U.S. on Nov. 1, 1913 and believed in an armed struggle against the British occupation of India.
The contributions by individual participants of historical struggles are sometimes overshadowed by the role played by a few dominant leaders. But the followers of Muggowal believe that his role in the Ghadar movement may have been deliberately ignored because of caste prejudice. While this allegation is debatable, Muggowal's role should be acknowledged by events to mark 100 years of the Ghadar Party in Vancouver and elsewhere. Incidentally, his descendants live in Greater Vancouver area.
Born in Punjab in 1886, Muggowal immigrated to the U.S. for economic reasons. He became involved in the freedom struggle following a realization of racism and discrimination in the foreign land.
The members of the Ghadar Party believed that their sufferings were the result of slavery back home and resolved to fight against imperialism. A person like Muggowal endured double discrimination for being a person of colour and a Dalit. Born in a so-called low-caste "untouchable" family, he faced segregation at school and suffered physical abuse for defying the caste laws. Thankfully, the Ghadar Party believed in secularism and kept religion and politics apart, yet he faced such prejudice even in the U.S.
Muggowal not only worked for the Ghadar newsletter, but also went to Java to help in collecting and sending arms to India. He escaped a death sentence at the hands of the British allies. Thinking he had died, his family remarried his widow to his brother.
On coming back to India he was disillusioned by the continued oppression of the Dalits, who were considered untouchables by orthodox Hindus and Sikhs. He was partly upset with the popular leaders of the freedom struggle who failed to address the issue of casteism. He resigned from the Ghadar Party in order to mobilize Dalits, and eventually launched the Aadi Dharam movement in Punjab. He believed that without bringing social revolution first, it was impossible to bring real freedom in India.
The Ghadar Party also assured him full support in his struggle against caste oppression. Since his movement was in conflict with the interest of the freedom struggle, his cause was not dear to the popular leadership. Rather, Muggowal was branded as a tool of the British Empire that was playing a divide and rule game to prolong its rule in India. Whereas the British Empire was happy to give concessions to the Dalits, leaders like Muggowal felt deceived by the mainstream nationalist leaders. Despite such differences, it goes to the credit of Muggowal that he did not support a religion based partition of India in 1947.
Even after freedom, Dalits continue to suffer caste based discrimination. Untouchability is still practised in many parts of India in accordance with orthodox principles of Hinduism, despite India being a secular country. Thousands of Dalits are forced to indulge in manual scavenging for a livelihood, in spite of claims of development and progress. Mangu Ram's legacy therefore should be kept alive to stop oppression against Dalits. Let Muggowal be remembered both as a Ghadar and a Dalit activist.
(The above article is from the February 1-14, 2013, issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $30/year, or $15 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $45 US per year; other overseas readers - $45 US or $50 CDN per year. Send to People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, BC, V5L 3J1.)