10) APPROPRIATION OF THE GHADAR PARTY CONTINUES

By Gurpreet Singh

            With the beginning of the centenary year of the Ghadar Party, all kinds of groups are interpreting the Ghadar history in their own ways. These celebrations have either become symbolic rituals, or distort the facts about the Ghadar movement.

            What did the Ghadar Party actually stand for? The party was a militant group of South Asian immigrants based in US and Canada, who believed in an armed struggle against the British occupation of India. The party came into existence in 1913 with its headquarters in the US, and a big following in Vancouver. Most members had moved to this part of the world for economic reasons, as British subjects. Many had served in the British army.

            Thanks to blatant racism and anti-immigration policies, they soon realized that the British government would not listen to their grievances. These harsh realities transformed them into social justice activists, determined to fight both against the foreign occupation of India and against racism in Canada. Many actually returned with a dream to organize a mutiny, only to face the gallows or tough imprisonments. A majority were Punjabi Sikhs, but there were activists from other faith groups as well. Ghadar members were expected to keep religion and politics apart, and there was no caste discrimination within the group.

            In a nutshell, the Ghadar Party can be portrayed as a true radical group of activists that believed in secularism, equality and social justice. During later years, some continued their fight against oppression in post-independent India as well. Even in the worst possible situation, they saved many Muslims from Hindu and Sikh mobs, risking their own lives on the Indian side of the border during the religious division of India and Pakistan in 1947 which sparked large scale sectarian violence.

            The Ghadar activists also encouraged gender equality and helped open schools for women.

            In post-independent India, many Ghadar activists became diehard supporters of the communist movements. Booja Singh, who later joined the ultra-leftist Naxalite struggle, an outcome of the oppression of the landless farmers and poor, was killed by the Indian police.

            Mangu Ram Muggowal, a former Ghadar activist, had to continue his struggle against caste-based oppression and untouchability in an independent India. Influenced by the Ghadar Party, he launched a powerful struggle for emancipation of Dalits in Punjab.

            Going by this brief description, one can easily identify contradictions in the policies of those celebrating the centenary at a mere symbolic level. Not surprisingly, these groups include India's ruling Congress party, which has always ignored the Ghadar history. The Congress portrays itself as the only major political movement behind the freedom struggle.

            If the Congress leadership was sincere about secularism, the partition of India on religious lines could have been avoided in the first place. Rather, in post-independent India, the Congress party, despite its so-called secular policies, indulged in faith based politics, engineering the anti-Sikh pogrom in 1984, or even patronizing Sikh fundamentalism when this suited it.

            The Hindu nationalist BJP and its allies also sacrificed secular principles for electoral gains.

            In Punjab, the birthplace of many Ghadar heroes, the ruling Akali Dal and its alliance partner, the BJP, have openly courted Sikh and Hindu extremists for short term gains. Yet, the Akali Dal is celebrating the Ghadar centenary while at the same time glorifying the militants seeking a theocratic Sikh state. Its coalition partner has engineered attacks on Christians and Muslims, including the 2002 anti-Muslim carnage in Gujarat.

            However, secularism isn't the only issue on which these parties have failed to prove their commitment towards the dreams of the Ghadar activists. Almost all the parties have failed to protect the interests of the women, the poor and Dalits, or the so-called untouchables. The recent Delhi gang rape and the ongoing sexual violence against poor and Dalit women have proved this fact. These vulnerable groups have been repeatedly overlooked in the name of uneven development, which has benefited only a small percentage of the elite. Despite so-called growth and progress, in the name of market reforms and foreign direct investment, manual scavenging by poor Dalit women continues. There is a general lack of will to stop caste-based oppression and untouchability in many parts of India.

            In Canada, where the party had a big following, different groups have come together to celebrate the centenary. These include organizations that try to portray the Ghadar movement as a Sikh nationalist movement, which was not the case. The secular Ghadar movement cannot be equated with any theocratic movement. Supporters of the Sikh homeland movement were also responsible for curtailing the rights and freedom of women in Punjab, and targeted non-Sikh labourers coming from outside Punjab for a better livelihood.

            Even the moderates who are in control of some of the oldest Sikh temples and bodies, established by those associated with the Ghadar movement, have failed to prove their commitment. Instead of fighting against ongoing racism and discriminatory immigration policies in Canada, they are keen on the hospitality of government officials, including Immigration Minister Jason Kenny, who has tightened immigration and citizenship rules.

            As a society, we too need to look hard at ourselves. While we all revere Ghadar heroes, we hardly spare time for rallies and campaigns against social injustice, occupation and wars. The minimum we as Canadian or South Asian admirers of the Ghadar ideology can do is support the ongoing Idle No More, a grassroots movement of the indigenous peoples in Canada.

            One should not be completely averse to any recognition of the Ghadar party, in India or here, as it helps to educate the younger generation about the role played by unsung heroes, whose contributions remained hidden for years. But these celebrations should have some lessons and meaning for a better future.

(The above article is from the April 1-15, 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.)