‘Villages being discouraged from remembering Ghadar martyrs’

Ideals of the Ghadar Movement, its advocacy for the rights of farmers, Dalits and all suppressed sections of society and its foundational role in fuelling the intellect and passions of the youths of Punjab and eventually the movement for the Indian Independence have been reverberating at the Desh Bhagat Yadgaar Hall for decades.

Advertisement

It has housed a precious treasure trove of Ghadar and freedom movement literature in its library which houses 25,000 books. It also regularly produces contemporary comments on the freedom movement and Ghadar ideology through its books. Formerly, Desh Bhagat Parivar Sahayak Committee, it was renamed the Desh Bhagat Yadgaar Committee in 1938 at a meeting held by Ghadar leader Baba Vaskaha Singh. Ever since the Desh Bhagat Yadagaar Hall’s Foundation stone was laid on November 17, 1959, it is the one place where those digging for roots, the passion for the freedom movement and the spirit of assimilation and equality of the Ghadar leaders find solace. In the present politically charged environment, general secretary of the Desh Bhagat Yadgaar Committee Dr Raghbir Kaur speaks to The Tribune Correspondent Aparna Banerji about the committee’s role and lessons one might gather from the rich Ghadar history to make sense of the present. 

What are the most primary literary treasures in terms of the Ghadarites’ writings and freedom movement literature that the committee has?

The atrocities and experiences which Ghadrite leaders themselves encountered in jail, their writings and speeches and what they felt and wrote about the history comprises the primary treasure trove of documents we have at the Yadgaar Hall. Many of these books were banned which the committee procured over years. Baba Sohan Singh Bhakna wrote a book “Zinda Shaheed”. He detailed in it how Baba Bhan Singh Sunet suffered atrocities in jail. Many Ghadar movement leaders also died in jail due to injustices. That book was banned.

Ghadar Movement writings banned by the British had been kept at the British Library in London. After the movement ceased to be a threat to the British, these were eventually made available to the public. Six of these have been brought by our committee members who especially went to London to acquire these. Many of the Ghadar Movement and Kirti newspaper writings – many of them in poetry – are housed in our library. A majority of their thoughts found expression through poems which are still relevant in contemporary times.

What was the society of the dreams of the Ghadarites?

They wanted freedom, equality and social change. We (India) got freedom on paper. But equality hasn’t been achieved. Ghadrites said people’s rights should be the same, but caste and religious divisions mar society today. Ghadarites had stressed religion was never prime on their agenda. It was never an issue in debates and meetings.

Elaborate on their ideals of equality and secularity with historic references. 

It was a very secular fabric which was propagated by the Ghadar movement leaders. From the Stockton Gurdwara committee where Ghadri Baba Vasakha Singh, Baba Jwala Singh, Baba Mangoo Ram among others, all worked together, to the Holt farm where they used to congregate and Ghadarites held deliberations, the message was of equality and religious oneness. Baba Jwala Singh Thathiyan (was from Thathiyan village near Baba Bakala) had started a scholarship scheme for students in the USA along with it they were accorded revolutionary education, to bring about change in society in 1911. Arrangements were made at the Stockton gurdwara for these youths to stay and eat. Baba Jwala Singh was himself from a backward caste and had made it amply clear that no religious considerations shall be entertained while taking in students.

Similarly, during a hunger strike by Baroda jail inmates on the issue of pagri (tying the turban) when Baba Sohan Singh Bhakna was in jail, Parmanand Jhansi and Hirde Ram also participated in it. When Baba Bhakna told them they could refrain from the strike since they don’t wear a turban, Parmanand had said a turban isn’t just a symbol of the Sikhs, but a symbol of national pride. We are fighting for the pagri of the country.

Also there are ample references of Muslims and Sikhs brotherhood, for instance when after a relative’s visit Rasaldar Lachman Singh Chuslewal suggested to Abdullah Nahlband (a Muslim) into turning witness to escape sentence, Abdullah said he won’t choose the stain of betraying his friends. Abdullah Nahlband has asked the jailed that whether they be cremated or buried, it be done together because all their lives they fought together.

In the pursuit of propagating the martyrs’ ideologies, what are the challenges faced by the Yadgaar Committee? 

In some villages, we are facing opposition in propagating the ideologies or even merely holding memorial services for martyrs. While the shameful religious books’ desecration incidents in the state have been rightly condemned time and again, the irony is that repeated insult to the martyrs is being treated casually. People break, deface statues, precious inheritance, ancestral homes are in a shambles but no one – especially not the government – takes up the issue.

At the village of Baba Gurmukh Singh Lalton, a statue set up by the village committee has been broken and insulted four times due to groupism and clashes in the village. When the district administration didn’t take action, the village approached us. The Desh Bhagat Yadgaar Committee, along with the village committee, went there and had a hearing after which the accused were also found and repair happened. Similarly, in Baba Dulla Singh Jalaldivaad’s village Jaladivaad, the village sarpanch didn’t let a function to commemorate a martyr happen. This is a very bad trend. Often due to political backing, leaders and locals are discouraging villagers from commemorating the contribution if martyrs. Because Ghadar thought was different, it seems there are efforts to suppress it so that people might not be enlightened. Statues are being broken, celebrations at government places are stopped. Rather government should enthusiastically support this. Many village schools funded by Ghadri Babas or their families are also prevented from participating in such functions. Khurdpur is another example. This has increased in recent years. At Jalandhar too, statues of Pt Kishori Lal (he was Bhagat Singh’s associate) near the post office in Jalandhar and of Bhagat Singh also lie ignored.

Freedom movement luminaries and martyrs heavily make their way into political discourse. What do you think about the trend. Do you think political will does justice to their real works and memory as well, or is restricted to electoral gains? 

Often political parties use freedom movement leaders like Bhagat Singh during elections. It is primarily done to rake out political favours in their name. But little is being done to propagate information but the actual contributions of martyrs. Their legacy is lost or ignored. The disrepair of the Ajnala tehsil memorial and Ajnala well where Indian soldiers were held captive and martyred (respectively), the broken home of Shaheed Sukhdev in Ludhiana and the disregard to properties of Baba Jawala Singh Thathiyanwala and Madan Lal Dhingra’s home at Amritsar are some examples. Martyrs’ homes or memorials (associated with their actual lives) have received state-of-the-art treatment. The government has made the massive Jang-e-Azadi memorial for state martyrs. But then again, such a lot of money has been spent on a single monument. One has to ask when martyrs’ actual homes and hideouts get scant attention, why these historic buildings or places never get grants? 

Are any of the members of the Yadgaar Committee on board the memorial’s team?

We have informally been consulted, our suggestions have been sought, but none of us are formally members of it.

What role do you think academic bodies play in propagating the memory of martyrs?

Academics chairs set up by universities in martyrs’ name have an element of promotion from the establishment. Also, many recent books on the issue give the ideology of the Ghadarites a religious colour, as if it veers towards certain religion, even though they were all for the equality of people of all castes and religions. The state needs a platform where ethical research and studies of martyrs and movements of the freedom struggle are pursued without bias.