Ghadar Movement: Rekindling the flames of freedom struggle

The pages of Indian history are filled with tales of courage, resilience and sacrifice. Among them, the Ghadar Movement holds a special place as one of the earliest organised efforts to challenge British imperialism.

Yet, despite its significance, the movement has remained relatively underrepresented in mainstream discourse—especially in English literature. Bridging this gap, Dr Rana Preet Gill, a veterinarian by profession and a writer by passion, has recently authored a book on the Ghadar Movement, weaving together the forgotten stories of its unsung heroes.

“I felt not much has been written about Ghadar in English. A lot of material is available in Punjabi, but for a movement of such magnitude to reach a global audience, it needs to be retold in a global language,” Dr Gill explains. “I also realised that while living in Hoshiarpur, I had little idea about its historic legacy in Ghadar. That realisation became a crucible for my writing.”

The seed of inspiration, Dr Gill recounts, was sown during a family trip to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands in the winter of 2019. At the Cellular Jail, she stumbled upon the statue of Pandit Ram Rakha Bali, a freedom fighter from Sisoli village of Hoshiarpur.

“I was shocked that so few even know his name. He had gone on a hunger strike against the unjust practice of removing religious symbols from prisoners. He was a brilliant student, later a British police recruit, who chose the thorny path of revolution. Imprisoned in Cellular Jail as part of the Mandalay Conspiracy, his story is intertwined with Ghadar,” she recalls with emotion.

It was Bali’s sacrifice that became her anchor, compelling her to bring the stories of Ghadarites back into public consciousness.

Dr Gill emphasises that while Ghadar did not directly win India her independence, it played a crucial role in igniting national consciousness. At a time when many Indians regarded the British rule as “mai-baap ki sarkar,” the Ghadarites lit a flame of resistance that inspired subsequent struggles.

“History needs to be retold again and again or it risks being forgotten,” she asserts. “The present generation knows little about Ghadar. My effort is to narrate their stories in a way that readers connect emotionally, not just academically.”

Her book, she says, is not a dry scholarly account but a narrative styled like a story—each chapter flowing seamlessly into the next. “I wanted a reader, once holding the book, to finish it. It had to be factual but engaging.”

A touching moment came when she received a phone call from the granddaughter of Lala Hardayal, the great revolutionary who spearheaded the Ghadar Party.

“She appreciated my work and was thrilled to read it. That conversation will remain etched in my memory forever.” For Dr Gill, the journey of researching and writing was profoundly enriching. “To discover how ordinary men, mostly Punjabis, went abroad, got revolutionised and returned to wage a war of liberation—it was uplifting. Their courage buoyed me during my own writing journey. The flame must not die. More writers must take up the responsibility of telling the Ghadar story.”