Lala Hardayal and Ghadar Party | Ghadar Movement
In the Indian national movement, the revolutionaries of each region and province of India carried out their respective roles. One such revolutionary was ‘Lala Hardayal’. Lala Hardayal was a great revolutionary and intellectual of Punjab. He was in the lead role in the Ghadar movement.
Formation of Ghadar Party
The Ghadar Party was formed on 1 November 1913 by Lala Hardayal in the city of San Francisco, United States. Ramchandra and Barkatulla also supported him in the formation of this party. This party also ran a weekly magazine named ‘Ghadar’ which was started in the memory of the first freedom struggle of 1857. ‘Gadar in his first issue clarified his objectives in this way–
“What is our name? Ghadar or rebellion! What is our business? Rebellion. Where will this rebellion take place? In India”
US sued Lala Hardayal
The Ghadar Dal tried to bring to the fore this important element that Indians do not get respect abroad because of being slaves. At the behest of the British government, the American administration sued Lala Hardayal, due to which he had to flee America.
Operation of Ghadar Movement from Germany by Lala Hardayal
In the early stages of World War I, Lala Hardayal and his companions moved to Germany. After reaching Germany, he formed the Indian Independence Committee in Berlin. His aim was that Indians living abroad should make all kinds of efforts for the independence of India like–
To prepare Indians for rebellion by sending volunteers to India.
Sending explosive material to Indian revolutionaries.
If possible, make a military attack on India.
incident of ‘Kama Gata Maru’
The famous ‘Cama Gata Maru’ incident created an explosive situation in Punjab. The reason behind this incident was “One Baba Gur Dattasingh tried to take 351 Punjabi Sikhs and 21 Muslims to Vancouver city of Canada by hiring a Japanese ship Kama Gata Maru. The purpose of this people was to go there. Tasting an independent life, the Indians would participate in the freedom struggle. The Canadian government did not allow these passengers to disembark in the port. The ship returned to Calcutta (now Kolkata) on 27 September 1914. Attempts were made to arrest Baba Gurdutt Singh. Gaya but they managed to escape. The rest of the passengers were brought back to Punjab in a special train. These disgruntled people organized political dacoits at various places in Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Amritsar. This became evident later in the Lahore Conspiracy Trial. That there was bloodshed in Punjab.
Attempts by the British Government to suppress the revolutionary movement
To deal with the situation, the British government tried to stop the seditious gatherings by an act in 1907 (Prevention of seditious meeting act). Apart from this, the Explosive Substances Act of 1908 and the Indian Criminal Law Act in 1908 and a Newspaper (Incentive for Offenses) Act, the Newspaper Act of 1910 and the most abominable Indian Security Rule of 1915 (Defense of India Rule) made.
There was some pause in the revolutionary activities in India during the First World War, when the government released the political prisoners caught under the Defense of India Acts. The reforms given by the Second Government of India Act 1919 were implemented and an atmosphere of amusement was created. Apart from this, at that time Mahatma Gandhi emerged as a national leader in India. Gandhi believed in non-violence and he undertook to free India in the same non-violent way. Due to all these reasons, there was some slowdown in the revolutionary activities in the country.