chapter-2 political movements

discriminations against them. They considered the British Indian
government to be in league with the government of Canada and the
United States. When their requests for the immigration of the families
were refused, they attributed the loss of their honour and respect to the
absence of political freedom. 45
In the process these indians developed anti-British feelings which
were further accentuated by the propaganda of the Russian Communists
and of the German revolutionaries. As a result, the 'Hindi Association of
the Pacific Coast' was organized at Astoria on 21 April 1913, it changed
its name first to 'Hindi Pacific Association' and then to the Ghadr Party.
The aim of the party was to overthrow British rule through armed
struggle and to establish national democratic freedom based on equality.
They decided to bring out a newspaper called the Ghadr.
The party elected Sohan Singh Bhakna- president, Kehar Singh
Thathgarh, vice-president, Lala Hardial, secretary and Kanshi Ram as a
treasurer. The party established its headquarter at San Francisco. The
newspaper began to publish weekly from November 1, 1913. In the first
issue of the Ghadr, it was announced : 'Today there begins in foreign
lands a war against the British Raj. What is our name? Mutiny. What is
our work? Mutiny. Where will Mutiny break out? In India. The time will
come soon when rifles and blood will take the places of pen and ink'.
The 'wanted columns' in the the Ghadr occasionally contained the
following : 'wanted-enthusiastic and heroic soldiers for organising Ghadr
in Hindustan:
Remuneration - death
Reward - martyrdom
Pension - freedom
45 Navtej Singh, Challange To Imperial Hegemony : The Life Story of a Great Indian
Patriot Udham Singh, Publication Bureau, Punjabi University, Patiala, 1988, p.13.