A Guide to Sources Gadar Movement - Book By Darshan Tatla

Table Of Contents For 'A Guide to Sources Gadar Movement' Book By Darshan Tatla

Foreword To The Book Of  'A Guide to Sources Gadar Movement' Book By Darshan Tatla'

Punjab has played a major part in India's struggle of independence with the Ghadar Movement as its prime example. The formation of the Ghadar rebellion was a unique phenomenon; it was by and large a Sikh diasporic mobilisation inspired by a mix of expatriate  Hindu and Muslim elite. Faced with racial hostility and harsh immigration restrictions, Punjabi Immigrant labourers in the Pacific States decided to return en masse to wage a revolutionary war to overthrow the British empire from the Indian subcontinent.

Within a short span of time, leaders of Ghadar party were able to create a network of support and mobilisation among the Punjabi Diaspora in the Southeast Asian Countries, Europe and North America. In 1915, the movement posed a most serious threat to the British rule in India since the mutiny of 1857. Although the movement was suppressed through unprecedented harsh measures by imperials administrators, exemplary sacrifices made by Ghadar activist radically altered the political culture of the Punjab. The Ghadarites' vision and ideal of an independent India as a just society ruled by a secular and socialist regime has continued to inspire many Punjabis.

I hope with the publication of this guide to scattered sources of the Ghadar movement across the globe, it will generate fresh research and debate on the movement which became synonymous with the 'heroic' tradition' of the Punjab.

Guru Nanak Dev University                                                                                                                                                               S.P. Singh

Amritsar

Preface To The Book Of  'A Guide to Sources Gadar Movement' Book By Darshan Tatla

During the compilation of this guide I have incurred several debts. In my college days in Ludhiana, with Surjit and Bakhshish to name only two of my two close friends, we made frequent round of the statue of Kartar Singh Sarabha while walking to the Chaura Bazar shops. This sight must has influenced us in some ways. Years later, when i first visited Berkeley in 1988, a question suddenly haunted, how a young Kartar Singh would have felt out here in 1913? The curiosity was relieved a bit when I was introduced to the Ghadar collection of Berkeley's South and Southeast  Asia Library by Dr. kenneth Logan- a scholar and expert on library's valuable collection. I also met Jane Singh who had published South Asians in North America; an annotated and selected bibliography [ Jane Siingh, Emily Hodges, Bruce La Brack, and Kenneth Logan, University of California, Berkeley: Centre for South and Southeast Asia Studies, 1988]. Her Book listed several less - known studies on the Ghadar movement, which was, as editors noted, primarily a Sikh political awakening inspired by other Indians. Professor Juergensmeyer in an introductory essay discussed the nature of Ghadar materials, whille Gerald Barrier furnished essential information on contemporary newspapers and on the banned  periodicals. As a result of that visit I published a guide to the literature on Sikhs in North America [Greenwood,1991]. Gradually, as my research interests on the Sikh Diaspora widened in scope so did my collection of materials relating to the Ghadar movement. A meeting with Bhagat Singh Bilga in Brimingham proved to be major catalyst towards completing this guide. Besides putting me in touch with Desh Bhagat Yadgar  Library at Jalandhar, Bhagat Singh Bilga was surprisingly familiar with primary and secondary literature while emphasising the paucity available research on the movement. I acknowledge help from Gurmit Singh, Desh Bhagat Yadgar Hall's cultural Secretary; R.S. Sharma, its librarian who provided access to valuable files.  I also remember talks with late Mr.N.K.Joshi  who was putting together a definitive guide to various to manuscripts held by this Library holds many valuable documents, and over these years, there has been considerable improvement in their handling, it must be stressed that much of the material and files still await more resources for proper preservation.

The search for North American materials was facilitated by Balwant  Singh Garewal and Late Tara Singh Hayer in Vancouver. Kesar Singh, an eminent creative writer on the Ghadar movement with his vast Knowledge and  collection of materials was generous with his comments. Ranjit Singh Hansra was excellent companion through Pacific States to  various libraries. Dr . Harish  Puri, an eminent scholar of the  Ghadar movement allowed me an insight into his valuable collections. A photograph appears due to the courtesy of Amarjit Chandan whose interest in the movement goes beyond this art. Thanks are also due to various librarians at the University of British Columbia, India Office Library now the British Library, Simon Faster University, National Archives of India, New Delhi, Punjabi University and Guru Nanak Dev University. Although the manuscript started its journey in the 1990's it took final shape during my tenure as a Visiting Fellow at Punjabi University, Patiala during 1999 with Dr.Malkit Kaur as head of sociology and social Anthropology Department.

I should thank Dr.S.P.Singh, Vice-Chancellor of Guru Nanak Dev University for promptly accepting his manuscript for publication by the university press. Mandeep and jasdeep have provided vital support in the preparing the manuscript with Harjeet  and Rajwant have made their way from school  to university without the 'expected support' of their dad. I hope they will understand. Hopefully, with this guide, new studies and debate on the Ghadar movement will ensue and will enable Punjabi's generally, and the Sikhs especially, to rethank about the legacy of 'heroic tradition' to which the Ghadar movement made such a significant contribution. The book is offered as memorial to my friend Bhakshi (1947-1969) who was inspired by this 'heroic tradition'.