Lala Hardayal

Lala hardayal was born on 14th October 1884 to a Punjabi family in Delhi. He was a revolutionary mind who formed the Ghadar party in USA. The members of this party were expatriate who were willing to launch an international movement against the British rule in India. Ghadar party was founded on 15th July 1913 in Astoria, Oregon.

 

•    Har Dayal was an intelligent student who earned his bachelor's degree in Sanskrit from Delhi's St. Stephen's College and his master's degree in Sanskrit from Punjab University. 

 

•    He received two scholarships to Oxford University in 1905. He also went to London University for his doctorate.

 

•    Shyamji Krishna Varma, a lawyer and a revolutionary who founded the Indian Home Rule Society, India House, and The Indian Sociologist in London, met him in London. Hardayal was moved by his ideas and thoughts. V D Savarkar and Madame Cama also had an influence on Hardayal. 

 

•    Inspired by revolutionary ideals of such great men and women, he abandoned his scholarships and the ICS and returned to India in 1908. He devoted himself to revolutionary work. 

 

•    He once said “No Indian who truly loves his country should compromise his principles and barter his rectitude for any benefit at the hands of India's foreign oppressive rulers,”.

 

•    As a result of his many provocative pieces against the government, the British government banned his writings. After that, Lala Lajpat Rai advised him to go to foreign.

 

•    He visited Paris, Algeria, Martinique, and the United States, among other places. He lived a simple life and was working on his own interpretation of religion and anarchism. Karl Marx's writings influenced him as well.

 

•    Lal Hardayal lived in India until 1909, when he moved to Paris and became involved with the Vande Mataram newspaper. It is worth noting that Sri Aurobindo edited the English newspaper Bande Mataram. Sri Aurobindo's first concern was to declare openly about the complete independence of India. He believed that all the political actions in India should have this one goal.

 

•    The Nationalist Party's programme, non-cooperation, passive resistance, Swadeshi, Boycott, national education, settlement of legal disputes by popular arbitration, and other items of Sri Aurobindo's plan were all declared and developed in the journal.

 

•    In 1911, he moved to San Francisco and became a member of the Industrial Union. When Basant Kumar Biswas threw the bomb on Lord Hardinge in 1912, he was in America and was blown away.

 

•    Lala Hardayal founded the Pacific Coast Hindustan Association in 1913. Sohan Singh Bhakna was elected President. Kesar Singh Thathgarh was made Vice President and Lala Hardayal as General Secretary. Lala Thakur Das Dhuri was made Joint Secretary, and Pandit Kanshi Ram Mardauli as Treasurer. All these decisions were taken in the first meeting in Astoria in 1913.

 

•    In 1913, he founded the Ghadar Party. The US government arrested him for spreading anarchism. He later moved to Berlin and worked as an Indian philosophy professor in Sweden for ten years.

 

•    ‘Thoughts in Education,' ‘Social Conquest of Hindu Race,' ‘Forty Four Months in Germany and Turkey,' ‘Hints for Self Culture,' ‘Bodhisatva Doctrines,' and others are among his works.

•    Lala Har Dayal died on March 4, 1939, in Philadelphia, at the age of 54.

 

•    Har Dayal was honoured with a commemorative stamp issued by India Post in 1987.

 

The burgeoning Indian Independence Struggle at the turn of the century sparked nationalist sentiments not only on the Indian subcontinent, but also among students and emigrants from the same region all over the world. Lala Har Dayal (October 14, 1884) and Taraknath Das were revolutionary intellectuals who attempted to organise these students while instilling nationalist ideas.

 

The Ghadar Party was originally known as the Pacific Coast Hindustan Association. It was founded in the United States on July 15, 1913, under the leadership of Lala Har Dayal, Baba Jawala Singh, Sant Baba Wasakha Singh Dadehar, Santokh Singh, and Sohan Singh Bhakna. Indian expatriates in the United States, Canada, East Africa, and Asia gave the Ghadar party a large following.

 

They also launched their journal “Ghadar” on 1st November 1913. The newspaper's masthead was emblazoned with the words "Enemy of British Rule in India." It featured articles on the conditions of Indians living under British rule, as well as issues affecting Indians living abroad, such as racial attacks and discrimination. It urged Indians to band together and rise up against British rule, with the goal of driving the British out of India. Ghadar was translated into Urdu, Punjabi, Hindi, and other Indian languages. Aside from Ghadar, the Yugantar Ashram, the Ghadar Party's headquarters, published a number of publications to raise public awareness and organise people to revolt against the British.

 

In 1913, members of the Ghadar party spread its ideas and goals all over the world. Its main objectives were:

•    To free India from British rule using force and to establish a free and independent India with equal rights for all.

•    To establish a headquarters in San Francisco that would serve as a hub for all activities related to the achievement of these goals and objectives.

•    Ghadar, a weekly newspaper in Urdu, Hindi, Punjabi, and other Indian languages, will be published.

•    Every year, hold organisational elections to elect a coordination committee from the various committees to oversee all of the work.

•    Cells among Indian railway, industrial, and farm workers, as well as students, who would be directly linked to the centre, would be formed.

•    A three-member commission would be elected by the coordination committee to oversee the political and underground work.

•    A one-dollar monthly contribution from each member would be used to generate revenue.

•    Within the organisation, there was to be no discussion or debate about religion. Religion was regarded as a private matter with no place in the organisation.

•    Every member had a responsibility to take part in the liberation struggle of the country in which they lived.

 

The ghadarites took advantage of the British rulers during World War I as well. Ghadarite leaders urged immigrants on the west coast of the United States to return to India and launch an armed revolt. With the help of the army, some leaders were dispatched to Far Eastern countries to persuade Indians to return. When they returned to India, the government was already anticipating their arrival. It detained the revolutionary leaders and men while allowing others to continue.

 

The state of Punjab was very different for the ghadarites. They had no support, and the khalsa even labelled them as "fallen Sikhs." Without effective leadership, their naive attempts to sway the army's loyalty failed.

 

Finally, they sought guidance from revolutionary leaders, but the Ghadar had been successfully penetrated by the government. And the majority of them were arrested prior to the uprising. The government's retaliation was harsh, and an entire generation of political leaders was eliminated.

 

Following the harsh British crackdown, the Ghadar Movement began to lose steam. After World War I ended in 1917, the Ghadar Party split into two factions: a Communist and a Socialist. Despite this setback, the Ghadar Part served as a source of inspiration for many freedom fighters, the most notable of whom was Bhagat Singh.

 

The Ghadar movement was a story of extreme valour, hard work, and toil that touched the hearts of every Indian living. The powerful speeches delivered by its leaders influenced expatriate opinion against the British rule in India. It truly qualifies as a major struggle that sparked people's desire to fight for freedom and planted the seeds for any future course of action.