INDIAN VOICE

To make ends meet, Das began initially as a farm hand in Seattle. At the end of the farming day, he would ask his Indian colleagues, the majority of whom were Sikhs, to collect together. He would then motivate them to take up the cause of Indian nationalism, and freeing India from being a state ruled by the British. But he was clearly not going to remain content as a farm hand. He had great intellectual capability and proven writing skills. On the lines on which he had been advised by his well-wishers in Calcutta, Das set up a mouth-piece journal called Free Hindustan. The name said it all—India needed to be free, and the readers were urged to take up that cause in no uncertain terms. The journal fed its readers with news about atrocities and injustices being committed by the British in India. It fuelled passions, and the Indian community in the USA and Canada was ready to revolt. It helped that Das was also in regular contact with leading thinkers of the time such as Tolstoy, Hyndman and Madam Cama. Apart from the journal, Das also set up the Hindustan Association in Vancouver. Within no time, Das became the voice of the Indian immigrant community.

A NEW MOVE

Somewhere along the line, Das also landed himself a job as an interpreter with the Department of Immigrations in Canada and was posted at Vancouver. His job was to ensure that no Indians gained entry into Canada. But the job actually provided him an opportunity to help Indians. Secretly by tutoring and coaching them, he began to ensure that they had the skills to safely negotiate the interrogators at Immigration and get into Canada. But the good times were not to last. A former member of the Calcutta Police Information Service, William C Hopkinson was appointed as Immigration Inspector by the Canadian Government. Hopkinson’s primary role was to keep an eye on Das, and other Indian radicals. It wasn’t long before the secrets were out. Das’ anti-British activities threw him straight into the hot water. After all, his enemies were ubiquitous, and the eyes and ears of the Government seemed present at all times.