Discrimination

The minds of the revolutionaries that floated the Hindustan Association of the Pacific Coast and later the Gadar newspaper in November 1913, were similarly sparked. Their cause was big enough, and they were willing to lay down their lives. They were stoked by the undying flames of patriotism. They were fuelled by a deep desire to set their motherland free from bondage. The Gadarites, as we call the Gadar revolutionaries, lived overseas and were tormented by bitter racial discrimination.

Being Indian was enough to be vilified and abused publicly, and not just for the colour of their skin. In the land of plenty, they were just filthy coolies spoiling the American environment. Because of their slave-like status in India, they were easily disparaged and ridiculed in America. They always worked hard and there was plenty of monetary gain to be made in return. But the pain of suffering ridicule, rile and ribaldry completely offset all that gain. As they kept doing better, draconian laws came into place to keep them away from entering the USA and Canada. For the Gadarites, it was a discriminatory world, both at home in India, and away in America.

Spunk and Character

The Gadarites were young men with dreams, and plenty of courage. The bulk was made up of Punjabi farmers that had arrived in the west coasts of USA and Canada in the first decade of the 20th century. The intellectual capital came from young Indian students and teachers in prestigious institutions such as Berkeley and Stanford. They came mainly from Punjab, and a few from Maharashtra, from Bengal, and other parts. Together they rose, and gave the call for Gadar—meaning mutiny—to free India. Force was their way, and storming the empire’s citadel, the final goal.