Our Patriots, Their Terrorists

History through the eyes of the British administrators typecasts these revolutionaries as criminals, terrorists and seditionists, simply because they had the audacity to challenge the empire. The fact is that like anywhere else in the world, they were freedom loving people. Nothing more. Nothing less. Quite a few of them had withstood hostility to become rich by working very hard. They owned large tracts of farmland in USA and Canada. Some diversified into other businesses, including trading. The majority that went to North America was able to bring about a sharp and positive turnaround in its own economic fortunes, compared to what things were at home in India. Yet, for the sake of freedom, for the sake of nation, they gave up their business interests, their enterprise, their land, their wealth and their youth. What great heroes they were. What they could never give up, though, was the springing, eternal hope to accomplish the larger dream—to see India free one day.

Power of Pen

Thousands of copies of the Gadar newspaper would be shipped to different parts of the world. The readers would be mostly young men who had enlisted in the British army or other wings of the administration in places far and wide like Hong Kong, Singapore, London, Penang, Siam, Malay, Burma, Shanghai, Tokyo, Manila. The views of those that could not comprehend or read were shaped by the ones who explained the contents of the Gadar newspaper to them. They were exhorted not to fight for an army engaged in World War I, because the same army would perpetuate British rule in India, and slavery of the Indian people. The words were inked with such power and force that they quickly sparked emotions, stoked patriotic flames, and encouraged the young men to join hands against the British.