Defying the Raj - II

The inherent bond of revolutionary freedom fighters was evident in the Ghadar party’s formation.

- By NANDALAL CHAKRABARTI

(The first part of this article appeared in The Island of 22 November 2025)

Advised by Lala Lajpat Rai, Lala Har Dayal went abroad to continue his work for the country’s freedom and, with other revolutionaries, founded the Ghadar party in the USA. Ghadar meant revolt. The Ghadar party sought to start an insurrection against British rule inside India. The headquarter of the party in San Francisco was named “Jugantar Ashram” after Barin Ghose’s paper, Jugantar. Thus, beneath the surface level of separation, there were always links between the revolutionaries.

As part of the Ghadar conspiracy, Sachindra Nath Sanyal, closely working with Rash Behari Bose, went to Punjab and planned a nationwide mutiny in 1915. This was to be done by organising a revolt of Indian soldiers of the British Indian army. It failed primarily because the plan was leaked to the British by an informant and weapons bought from Germany never reached India. Before this, various fitness clubs or “Akharas” had come up as underground centres for revolutionary activities. The most influential among them was Anushilan Samiti, formed in Calcutta in 1902.

Sister Nivedita lent active support to this organisation. Aurobindo Ghosh and his brother Barin Ghosh were deeply involved with its activities. In a solemn oath-taking ceremony, Barin was initiated by Aurobindo into Anushilan Samiti by holding a sword in one hand and the Bhagwat Gita in the other. This was a rite common to the initiation of all revolutionaries. An explicit call for waging war was found in Aurobindo’s pamphlet of 1905, “Bhawani Mandir”.