Gadar Memorial in US to become museum
New Delhi, Feb 28, 2013:
The Indian government hopes to convert the Gadar Memorial in San Francisco into a museum, Finance Minister P. Chidambaram said Thursday.
The Hindustan Gadar Party, founded in 1913, fought for India's independence from its base in the US.
Chidambaram said the decision would go a long way in preserving the legacy of the Gadar movement and enable researchers to study it.
The Gadars were led by Lala Hardayal. A migrant to the US in 1911, he tapped into the discontent among immigrant workers along the Pacific Coast and brought many together, giving their unhappiness a political colour.
The Gadar nationalists, however, were linked to Nazi Germany and accused of treason.
In January 2012, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh announced that the memorial in San Francisco would be converted into a museum, and statues of Gadar members would come up. ......IANS///NRIpress.com
Gary Singh from NRIpress added :
Lala Har Dayal who had been a faculty member at Stanford University, California, was the central figure and the force behind the newly formed organization. He became the General Secretary of the association while Sohan Singh Bhakna was elected President and Kanshi Ram as Treasurer.
Kartar Singh Sarabha, one of the founders of the party, wrote:
- Today there begins 'Ghadar' in foreign lands, but in our country's tongue, a war against the British Raj.
- What is our name? Ghadar.
- What is our work? Ghadar.
- Where will be the Revolution? In India.
- The time will soon come when rifles and blood will take the place of pens and ink." The name of the organization was primarily spelled "Gadar Party" or "Ghadr Party"
The Ghadar Party was an organization founded by Punjabi Indians in USA and CANADA under the leadership of Har Dayal, with Sohan Singh Bhakna as its president.
The movement began with a group of immigrants known as the Hindustani Workers of the Pacific Coast
