Kartar Singh Sarabha

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Kartar Singh Sarabha
Ghadar Party
Known forBeing one of the most active member of Ghadar Party
MovementIndian independence movement

Kartar Singh Sarabha (24 May 1896 — 16 November 1915)

executed for his role in the movement when he was 19 years old.[2]

Early life

Kartar Singh was born to Mangal Singh Grewal and Sahib Kaur into a

University of California at Berkeley, but the evidence that he did study there varies. A historical note by Baba Jwala Singh mentions that when he went to Astoria, Oregon in December 1912, he found Kartar Singh working in a mill factory. The University does not have any record of Kartar Singh's enrollment.[3]

His association with the Nalanda club of Indian students at Berkeley aroused his patriotic sentiments, and he felt agitated about the treatment that immigrants from India, especially manual workers, received in the United States.[4]

Sohan Singh Bhakna, the founder of the Ghadar Party, inspired Singh to campaign against British colonial rule for the sake of an independent country. Sohan Singh Bhakna called Kartar Singh "Baba Gernal". He learnt from Americans how to shoot a gun, and how to make detonating devices. Kartar Singh also took lessons for flying aeroplanes. He frequently spoke with other Indians, many of whom supported colonial rule, on the need for India to become independent from British rule.[1]

Ghadar Party and newspaper

Main article:
Ghadar Party

When the Ghadar party was founded in mid-1913 with Sohan Singh, a Sikh from Bhakna village in the Amritsar district, as president and Lala Hardyal as secretary, Kartar Singh stopped his university work, moved in with Lala Hardyal and became his helpmate in running the revolutionary newspaper Ghadar (revolt). He undertook the responsibility for printing of the Gurmukhi edition of the paper. He composed patriotic poetry for it and wrote articles.

On 15 July 1913, the Punjabi Indians of

Pushto
languages. Kartar Singh was quite heavily involved in the publishing of that paper.

This paper was sent to Indians living in all countries throughout the world. Its purpose was to convince both Indians and the Indian diaspora to support the freedom movement.

Within a short time, the Ghadar Party became famous through The Ghadar. It drew Indians from all walks of life.

Revolt in Punjab

Main article: Hindu–German Conspiracy

With the start of

Banaras to inform him that 20,000 more Ghadar members were expected very soon.[5] A large number of leaders of the Ghadar Party were arrested by the government at the ports. In spite of these arrests, a meeting was held by members of the Ghadar Party at Ladhouwal near Ludhiana in which it was decided to commit robberies in the houses of the rich in meeting the requirements of finance for armed action. Two Ghadris, Waryam Singh and Bhai Ram Rakha, were killed in a bomb blast in one such raid.[6][7]

After the arrival of

better source needed
]

Betrayal

Kirpal Singh, a

Ghadar Party, had a large number of members arrested on 19 February and informed the government of the planned revolt. The government disarmed the native soldiers and the revolt failed.[9]

After the failure of the revolution, the members who had escaped arrest decided to leave

Lyallpur district.[10]

Execution

Ghadar Party Handbill listing executed revolutionaries between 1915 and 1916

All of these accused in the Conspiracy Case, for

Lahore Central Jail
on 17 November 1915. In the Court room, as also standing before the gallows the condemned men refused to accept their endeavour to be termed a 'conspiracy'. They contended that it was an open challenge to the foreigners who charged the patriots, those who were sacrificing everything for the freedom of their Motherland with the offence of sedition, of waging war against the King. Kartar was not at all sorry for what he had done; rather he felt proud for enjoying the privilege of throwing out the challenge at the face of a lot of usurpers. He was really sorry over the outcome of their efforts. He averred that every 'slave' had a right to revolt and it could never be a crime to rise in defence of the primary rights of the sons of the very soil. When he was being tried on the charge of sedition, he took the entire blame upon himself. The Judge was astounded to see such a young boy behaving in such a non-chalant manner. In view of his tender age, he advised the young revolutionary to modify his statement, but the result was the very opposite of what was desired by him. When asked to appeal he retorted,

"Why should I? If I had more lives than one, it would have been a great honour to me to sacrifice each of them for my country."

He was later sentenced to death and hanged in 1915. During the period of his detention in Lahore Central Jail, Kartar managed to get hold of some instruments with which he wanted to cut the iron-bars of his window and escape in company with some other revolutionaries. However, the jail authorities who had learnt about his designs well in time, seized the instruments from underneath an earthen pitcher in his room. At the time of his execution Kartar was hardly nineteen years old. But such was his courage that in the course of his detention he gained 14 pounds of fresh weight.

Legacy

Bhagat Singh was inspired by him. "On Bhagat Singh's arrest, a photo of Sarabha was recovered from him. He always carried this photo in his pocket. Very often, Bhagat Singh would show me that photograph and say, 'Dear mother, this is my hero, friend and companion.' " - Bhagat Singh's mother.[11][12]

Shaheed Kartar Singh Sarabha, an Indian Punjabi-language biographical film on the revolutionary was released in 1977.[13]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Ghadar Party Hero Kartar Singh Sarabha". National Book Trust. Retrieved 12 September 2020.
  2. ^ Chaman Lal (2018). "Gadar Party Nayak: Kartar Singh Sarabha". pp. 1–2.
  3. ^ "शहीद करतार सिंह सराभा की जयंती पर विशेष लेख". Punjab Kesari. 24 May 2020. Retrieved 12 September 2020.
  4. ^ "देश का वो गुमनाम हीरो, जिसकी तस्वीर भगत सिंह हमेशा अपने साथ रखते थे". Jansatta (in Hindi). Retrieved 25 August 2021.
  5. ^ Militant Nationalism in India, Bimanbehari Majumdar (p. 167); Sadhak biplabi jatindranath, Prithwindra Mukherjee pp. 283-284.
  6. Business Standard India
    . Retrieved 12 September 2020.
  7. ^ Dugman, Sally (25 May 2018). "Kartar Singh Sarabha - A Hero Who Inspired Bhagat Singh". Countercurrents. Retrieved 12 September 2020.
  8. ^ "करतार सिंह सराभा - भारतकोश, ज्ञान का हिन्दी महासागर". Bharat Discovery. Retrieved 12 September 2020.
  9. ^ Eminent Freedom Fighters of Punjab.
  10. ISBN 978-81-230-1757-0
    .
  11. ^ "कहानी उस दिलेर की जिसे शहीद भगत सिंह अपना गुरु मानते थे". Sirf Sach (in Hindi). 24 May 2019. Retrieved 12 September 2020.
  12. ^ "Kartar Singh Sarabha to Bhagat Singh". ResearchGate. Retrieved 12 September 2020.
  13. ISBN 978-1-136-77284-9
    .

Further reading

External links
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