A4• MAY 20, 2016 COMMENTARY JOURNAL Remembering : 120th Birth anniversary Indians are slaves,” he was told. The de- nity to attain their goal. They published amongst the army personnel there. grading experience stayed etched in young a ‘declaration of war’ against the British Risaldar Ganda Singh who was to help Kartar’s memory. in the August issue of Gadar and sent it them get rifles, got them arrested instead. Kartar Singh Sarabha was Kartar met other like-minded Indians to Indians everywhere, especially Indian Kartar went to trial with other at the university campus and came to soldiers in British cantonments. The Gadarites in in what came to be one of the first to sacrifice learn more about the injustices being Gadarites inspired thousands of Indians called the Lahore Conspiracy case. In Sep- his life for India’s freedom. meted out to the Indian expatriate com- who returned to India determined to over- tember 1915, the sentence was pro- munity. Several students worked as farm throw the British Government. nounced: on November 16, 1915, Kartar He was fifteen in 1912 labor during summer or winter breaks Kartar Singh left the United States on Singh Sarabha, only 19 years old, along when he came for higher and faced unequal treatment. Kartar had September 15, 1914, with Satyen Sen and with twenty seven of his comrades, was also worked as a fruit picker alongside . They met with the to be hanged to death. But so severe was education to U.C. Berkeley. several other Sikh laborers and knew of well-known revolutionary Rash Behari the public outcry at the judgement that On reaching San Francisco, the racial slurs that were thrown at them. Bose in Benares and shared their plans Lord Hardinge, the Governor General of He realized that they were paid less than for throwing the British out of India. Un- India, was forced to intervene. At the last the teenager was asked other farm workers because of the color fortunately, this information reached the moment, the sentence of 17 of the humiliating questions by the of their skin. British and several Gadarites were arrested Gadarites was changed from death to In April 1913, Indians in Astoria, Or- at the ports on landing. Meanwhile, Kartar imprisonment and deportation for life to Immigration department. egon formed the Hindustani Association went about preparing the base for the revo- the Andaman Cellular jail. of the Pacific Coast with its main objec- lution in . He drew plans to infil- But for Kartar, the gallows awaited. tive to liberate India from British colo- trate the Indian army, went to several can- During the trial, he had refused counsel. nialism and help establish a free and in- tonments with Pingle to excite the soldiers While the judge was impressed by the dependent India. Its headquarter was es- to fight – not for the British but against the young man’s intellect, he showed no tablished in San Francisco and a newspa- British Empire – and free India from the mercy. He labeled the young boy the ‘most per titled Gadar was launched for free dis- shackles of British imperialism. dangerous of all rebels’. The judge said, tribution to promote the aims, objectives On January 25, 1915, “He is very proud of the crimes commit- and activities of the association. Gadar reached and went about assess- ted by him. He does not deserve mercy was published in Punjabi and and ing the preparations. At a meeting on Feb- and should be sentenced to death.” Wit- in other Indian languages and was sent ruary 12, 1915, the date for the revolt nesses say that the 19 year old sang pa- to Indians all over the world. Kartar was was set –February 21, 1915. The plan was triotic songs all the way to the gallows, put in charge of Gadar in Punjabi. It car- to attack cantonments of Mian Mir and kissed the hangman’s noose, and em- ried articles about the atrocities of the Ferozepur while was to be braced martyrdom. British on Indians and racial prejudice and prepped for a mutiny. As the Gadarites At the age of 19, Kartar Singh, student, discrimination against Indians in the went about making their final prepara- revolutionary, inspiring jewel in India’s free- United States. The articles exhorted tions for the attack, they were unaware dom struggle, became Shaheed Kartar Singh people to join the association, unite and of a traitor, in their midst, Sarabha. No wonder, this young man in- rise up against British rule. The Gadar who had revealed the plan to the police. spired the likes of Shaheed , magazine became very popular for its revo- The daring attempt to free India from the who is known to have lutionary and patriotic ideas and over a British serfdom was foiled by the traitor. called him his guru. period of time, the Hindustani Associa- Many Gadarites were arrested and put in Birth Anniversary: May 24 tion of the Pacific Coast itself became jail. Kartar, Harnam Singh Tundilat and known as the Gadar Party. Jagit Singh escaped the police net. They Inder Singh writes He saw other Indians being subjected The organization was still very young, decided to go to Afghanistan and continue regularly on the In- to similar treatment while potential im- when in August, 1914, broke their struggle from there. But Kartar’s dian Diaspora. He is a migrants with Caucasian features were out, and the British forces got busy fight- conscience did not permit him to run away noted member of the let in with the barest of formalities. He ing the Germans. The Gadarites decided when all his comrades had been arrested. SoCal community. asked someone sitting next to him as to that the time for action had come as World On March 2, 1915, they came back to . why this was happening. “It is because War l provided them a golden opportu- Sargodha and propagated rebellion LETTERS Pot Calling the Kettle Black Kudos to the Indian Embassy because no Terry Jones, a pastor in 2012. As to claims each group is really a “minority” within self-respecting country would allow such of church burnings, there’ve been inten- the “majority.” people in to investigate “religious freedom” tional burning of seven African American Hansen’s bravado that it will discour- The brouhaha by Reverend Thomas when they have already prejudged the is- churches in just the St. Louis area. age investment in India doesn’t explain Reese, and Katrina Lantos Swett, et sues, per their barking and prognostications. An accurate internationally accepted gauge of why India is now the fastest growing al, of the U.S. Commission on Inter- Would America allow such a delegation from how minorities in a country treated is if their economy in the world. It didn’t stop the national Religious Freedom (“India India, or elsewhere, to probe religious freedom numbers are increasing or decreasing. In this economic rise of China, where religious dismisses US Report on Religious here? Let’s see what they would find. The litany respect, some of India’s minorities’ populations freedom is severely curtailed (Muslims are Intolerance, IJ, May 6), whose mem- of acts of religious intolerance in India pales in are increasing fast, especially Muslims and Chris- banned from wearing headscarves and bers are only devout Christians and a comparison to that in America, especially when tians. For instance, Muslims formed about nine keeping beards) and these USCIRF rever- Muslim and their surrogates of the India’s population is much larger. percent of post-partition India’s population, but ends are permanently banned. same religious stripe, like Thomas There have been numerous attacks and now are over sixteen percent and estimated to Religious intolerance is perpetrated by a Hansen, reminds me of the old ad- vandalism of mosques, Sikh and Hindu increase to twenty percent in 2020. The largest small number of bigoted individuals, whether age: “The pot calling the kettle temples in America. Only recently, a number of illegal immigrants pouring into In- here or in India. However, the question is: Is black.” They need to clean up their gurudwara in Spokane, Washington was van- dia are Bangladeshi Muslims. Now why would the present democratically elected government own backyard first before pontificat- dalized, including desecration of the holy they risk their lives to go to a country that perse- in India promulgating laws favoring a particu- ing on others. book, not to mention the massacres at Wis- cutes them per morons of the USCIRF? lar religion, or restricted any religion’s activi- consin gurudwara and the Emmanuel Afri- India does not have a real majority because ties, or tried to amend India’s secular constitu- can Methodist Church in Charleston. The the Hindus are very diverse group based on be- tion? Hell no. Muslim holy book was publicly burnt by liefs, regions, languages, castes, etc., that A.K. Sharma, Flintridge, CA

It may be a little unusual for a Guru to be in busi- sonal wealth, No personal profit”. ness making everyday products for human consump- The main competitors to Patanjali Ayurved, operating tion (IJ, May 13). Patanjali Ayurved is a non-profit Yogi in Business in India are: Colgate Palmolive, Nestles and Glaxo Smith- company , in India, the brain child of Guru Ramdev Kline. The company has been able to keep its product who has become very well known as a friend of the line at a price 10 %to 45% below the foreign products selling in new prime minister, Narendra Modi, who took office ing director and primary shareholder. The company India. Initial capital for the fledgling operation came from pri- just two years ago . Nothing exotic about it perhaps, manufactures and sells about five hundred consumer prod- vate loans from friends of Ramdev. Now they have a credit line except when examined and commented on in the ucts including toothpastes, shampoos and other personal from the state owned Punjab National Bank. business newspaper, Financial Times. ( March 28,’16) care products made from local herbal recipes as well as It is probably fair to assume that the feature article in in a lengthy feature article. convenience foods like corn flakes and noodles. The the business newspaper was motivated by the competi- company’s sales for the year ending March 2015 touched tion to three major foreign companies operating in India $300 million and is expected to double in the next one successfully now, rather than any attempt to fish for Patanjali Ayurved is a privately held company year.The company’s business model is nothing short of trouble from the close philosophical relationship that run by Ramdev’s close associate, Acharya rewriting the rules for such industries. They operate from Ramdev has with the prime minister. Balkrishna.He is the company’s chairman, manag- a business zone in Haryana and have the motto: No per- P.Mahadevan, Fullerton, CA

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