The International journal of analytical and experimental modal analysis ISSN NO: 0886-9367 INDIA'S STRUGGLE FOR FREEDOM AND THE ROLE OF INDIAN DIASPORA * Rama Ranjan Upadhyay *Research Scholar, Department of History, University of Lucknow, Lucknow (India) Email: [email protected] Abstract: The Indian National Movement has a great importance in the history of India. This was due to the exploitative nature of the colonial government. Colonial intervention took place in almost every aspect of Indian life during the colonial period. Due to these interventions, the Indian public started a movement against the colonial government. Many Indian reformers and leaders like Raja Ram Mohan Roy, Dada Bhai Noriji, Mahatma Gandhi, Drs. BR Ambedkar, Shyamji Krishna Verma, Sohan Singh Bhakna etc. saw the freedom of citizens by going abroad. They were influenced by the freedom enjoyed by the citizens of these countries. This spirit of independence inspired Indian reformers and leaders to make India free from colonial government. These leaders organized movements to make India independent so that Indians could enjoy the same freedom. Many leaders like Gandhi started their political life in foreign (South Africa) and devoted their lives for the independence of India. Many Indian leaders like Shyamji Krishna, LalaHarDayal, BhikajiCama etc. traveled abroad and started the movement in favor of Indian freedom struggle. He founded several organizations like India Home Rule Society, India House Ghadar Party and Indian National Army and supported the national movement. Therefore, this research paper is an attempt to see the role of the Indian diaspora in the Indian national movement. This research paper has mainly two objectives. First the role of reforms and leaders who toured overseas and tried to improve Indian society and participated in the freedom struggle of India from overseas. And, second, the role of organizations that were established abroad by Indians during the Indian National Movement. Key Words: Diaspora, Indian National Movement, Ghadar Movement, Indian Home Rule Society, Indian National Army Volume XII, Issue II, February/2020 Page No:2597 The International journal of analytical and experimental modal analysis ISSN NO: 0886-9367 Introduction: The Indian National Movement was fought on two fronts. The first front was in India, where the national movement was fought under the leadership of the Indian National Congress and the second front was overseas, from where many Indians contributed to the Indian independence movement. The Indian national movement was a long journey of Indian independence. The movement against colonial rule started just after the establishment of British rule in India. However, these movements took nationalistic shape after the establishment of the Indian National Congress in 1885. The Indian National Congress led the protest movements against the colonial government. Most of the nationalist leaders of the Indian national movement were Western educated and belonged to certain castes, communities, linguistic and economic groups. These leaders were mainly the three presidents of India such as Calcutta, Bombay and Madras. According to ShekharBandyopadhyay, he was more concerned about creating his elite society and culture. These nationalist leaders not only had limited goals, but also had unnatural achievements (Bandhopadhyay, 2009). Gopal Krishna Gokhale, Ferozeshah Mehta S.N. Like a liberal leader. Banerjee etc. mainly focused on economic reforms, constitutional reforms and administrative reforms. But the main weakness of the liberal leaders was that they could not influence the common people of India (Chandra, 2009). Liberal leaders were of the view that gradually the British government would give rights to Indians. However, in 1907 the Congress split in two. The other part of nationalist leaders did not believe in liberal leaders. They were known as extremist leaders. Bal GangadharTilak, LalaLajpat Rai, Bipin Chandra Pal and Arvind Ghosh etc. were prominent extremist leaders. Lack of success of British policies and liberal leadership led to the rise of extremism in India. The extremist leaders made Swaraj their primary objective. He focused on indigenous and cultural revivalism. The partition of Bengal in 1905 became an important reason for the rise of extremism in India. The Swadeshi movement was led by extremist leaders after 1905. However, the extremist movement could not be more successful and by 1917, the extremist movement had lost its strength (Bandyopadhyay, 2009). The time when Gandhi came into Indian politics was a very important time as the First World War was going on. In such a situation, the government did not want any challenge within the country. Therefore, the government was ready to give some relaxation to Indians. The Champaran peasant movement, the Kheda movement and the Ahmedabad mill strike were examples where the government agreed to give comfort to Indians. On the other hand, the government Volume XII, Issue II, February/2020 Page No:2598 The International journal of analytical and experimental modal analysis ISSN NO: 0886-9367 was not tolerating any violent agitation. The extremist leaders planned a revolt against the government on 19 February 1915 under the leadership of Ras Bihari Bose. When the government came to know about this rebellion through CID, it crushed the rebellion. According to Chandra, 42 extremist leaders were hanged and 200 were sent to jail (Chandra, 1998). Indian Diaspora before Independence: The year 1905 was a turning point in the history of the Indian freedom struggle, as this year saw major political changes not only in India but also in the world. In India, Bengal was divided into two parts this year and for the world, Japan defeated Russia in the same year. In 1905, the Bengali people organized the first nationalist mass movement against the British government. Therefore, prominent Indian intellectual Benoy Kumar Sarkar stated that the year 1905 was the beginning of a new era for India (Sarkar, 1922). In the same year, the Swadeshi movement emerged in Bengal and several protest movements took place. The British government reacted vigorously to suppress the Swadeshi movement. Due to this response, many educated Indians left India and moved to different countries and led the Indian independence movement from those countries (Tyne, 2007). The diaspora played a very important role in the Indian national movement. The British had established several colonies in many countries of Africa, Asia and American continents. The British moved many Indian people to various colonies. These Indians were sent to various colonies as a laborer, but some of them Indians were well educated and started their trade in those colonies. In this way, he had made a lot of money. During the 20th century, Indian leaders visited various colonies and met with Indian diaspora and requested them to help in the Indian national movement. LalaLajpat Rai went to Canada and the United States and requested Indians to participate in the Indian freedom struggle. Because of this, these Indians focused on Indian nationalist movements (Jafferlot, 2007). By 1914, North America had become home to Punjabi Diaspora. A large Punjabi population settled in this part of the US from Jalandhar and Punjab in Hojarpur district. Most of them were farmers and soldiers of the British Army. The Punjabis who worked as an army man had an opportunity to understand the conditions of their contemporary world. These Indians faced many problems in their colonies because; The white people did not like these Indians. Many Indians settled in Canada but the Government of Canada made many rules for Indians. Indian diaspora did not like such treatment and decided to support the Indian freedom struggle (Chandra, 1998). In the 19th and 20th centuries, a large number of Punjabi populations settled in the US and Volume XII, Issue II, February/2020 Page No:2599 The International journal of analytical and experimental modal analysis ISSN NO: 0886-9367 Canada. He went there in search of better employment opportunities. Many of these Punjabis were former soldiers of the British Army in Singapore and Hong Kong. They believed that the British government would treat them better, but Great Britain declared that every Indian would be treated equally in all its colonies. In this way, these soldiers faced discrimination, injustice and inequality. The first group of Sikhs entered Canada in 1897 when they were on an official visit. Many of them settled in Canada and invited their relatives and friends. Until 1906, Sikhs wandered into Canada, but after 1906 the Canadian government stopped their emigration. This led to the appearance of the Ghadar movement (Nahal, U. D.). South Africa was also one of the most important colonies of the British Empire. When the British established their colonies in South Africa, they sent negroes there. These colonies required more workers; Therefore, the British authorities requested the British Indian government to send more workers. The first batch of indentured laborers arrived in Natal on 16 November 1860. After that, a large number of Indian laborers were sent to India from South Africa. Indentured laborers in South Africa were called 'kulis' by Europeans (Gandhi, 1928). These were from different parts of the Indian country like United Provinces, Bihar, Maharashtra, Coromandel Coast, Malabar and Orissa. While many of them were sent directly from India; Some of them were laborers who were already working in different colonies. According to Hugh Tinker, between 1830 and 1917 1.3 million Indians were sent out of India as indentured laborers. More than one and a half million Indian workers were sent to Natal only. During the 20th century, the total Indian population in South Africa was 3 percent of the total population of South Africa (Tinker, 1974). At the time of World War I, a large number of Indians were recruited in the British Army. AK Tiwari is of the view that the total number of Indian troops sent to different parts of the world during World War I was around 5, 52000 (Tiwari, 2019).