Ghadar Party | American Turban

"Sohan Singh Bhakna, second from the right, was arrested and jailed for his role in the Ghadar Partys abortive revolt against British rule in India. The former St. Johns mill worker, a major organizer and leader of the party, is shown here in 1938 at Amritsar Railway Station." (Photo: Kesar Singh, Courtesy of Amarjit Chandan Collection. Source: Portland Tribune)

Picture of the Day: Sohan Singh Bhakna

September 19, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

An article in the Portland Tribune traces the origins of the Ghadar Party movement to Oregon after a group of laborers from Punjab demanded justice for the attacks upon their community by racists mobs in 1910. The movement sought to promote revolution in India from British rule: Though there wound up being only one person convicted, the fight-back was a turning point for the Punjabi community here, Ogden says. New activist leaders emerged, including mill worker Sohan Singh Bhakna and […]

Categories: Picture of the Day • Tags: Astoria, Bruce La Brack, Ghadar, Ghadar Party, Johanna Ogden, Oregon, Sohan Singh Bhakna

Flag of the Ghadar Party (source: Ghadar Movement blog)

Call for papers: Ghadar Centennial Conference in Abbotsford, BC, Canada

May 7, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

On October 17, 2013, the Centre for Indo-Canadian Studies at the University of the Fraser Valley in Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada, is holding a conference to commemorate the centennial of the founding of the Ghadar Party in 1913 — a movement that was based in North America to challenge British colonial rule of India. Entitled “Interpreting Ghadar: Echoes of Voices Past“, the conference is inviting papers under the following topics: “Ghadar Literature and Revolution” “Colonialism and Social Justice” “Negotiating Transnational […]

Categories: Events • Tags: "Interpreting Ghadar: Echoes of Voices Past", Abbotsford, British Columbia, Call for Papers, Canada, Centre for Indo-Canadian Studies, Ghadar Party, University of the Fraser Valley

Celebrating the centenary of the Ghadar Party, in Oregon

April 8, 2013 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

One of the legacies of the earliest Sikh and Indian immigrants to the United States at the turn of the twentieth century was the creation of the Ghadar Party, a political movement based in northern California that sought to promote India’s liberation from British rule. Led by Indian expatriates in the United States, the Ghadar Party was formed in 1913. One of its main activities was the publishing of literature to promote resistance to British rule and for a free […]

Categories: Events • Tags: Astoria, Bruce La Brack, Daily Astorian, Ghadar, Ghadar Party, Johanna Ogden, Oregon, San Francisco, Stockton

Picture of the Day: Ghadar Party Printing Press

October 14, 2012 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

On Saturday evening, I attended the Centennial festivities at the Stockton Gurdwara Sahib in Stockton, California, which, founded in 1912, is considered the first and oldest Gurdwara in the United States. In many ways, for Sikh Americans, this Gurdwara represents our first formal foothold in this country. Saturday’s event enjoyed a celebratory atmosphere that brought out many local, state and federal politicians and officials, and many of the who’s who within the Sikh American community. During this celebration, it was […]

Categories: Civil Rights, Picture of the Day, Reflections • Tags: California, Ghadar, Ghadar Party, Indian independence movement, printing press, Stockton, Stockton Gurdwara Centennial Celebration, Stockton Gurdwara Sahib, The Ghadar

Sikh history and the legacy of American Independence

July 4, 2012 by Rupinder Mohan Singh

On this day in 1776, the American colonies declared their independence from Britain: We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. In this declaration, we see the seeds of what was to become the United States we know today. At this time, Sikhs were also claiming their autonomy in the northwestern portion of the Indian […]

Categories: Civil Rights, Reflections • Tags: California, Declaration of Independence, Fourth of July, Ghadar Party, Independence Day, Maharaja Ranjit Singh, Stockton