Ghadar Movement was a secular movement launched with the aim of liberating India from the clutches of British rule. After the British government decided in April 1914 to stop the deportation of political prisoners to the Andamans (and subsequently a majority of them already sent were repatriated to the Indian jails by September 1914), the revolutionary activities again flared up in 1915 onwards which were more authoritative in intensity, serious in nature and larger in dimension. The prevailing laws, the existing judicial system, the procedure of trial and the Indian jails, all weapons of the administrative set up, were found highly inadequate to contain the terrorist activities and penalise the revolutionaries. As a result, the British not only ordained new legislations, but also changed the judicial procedure of trial so as to reduce it only to a semblance of trial.
The gates of the Cellular Jail in the Andamans were reopened to imprison and punish the political prisoners. This time, among other revolutionaries convicted in other cases, Punjabis in general and Sikhs in particular, primarily convicted in fake trials known as Lahore Conspiracy Case and other related cases, were deported to the Andamans. These revolutionaries, well settled in various countries like Canada, America, Philippines, Burma, Hong Kong, China and Japan, had come to the country with a missionary zeal to wage war against the British Empire in India.
They were either leaders or members of the Ghadar Party, or they were influenced by its ideology and patriotic fervency. Ghadar Movement thus gradually took the shape of a dynamic movement.
Causes of Ghadar Movement
Ghadar Movement did not take place just for a mere reason. Several causes added fuel to fire, impelling the Indians to retaliate back. The policies of the British rulers and the laws enacted to enforce them had left Punjab in the grip of poverty towards the end of the 19th century.
Effects of Ghadar Movement
The Ghadar leaders were successful to agitate and stir up the Britons quite drastically. The activities made the autocrats rise up and take notice of the clandestine activities happening around them. They could not anticipate that any native could actually commit such daring and intimidating activities. As a result, they were armed with every measure to repress them to the full. The Ghadarites had made a decision to work from the country, instead of remaining in hiding overseas. The effects of the gory war were far-reaching and several Indians lost their lives in the ruthless bloodshed.
