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Dialogue and Drama
History of Punjabi Pioneers and Gadhar Heroes
Dr. Amrik Singh
Sacramento
 In
North America, Gadhar Movement 1914-1915 was the first organized
movement to free India from British occupation. A few thousands
Indians pooled their resources to plan an armed insurrection against
British colonialists. Though they could not succeed in their
mission, they awakened a longing for freedom in their countrymen.
They started their freedom struggle even before the Russian
revolution. More than 200 freedom lovers were martyred for their
patriotism. An appeal was made to raise a suitable memorial for them
in Sacramento, California. They tilled their lands in Sacramento and
San Joaquin Valley and supported the campaign until India got
freedom in 1947.
These views were
expressed during a Conference on 22 August 2009 at Sheldon High
School Sacramento organized by Gadhar Memorial Foundation. The
keynote speaker was Dr. Harish Puri who has authored a book about
Gadhar movement and held the Chair of Ambedkar Studies at Guru Nanak
Dev University Amritsar. Dr. Jaspal Singh, Vice Chancellor Punjabi
University Patiala, Dr. Surinder Singh Mand of Government College
Talwara and Dr Jaswant Singh Neki were other speakers who addressed
the audience. Earlier, Dr Gurdev Singh Khush, a renowned agriculture
scientist, inaugurated the conference. ‘Gadhar Express’ a play
written by Dr. Atamjit Singh and directed by Surinder Dhanoa was
staged after the conference.
Dr. Harish Puri
underlined the role of intellectuals in Gadhar Lehar. It was their
guidance that was responsible for building the movement. Gadharis
according to him were secular in their vision. He quoted Harold
Gould to stress that Gadhar activists were naive and unorganized.
Most of them, according to him, were uneducated. Dr. Harish Puri,
however, didn’t go further to investigate the causes of movement’s
failure. Commenting on papers of the main speakers, Dr. Amrik Singh
pointed out that conferences become totally irrelevant if the
history becomes a casualty of ideology and false opinions. He
referred to Dr. B.R. Ambedkar’s book on the question of Pakistan
published in 1941. Dr. Ambedkar quotes Lala Hardayal’s statement
that appeared in 1925 in “Partap” as part of a Hindu solution to the
question of Pakistan. Dr. Ambedkar clearly outlines that Hindu
hardliners like Lala Hardayal and V.D. Savarkar pushed Muslims to
entertain ideas of Pakistan. Hindu chauvinists’ proposal for
“Shuddhi” was an expression of intolerance and threat to other
minorities. Dr. Amrik Singh regretted that historians ignore
authentic resources and fabricate imaginary and mythical account of
selected leaders under the influence of the majoritarian mindset .
He also referred to the need of understanding why Gadri activist
Babu Mangoo Ram Mugowalia had to start Aad Dharm movement in 1926.
The selective use of history by the majority escalates sectarian
tendencies. That is why the role of great rebels like Mehraj Singh,
Baba Ram Singh and Maharaja Dalip Singh has not been made part of
the national heritage. Their rebellion had caused the British to
pump huge resources to suppress their popularity among the masses.
Dr. Jaswant
Singh Neki held that Guru Nanak was the greatest revolutionary.
Gadharis were influenced by the revolutionary spirit of Guru Nanak.
The construction of Gurdwara in Stockton in 1912 was a precursor in
building up the Gadhar movement. Dr. Jaspal Singh referred to the
publication of two books by Punjabi University Patiala that are
compilation of poems and essays written during the Gadhar movement.
He said Gadharis' contribution was not recognized mainly due to an
unusual stress on Gandhianism.
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Dharm Paul in his role as Jodh Singh was at his theatrical best.
Dilawar Chahal acted Hopkinson in a very impressive manner. He
understood his character and brought out expressions of his
anti-Punjabi zeal on the stage. Balwinder Mahey successfully
performed traitor Bela Singh. Harmesh Sidhu, as Gen O ‘Dwayer
and Pandit Kanshi Ram ; Gursharan Sekhon, as Rahmat Ali Wajidke;
Sonu Randhawa, as Ganesh |
Gandhi’s
non-cooperation movement was built by the government beyond
proportion. As a result, the armed incursion of Gadharis was
reduced to insignificance. He said Gadhar failed due to the
treachery of some insiders. Dr. Jaspal Singh said that it was a
challenge to historians to reevaluate Gadhar movement and rewrite
its history. Dr. Surinder Singh Mand’s lecture focused on the
monumental contribution of Gadhris in the struggle for India’s
freedom.
According to
him, they influenced Punjabi literature and language by writing
revolutionary poems and essays. Kuldip Singh Dhaliwal, chairman of
Gadhar Memorial foundation announced that to commemorate 100 years
of Gadhar movement in 2013, a big conference will be held. The
patron of the foundation, Charan Singh Judge, thanked the audience
for coming from far off places to attend the conference. Among other
speakers, Dr. Sukhwinder Kamboj, Major Bhupinder Singh Daler, Dr.
Onkar Singh Bindra, Dr. Baldev Singh Dhaliwal of Punjabi University
Patiala also commented on the success of the conference.
After the
conference, the audience waited with bated breath for the staging of
“Gadhar Express.” A renowned playwright from
Punjab,
Dr. Atamjit Singh stated that he faced an uphill task in writing the
script about Gadhar history. Surinder Singh Dhanoa directed the
play.
As soon as the
curtain lifted, a big book with the title “History” written on it
appeared as a stage setting. The characters emerge from the book and
look totally strangers not only to the audience, but also to the
actors themselves. Through this device, the playwright ironically
denounces the apathetic ignorance about the glorious history of the
Gadhar. Gadhar Express is a play within the play. The rehearsal is a
part of the play, thus it demonstrates lapses in acting at places.
The director’s efforts to improve the performance of his cast appear
natural. The play sometimes gets buried under too much load of
historical information. But it successfully comes out from the
darkness of history and appeals to audience to empathize with
characters’ pain and longing for freedom. The actors who play the
role of historical characters can’t remain untouched. The role of
Ram Singh who shot Ram Chandar is highlighted to emphasize his
patriotism for the cause of freedom. Darshan Aujala takes pride in
acting as Ram Singh. Whereas, Kamal Randhawa, the actor playing Ram
Chander expresses his shock and shame for betraying his colleagues.
In this way, the playwright deftly solved difficulties of handling
historical matter. Kamal also felt elevated by playing the role of
Kartar Singh Sarabha and his undying love for freedom.
Given the time
needed for rehearsals, the director achieved a remarkable feat in
blocking the movements. In his role of a director-actor, Mr. Dhanoa
was impressive. He appeared to be heading a team of like-minded,
mutually appreciative, and self-motivated actors who enlightened by
playing their specific roles exhort audience to recognize what so
far remained concealed in history books. For the audience, the play
was a challenge. As Punjabi audiences’ conditioning of mind is more
towards music and traditional dances, the historical play posed
problem of an intrusive consciousness. A large number remained stuck
to their seats to make sense of the historical knowledge. They might
have for the first time realized that entertainment was also
possible through historical theatre. The staging of the play
succeeded in engendering eagerness to know more about history.
 The
play prominently figures incidents revolving round murders of
William Hopkinson by Mewa Singh in Vancouver in 1914, and Ram
Chander in San Fransico by Ram Singh in 1917. Both incidents took
place during the court proceedings. A Canadian Immigration inspector
and a British Spy, Hopkinson headed a network of Sikh agents engaged
by the British to diffuse rising wave of patriotism among Sikhs of
California. Ram Chander at the height of Gadhar movement, engineered
dissensions that led to the failure of Gadhar. He received huge
funds from
Germany
that he appropriated in his personal accounts.
Dharm Paul in
his role as Jodh Singh was at his theatrical best. Dilawar Chahal
acted Hopkinson in a very impressive manner. He understood his
character and brought out expressions of his anti-Punjabi zeal on
the stage. Balwinder Mahey successfully performed traitor Bela
Singh. Harmesh Sidhu, as Gen O ‘Dwayer and Pandit Kanshi Ram ;
Gursharan Sekhon, as Rahmat Ali Wajidke; Sonu Randhawa, as Ganesh
Pingley; Jaswinder Dhanoa, as Lady Judge and Rukmani; Jaswinder
Bawa, as Sarkari Vakeel; Jaswinder Chhoti, as Bela Singh’s wife
Bhindi; Jaspal Saini, as Cleveland, Surinder Dhanoa, as Dirctor and
Hafifz Abdullah; Rashpal Khangura, as Tarknath Dass ;Manjit Singh,
as Bhagwan Singh, played their roles appreciably. Cool Punjabi Virsa
Academy’s Parmjit Singh and Renu Singh of Stockton provided music.
Punjab Lok Rang was honored for its excellent performance.
Many
organizations were seen present on the occasion. Journalists Daljit
Sra, Chief Editor of Amritsar Times, Prem Chumber of
Ambedkartimes.com, Jatinder Singh Randhawa of Punjab Mail, Husan
Laroya of Ajit Jalandhar were there to cover the event. Punjabi
Sahit Sabha California was represented on the stage by Manjit Kaur
Sekhon and Vishav Punjabi Academy by poet Kulwinder.
16
September 2009
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