“Call of the Ghadaris – Revolution”, the book published by the Communist Ghadar Party of India in Hindi, Punjabi and English, was released in Mumbai on August 5, 2017. Apart from many workers including women and youth, representatives of Kamgar Ekta Committee, All India Guards Council, Communist Party of India, Socialist Unity Centre of India (Communist), All India Students Federation, Ladaku Garment Mazdoor Sangh, Spark (Lok Raj Sangathan), Indian Airport Employees Union, Bastar Solidarity Group, Bigul Dasta and Purogami Mahula Sangathan also graced the occasion and released the book.
“Call of the Ghadaris – Revolution”, the book published by the Communist Ghadar Party of India in Hindi, Punjabi and English, was released in Mumbai on August 5, 2017. Apart from many workers including women and youth, representatives of Kamgar Ekta Committee, All India Guards Council, Communist Party of India, Socialist Unity Centre of India (Communist), All India Students Federation, Ladaku Garment Mazdoor Sangh, Spark (Lok Raj Sangathan), Indian Airport Employees Union, Bastar Solidarity Group, Bigul Dasta and Purogami Mahula Sangathan also graced the occasion and released the book.
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The youth of the CGPI had put together an enthralling presentation that gave a jhalak (peep) into the book. The former British rulers as well as the present day ruling class of our country do all in their power to hide the inspiring history of our martyrs, because they know very well that their experience is very relevant today in the fight to end exploitation and oppression. In large regions of our country including Maharashtra, the glorious deeds of the Hindustan Ghadar Party are known to very few. The presentation was brought alive with songs and poems, some composed by fighters of the past, as well as some by the young shayars of today.
The spokesperson of the CGPI elaborated on the relevance of the Hindustan Ghadar Party to the revolutionary movement today. The Ghadaris were not mindless hotheads as is portrayed by the ruling class. They did not believe in individual terrorism. They had a vision for India, and they knew the importance of mobilising the masses of Indian people around a common vision in order to prepare conditions for the overthrow of colonial rule. This is shown by the rich literature produced by the Ghadaris. It is mind boggling that their paper, printed in many Indian languages could be distributed in millions and their message spread all over the world in those days when there was no internet and not even any modern means of transport!
The political aim of the Hindustan Ghadar Party was to overthrow the colonial state and establish the rule of workers and peasants. This was diametrically opposite to the aim of the India National Congress and parties of its type that worked to accommodate the interests of the Indian capitalists and landlords within the colonial state. The Ghadaris clearly explained that the aim of the struggle was to rid India not only of colonial rule, but of all forms of exploitation and oppression of our people.
Today too the main thing is to identify that the enemy of us workers and peasants is the ruling class headed by about 150 families of the richest. They have inherited the state apparatus from the British and have further perfected it. Just like their ancestors, they collaborate with the foreign imperialists against the interests of the toilers of our land. Their common aim is to prevent the establishment of the rule of the toilers. Individual terrorism cannot bring about revolution. The task before us is to make the toilers conscious and organise them to overthrow this oppressive rule. We cannot have illusions about the nature of the state of the ruling class.
The Hindustan Ghadar Party was internationalist in its vision. It fought to replace the colonial India with a United States of India which would be a voluntary union of the many nations and nationalities in the subcontinent. They understood, and propagated the necessity of the unity of the peoples of the world against colonialism and imperialism. They worked amongst Indian Army units stationed all over the world, to turn their guns against the colonialist masters, instead of suppressing the anti-colonial uprisings of peoples.
While relentlessly pointing out the treachery of the Indian National Congress, the Hindustan Ghadar Party also recognised the danger of the concept of the Hindu Rashtra. It recognised that the British state was responsible for promoting the proponents of Hindu Rashtra and Indian Muslim League as well as the Congress. In fact, promoting communalism was the tried and tested method of the British India state. Today we have to recognise the Indian state as the fountainhead of communalism. All the parties of the ruling class, including the Congress and BJP play their assigned roles in promoting communalism and preserving this system.
The Hindustan Ghadar Party believed above all in the power of the collective. That is one of the most important lessons we have to draw from it!
Just as the Hindustan Ghadar Party called upon all revolutionaries to unite and overthrow the British Raj, the CGPI is calling upon all communists to unite to realise our common goal.
Speakers from many organisations thanked the CGPI for bringing out the book. Many from the audience spoke about how inspired they felt in participating in the book release function.