Organising Committee of the Ghadar jaari hai… abhiyan

held in New Delhi on Feb 3-4, 2007

On February 3-4, 2007, several organizations and individuals got together in Delhi to sum up the lessons from the Great Ghadar of 1857 and its aftermath and to chart a clear course for our campaign to celebrate its historic 150th year. The meeting was chaired by Prakash Rao, spokesperson of the Communist Ghadar Party of India. Prakash Rao gave a brief background to this meeting.

The CGPI and various other organizations have been working to take forth the lessons of the Ghadar of 1857 to the workers and peasants, women and youth of our country, in order to assist the Indian people in the struggle they are waging today to overthrow capitalism and the colonial legacy and become masters of their own destiny.

The Ghadar of 1857 was a revolt of our people against the foreign invader and the oppressive social order that prevented the people of India, the productive classes, from becoming the masters of India. It was crushed with savagery by the British. Every tree from Peshawar to Kolkotta witnessed at least one patriot hanged. The legendary Buda Bargad in Kanpur’s central Park witnessed hundreds of patriots hanged on a single day.

The Ghadar of 1857 was a continuation of the centuries' old struggle of our people against Brahmanism and the foreign invader. It was a continuation of the Bhakti and Sufi movement of several centuries, encompassing all of India. It reflected what the Indian people had learnt till that time in their struggle for progress. It was an attempt to advance from there.

The Ghadar of 1857 was aimed at the establishment of the rule of the people of India . “Hum hai iske maalik, Hindustan hamara” was the call of the patriots. This was thwarted by the British colonialists by massacring millions of patriots, and establishing an order for plunder.

We, the Indian people have never accepted this. Workers and peasants, women and youth, the peoples of different nations and nationalities, the tribal peoples, the people who are oppressed by the Brahmanical order, — we have been fighting to end capitalism and the colonial legacy, and bring ourselves to power. This is what we mean when we say “Ghadar jaari hai…”.

The Lok Raj Sangathan launched a memorable campaign in Ulhas Nagar in Maharashtra in September-October 2006 replete with cycle rallies, mass meetings, poster exhibitions and cultural programs which involved tens of thousands of people.

The Mazdoor Parishad took the initiative, along with the Communist Ghadar Party of India, the Uttar Pradesh Krantikari Parishad, the Lok Raj Sangathan, Bangladesh India Pakistan Peoples Forum, Yuva Bharat, New Proletarian Path, Kapada Mill Mazdoor Union, Hind Naujawan Ekta Sabha, and the Kanpur Workers Council in organising an important seminar under the theme 1857 ki Ghadar jaari hai... in Lucknow in December 2006. At the end of this meeting, a committee was elected to chalk out the country wide campaign on Ghadar Jaari Hai...This committee met in Lucknow and asked Comrades from the CGPI to prepare and organise for the next meeting in Delhi to further plan the campaign. The meeting of Feb 3-4 is the fallout of this decision.

Comrade O.P. Sinha from the Mazdoor Parishad dwelt on the content of the work done for the Lucknow seminar. He pointed out that the papers presented at the seminar were the result of research done, on the following subjects: the "rule of law" that was established by British Colonialism to serve the plunder of India, the education system that was established to make Indians slaves of the colonialists in thought, the historic role of the peasantry in the Ghadar of 1857 and in all the revolutionary struggles of the Indian people, and the fact that the Ghadar of 1857 was a peoples' uprising. There was vigorous discussion on these and other themes.

The meeting discussed the different approaches to the Ghadar of 1857 in the world. The British imperialists are very active in giving their own rendering of the Ghadar and its crushing. The Indian Government will commemorate the Ghadar of 1857 through state organised public functions in Delhi on May 11-12, 2007. All the main leaders of the ruling class parties, including those of the Left Front, have been made part of a National Committee under the chairmanship of the Prime Minister to oversee these celebrations.

There was discussion on the approach of the government and the official forces to the Ghadar. A historian pointed out that the ruling circles have always ignored anything to do with 1857 in terms of monuments, museums, research publications, etc. They expected that it would kindle mass anti-imperialist sentiments and the spirit of rebellion amongst Indian people and even the armed forces who continue to be used against our own people in various parts of India, just as the East India Company did. Another participant pointed out that mischief was being carried out by the official circles by funding various projects to "prove" that dalits of India had no role in the Ghadar and "were actually opposed to it".

There were and are two diametrically opposite approaches to the Ghadar of 1857 amongst Indians.

The first has been, and remains still, that the Ghadar of 1857 reflected not merely a revolt of feudals for their lost privileges, but the revolt of the Indian people against foreign domination and for charting a new course where people were in power. The leaders of the Ghadar of 1857 openly declared that “the people of India will decide their future”. They were inspired by the Bhakti and Sufi movement which was a movement against the oppressive Brahmanical order and the foreign invaders.

The British colonialists established their direct colonial rule over India in 1858. They imposed political and economic institutions which would serve their plunder and safeguard their rule. They carried out the colonisation of the mind through the education system they imposed. They consciously created a class in whose interests it would be to perpetuate this rule of plunder. The class that is ruling us today is a direct descendent of this.

The second view is of the capitalists and others who benefited from capitalism and the colonial legacy. They portray the Ghadar of 1857 as a revolt of the feudals. This trend representing capitalists is proud that India is marching on the road of becoming an imperialist superpower, by crushing underfoot the aspirations of the vast majority of the workers and peasants, the nations, nationalities and peoples of our land.

Several participants spoke about the burden of Euro-centric outlook generated by the education system established by the colonialists, wiping out all traces of Indian creativity which was trying to find solutions to societal, political and technological problems in India before the entry of British colonialism. As a result of the Colonial Rule the development of Indian theory got stunted and the dominant outlook among Indian intellectuals became Euro-centric accepting the Westminster style parliamentary system and capitalism as the last word. A great struggle needs to be waged to settle accounts with the Eurocentric approach to solving India's problems today.

It was concluded that there are two lines regarding the character of 1857 and its relevance today. It was decided to start a broad inclusive campaign to take the first line forward. It was reaffirmed after discussion to call this campaign “1857— Ghadar jaari hai.. abhiyan” and to produce a monthly newsletter of the ‘Organising Committee of the Ghadar jaari hai.. abyiyan’. Representatives of various constituent organisations agreed to discuss in their organisations, the possibility of reproducing the newsletter in their papers or journals, as well as discussing with other forces to do the same.

It was also decided to come out with a magazine named Ghadar jaari hai containing highlights of the campaign and well researched articles regarding the content of 1857 uprising and its relevance today. There were also suggestions of producing a documentary about 1857, poster exhibitions, essay competitions and presentations to make more and more youth and students aware of it and draw them into the campaign. To put forward the views expressed in the meeting it was decided to produce a Mission Statement for the campaign giving a call to other forces and individuals to join the campaign and take it forward. A committee was formed to draft the statement, which was finalised after discussion on February 4, 2007. The approved mission statement of the campaign is reproduced in this issue of the newsletter. Lok Raj Sangathan offered its website to inform the world about this exciting initiative by the progressive forces in the peoples’ movement.

Among those who participated in the February 3-4 meeting were representatives from the Communist Ghadar Party of India, Lok Raj Sangathan, Mazdoor Parishad, Peoples Front, Yuva Bharat, and the Teesra Swadhinta Sangharsh Abhiyan. There were also several prominent academics, historians, and journalists who participated in this meeting.