Dagshai: Solan, Himachal Pradesh / the unsung heroes of Gaddar movement!

September 10 was a special day in the history of Dagshai,  a small cantonment where a book was released by me on the martyrdom of 12 heroes of the Gaddar movement of the early 20^th century.  For those who know little about this movement all I can say is that this was an unprecedented revolutionary upsurge for complete independence from the British rule and in fact had three important bearings on the national freedom movement. Firstly the Gadderites as they were called were not just freedom fighters but were responsible for creating this consciousness of complete independence much later which was imbibed in the Congress session in 1929. Secondly the influence of this movement was so great that it motivated a large number of young people to fight for independence with a perspective. Of course Bhagat  Singh was one of them. This movement was with a clear perspective of building a secular, economic and social consciousness amongst the young people while building the struggle.  It was a precursor to the theme called India. I was shocked to note as to why these revolutionaries while mentioning their names added as their surname not according to their caste but village ; so that the social system could be blurred and an integral system could be evolved. Thirdly and most important it eventually also led to the formation of the Communist Party in India the most revolutionary force of the people as  later a large number of those who survived this movement became astounding leaders of the Communist movement as well.

Now for Dagshai where this book was released let me place the reason why such a small hamlet was chosen to release such an important book. Twelve of the Gaddar movement leaders were kept in the cellular jail of Dagshai a fact hardly mentioned in the historic events. Later they were hanged by the British government.  All the 12 were from the army and in fact were planning a rebellion within the army during this struggle. They got motivated from the Gaddar leaders and decided to supply arms and ammunition to them. However they were caught at the frontier but instead of keeping in Ambala or other central jails were brought to Dagshai. While inquiring about the reason why to such a place the answer comes from the the annals  of history from the British officer who  quotes that they were transported quietly and even the reason of their arrest was not made public as there was a chance of a bigger rebellion in the army at that time.  The court martial was a formality that was done in a day and all were sentenced for execution. 

But this is not all! It was hardly reported and hardly anyone knew about this sacrifice. May be because this was done in a highly secretive style. Then how did the people came to know about it? It was in 1970s when a dossier from the Irish government reached here asking to exhume the remains of one of its soldier who too was declared a Rebel to the British army during the same period. The remains were exhumed from the cemetery and handed over to them which was taken back with full honours and now a museum stands in Ireland. It was at that time the then station commander of one of the units of the Indian army(the jail now happens to be with the Indian Army)  most castigately stated ‘Shame on us they have honoured their soldier but we have lost 12 revolutionaries however nothing has been done to remember them’.  This episode led to the commemoration of the event which is in the month of May. Interestingly this event was observed by the Army initially and then was taken over by the Sikh clergy and now with democratic forces intervention it has become a public function.

It was in 2015 in one of the events that one of the brilliant students of history  Mr. Chiranjee Lal was asked to compile the data and write a book on it. The task was for one year which was done in a highly adept manner and the book is out which has the title Fauji Bagawtan Ate Dagshai Court martial (Rebellion in the army and the Dagshai court martial)

RED SALUTE TO THE MARTYRS OF GADDAR MOVEMENT!