First president of the Ghadar party; 1870-1968
Sohan Singh Bhakna
Sohan Singh Bhakna went to the United States as a labourer in 1909, became president of the Ghadar party, and spent sixteen years in British jails. He later worked with peasant movements and the Communist Party of India.
Ghadar
His birth is recorded in January 1870 at Khutrai Khurd. He reached Seattle on 4 April 1909 and worked in a timber mill. He led the Indian workers' association that launched the weekly Ghadar on 1 November 1913, and met the Komagata Maru at Yokohama in 1914.[EoS]
Prison and after
Arrested at Calcutta on 13 October 1914, he was sentenced to death at Lahore, commuted to life in the Andamans. He went on several hunger strikes, including one in 1928 against separating Mazhabi Sikhs at mealtimes. Released in 1930, he organised peasant societies and was interned again in the Second World War. He passed away at Amritsar on 21 December 1968.[EoS]
What the sources disagree on
Images
Sohan Singh Bhakna in 1967, photographed by Amarjit Chandan the year before he passed away.
Amarjit Chandan, 1967.CC BY-SA 4.0. Source
