Ghadar Party member Gulab Kaur, who remained in obscurity for five decades after her death, resurrected

By Harsh Thakor*

For fifty years, Gulab Kaur’s name was forgotten in her village, Bakshiwala. A black-and-white photo displayed at the Kisan Sabha’s 1973 conference sparked an exploration into the life of a woman the villagers had never known. This led to the rediscovery of an iconic figure—an underground member of the Ghadar Party during India’s freedom movement, whose contributions had been largely erased from history.

Today, Gulab Kaur’s legacy is being revived in Bakshiwala. CPI leader Satpal Kaur Khive, who is married into the village, notes that at a time when women rarely pursued education or stepped beyond their homes, Gulab Kaur had the courage to leave her husband and dedicate herself to the struggle for independence.

The Punjab Loksabhyacharak Manch plans to launch a yearlong campaign to spread her message, contextualizing it in the fight against imperialism and communal fascism. Peasant organizations will also participate in this initiative.

Milkha Singh Snehi from Bakshiwala first published a booklet on Gulab Kaur in 2004. A more detailed account, Gadar Di Dhee Gulab Kaur, was written by Kesar Singh and published in 2014.

On August 11, 1914, the Ghadar Party’s weekly publication Hindustan Ghadar called for "fearless brave soldiers" to join the revolt against British rule, offering "death" as salary, "martyrdom" as an award, and "freedom" as a pension. Ghadarites began returning to India from North America by ship, determined to launch a revolution.

One such group reached Manila, where Ghadar Party leader Hafiz Abdulla motivated several Indians to return to India and fight for independence. Among them was Gulab Kaur, who enlisted alongside Mann Singh.

However, when Mann Singh backed out at the last moment, Gulab Kaur boarded SS Korea alone. Her fellow revolutionaries included Rehmat Ali Wazidke, Bakhshi Singh, Lal Singh, Jagat Singh, and Chanda Singh Waraich.

Born in 1890 in Bakshiwala, Sangrur district, Gulab Kaur married Mann Singh from Jakhepal village. The couple migrated to Manila in search of better opportunities, with the intention of eventually moving to America. In Manila, Mann Singh attended a Ghadar Party meeting and initially volunteered for the independence struggle. But when he withdrew, Gulab Kaur remained steadfast. She left her husband and joined about fifty other Ghadarites, traveling from SS Korea to Tosha Maru at Singapore on their journey back to India.

According to Rakesh Kumar, author of Gulab Kaur: Ghadar Lehar Di Daler Yodha (Gulab Kaur: A Brave Warrior of the Ghadar Movement), the ships carrying the Ghadarites stopped at various locations where they mobilized people in gurdwaras. In one such meeting at a Hong Kong gurdwara, Gulab Kaur removed her bangles and delivered a fiery speech, challenging the men: “Anyone who steps back from this rare chance to defend our homeland should wear these bangles and step aside. We women will take their place in the fight.”

In Amritsar, Gulab Kaur worked as an underground operative. She posed as a simple village woman spinning a charkha while secretly tracking visitors to the Ghadar hideout. After arriving in India, she traveled through Kapurthala, Hoshiarpur, and Jalandhar, organizing people for armed revolution. To evade the police, she disguised herself as Jiwan Singh Daulewala’s wife and later moved to Kotla Naudh Singh in Hoshiarpur.

Gulab Kaur played a crucial role in distributing revolutionary literature and weapons for the Ghadar Party, often disguised as a journalist. When it became unsafe in Amritsar, she relocated to Lahore. The authorities had instructed landlords to rent homes only to married couples, so she posed as Inder Singh Bhasin’s wife to secure a safe house in Sarai Mulchand. This hideout, known only to Kartar Singh Sarabha, Amar Singh, and Harnam Singh Tundilat, contained an underground press with six cyclostyle machines used to publish Ghadar Sandesh and Elaan-e-Jung. While Sarabha oversaw printing, Gulab Kaur stepped in when he was absent. She secretly distributed the newspapers, hiding them in a two-layered basket—concealing a pistol and ammunition in the lower section and covering them with wares she pretended to sell.

She was adept at evading detection. Once, when police raided a secret meeting in Sangwal, the Ghadarites escaped but left behind critical documents and weapons. Gulab Kaur calmly gathered the materials, hid them in her basket, and walked past the unsuspecting officers.

Upon her return to India, Gulab Kaur was detained at the Ludhiana interrogation center and later arrested in Hoshiarpur under the Defence of India Act, 1915. She was imprisoned for two years, subjected to brutal torture, and threatened with execution if she did not disclose information about the Ghadar Party. She refused to break.

After her release, she sought refuge at Amar Singh’s home in Kotla Naudh Singh but remained under surveillance. Eventually, she was arrested again on charges of sedition and imprisoned in Lahore for another two years. The inhumane treatment she endured took a toll on her health, and she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Local healers refused to treat her, fearing repercussions from the British authorities. Despite her suffering, she continued organizing resistance against the British and their collaborators. Even after the failure of the Ghadar uprising, she remained hopeful and committed to its revival.

In 1925, she faded into obscurity. She passed away in 1941.

---

*Freelance journalist

Comments

Designing the edge, erasing the river: Sabarmati Riverfront and the dissonance between ecology and planning

By Mansee Bal Bhargava, Parth Patel Across India, old black-and-white images of the Sabarmati River are often juxtaposed with vibrant photos of the modern Sabarmati Riverfront. This visual contrast is frequently showcased as a model of development, with the Sabarmati Riverfront serving as a blueprint for over a hundred proposed riverfront projects nationwide. These images are used to forge an implicit public consensus on a singular idea of development—shifting from a messy, evolving relationship between land and water to a rigid, one-time design intervention. The notion of regulating the unregulated has been deeply embedded into public consciousness—especially among city makers, planners, and designers. Urban rivers across India are undergoing a dramatic transformation, not only in terms of their land-water composition but in the very way we understand and define them. Here, we focus on one critical aspect of that transformation: the river’s edge.

Ecological alarm over pumped storage projects in Western Ghats: Policy analyst writes to PM

By A Representative In a detailed letter addressed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, energy and climate policy analyst Shankar Sharma has raised grave concerns over the escalating approval and construction of Pumped Storage Projects (PSPs) across India’s ecologically fragile river valleys. He has warned that these projects, if pursued unchecked, could result in irreparable damage to the country’s riverine ecology, biodiversity hotspots, and forest wealth—particularly in the Western Ghats.

Relevance of historical foot marches like Dandi and Salt march in achieving developmental goals in India

By Bharat Dogra India has a great tradition of organizing foot marches, including some which become historically very important, the most obvious example being the Dandi Salt March under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi which is a very important chapter in the freedom movement of India.

Top civil rights leader announces plan to lead delegation to Pakistan amidst post-war tensions

By A Representative In a significant move, well-known academic and civil rights leader Sandeep Pandey has announced the plan to send a 22-member delegation to Pakistan to engage in dialogue with its government and civil society. The delegation proposed to go to Pakistan under the banner of Socialist Party (India) as a fact-finding mission to help seek solution to continuing tensions between the two countries over the fallout of the Pahalgam terror attack.

Few Bollywood actors possessed Sanjeev Kumar's subtle detachment and sensitivity

By Harsh Thakor On 9th July, we celebrated the 85th birthday of legendary Hindi film actor, Sanjeev Kumar., known as Haribhai Jariwala. Sanjeev Kumar penetrated zones of versatility or acting craft, almost unparalleled in Hindi cinema. He was one one the very few who touched horizons of true genius, transcending regions in acting virtually unexplored. Rarely did any artist get stuck as thickly into the skin of the character. The diversity of expressions in his moves reminded one of the different water colours of a painting. Sanjeev manifested the ventures of an artist to tap the regions unexplored. He simply defied all conventions of Bollywood, making path breaking experiments. His acting had a subtle degree detachment and sensitivity, which few Bollywood actors ever possessed. He may not have possessed the drop dead looks of a Dev Anand, Dharmendra or Sashi Kapoor or the professionalism or star charisma of an Amitabh Bachan, Rajesh Khanna or Shah Rukh Khan. However in pure acting...

Bridge collapse near Vadodara fuels demand for urgent repairs in Amreli

By A Representative The tragic collapse of a bridge near Vadodara, which claimed more than 10 lives, has intensified calls from social workers for immediate repairs to a dilapidated and dangerous bridge on the Amreli-Rajkot highway in Amreli district.

FSSAI defies Supreme Court order on food warning labels, citing 'trade secrets' for withholding vital information

By A Representative India’s food regulator, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), is facing strong criticism for deliberately delaying the implementation of crucial warning labels on High Fat, Sugar, and Salt (HFSS) food products. This comes despite a clear Supreme Court order on April 9, 2025, which mandated the completion of the "entire exercise" within three months. Adding to the controversy, the FSSAI is reportedly hiding expert reports and over 14,000 public comments under the pretext of "trade secrets."

Guru Dutt: The melancholy visionary who redefined Indian cinema

By Harsh Thakor* Iconic Indian director and actor Guru Dutt was just 39 years old when he died in 1964, but he left behind a cinematic legacy that continues to resonate. On July 9, the world marks the birth centenary of this cinematic wizard. Guru Dutt, whose name epitomises the golden era of Indian cinema, left an indelible mark with his talents as a director, producer, and actor. He elevated the art of filmmaking to new heights, bringing innovative storytelling to unexplored domains. Like the protagonist of "Pyaasa", true recognition came to Dutt only after his passing. Cinema enthusiasts continue to wonder what more he might have achieved had he lived longer.

Remarks by visiting speaker in Dallas stir controversy; police complaint filed

By A Representative A speech delivered at a Hindu community event in Dallas has sparked criticism and led to a police complaint, after the speaker reportedly called for a boycott of Muslim businesses in the area.

Search This Blog