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.

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*Freelance journalist