Source: This article was originally written by Amaninder Sharma,TNN, Sep 22, 2014
Source: This article was originally written by Amaninder Sharma,TNN, Sep 22, 2014
PATIALA: In yet another marvellous discovery related to history of Indian independence struggle and role of Punjabis in the Ghadar movement, two Punjabi scholars – one based in London and another in Lahore – have found a precious 64-year-old manuscript and audio interview of founder of Ghadar Party Baba Sohan Singh Bhakna in a library in the German capital Berlin.
The 60-page manuscript, written in Urdu in a lined exercise book around 1951, and the recording were preserved as a part of Horst Kruger’s papers in Zentrum Moderne Orient (Centre of Modern Orientals) in Berlin. Horst Kruger, prominent historian in the then USSR-backed German Democratic Republic, was an Indologist and had made several visits to India before his death in 1985.
What makes the finding even more interesting is the fact that the audio-recorded interview of Bhakna was conducted by legendary communist of his times P C Joshi, who was the first general secretary of Communist Party of India (CPI) in undivided India. The audio recording was on an old-fashioned spool. It has now been reproduced on a DVD of 20-minute duration.
Those researching about Ghadar Party in India and abroad knew about the interview’s audio record for 40 years. "However, we could never trace it in libraries of India and North America. Kruger was close to P C Joshi. But we still don’t know how these articles actually landed in Berlin," said Harish Puri, who has written several books on Ghadarites.
Based on content of these articles, an autobiography of Baba Bhakna, who founded Ghadar Party in San Francisco in 1913, is soon going to hit the stands. These articles were dug out last year by London-based Punjabi poet Amarjit Chandan along with Oxford scholar Raza Ali, who is a teacher in Lahore University of Management Science.
"We chanced upon the manuscripts and recording while conducting research on 92 Ghadarties who had gone to Moscow for training between 1928 and 1940," said Chandan, who is researching in collaboration with Ali. Ali completed his PhD on "Interrogating Provincial Politics: The Leftist Movement in British Punjab" from Oxford University last year.
Chandan said, "Kruger was an indologist and historian in the GDR and he visited the country in his official capacity many times. You can imagine, he had free access to all the archives in India and leading activists. His archive is a treasure trove of Indian national and people’s movements."
Puri, who was professor of political science with GNDU in Amritsar, said, "Besides Bhakna’s work in Ghadar Party in the United States, the manuscript also throws light on several new aspects including how he leaned toward idea of communism, impact of martyr Bhagat Singh’s uncle Ajit Singh on his ideology and how he was influenced by personality of Namdhari leader Baba Kesar Singh."