BABA HARI SINGH USMAN. PREM SINGH BAJAJ, M.A.
Return to:
Gadar
Contents Page
Pioneer
Main Page
While
the nation was celebrating the Independence Day on 15th August, 1969, yet
another, perhaps the oldest-living veteran freedom-fighter was breathing his
last, almost unknown, unlamented and unsung, like so many of his comrades-in-arms.
His long life was a saga of struggles and sacrifices.
After serving
in the British Indian Army for a short spell, Baba Hari Singh, then a young
man of 27, along with thousands of Indians went to the U.S.A. in 1907 to earn
his livelihood. Being a sturdy peasant, he could have earned a lot there,
through sheer hard labor, but instead, found the atmosphere choking, because
the slave Indian coolies were an object of contempt and ridicule in a free
society. This aroused feelings of patriotism and national pride in him and
he plunged heart and soul in the Ghadar Party Movement launched by Lala Hardyal,
Baba Sohan Singh and other revolutionaries. In 1914, taking advantage of the
weakness of the British power, caused by their involvement in a global war
with Germany, the Ghadar Party was planning an armed uprising in India. Baba
Hari Singh was entrusted with the delicate but dangerous task of accompanying
a shipload of arms and ammunition, procured with German assistance, to centers
of rebellion in India.
But the British
Naval Intelligence got scent of the adventure, and after hot pursuit forced
Babaji and his compatriots to consign the ill-fated cargo to the sea and take
refuge in Jawa (Indonesia) after the assassination of his comrades on the
ship. Babaji, somehow escaped their fate. He retired deep into the Jungle
and mountainous territory of Jawa and with the active assistance of an Indian
settler, he assumed the name and acquired the passport of a pathan servant,
Usman Khan, who had recently died.
The gates of his
return to India having been sealed, under Govt. directions to shoot at sight,
he was obliged to settle down in Indonesia, till opportune time. There, he
married a local beauty of Sandanish race and Muslim faith, and again with
the co-operation of the German Bonsul to Indonesia, got jobs in Tea, Rubber
and Coffee plantations. The years that followed made substantial additions
to his fortune and family.
But the patriotic
fever still kept burning in deep recesses of his soul. The Second World War
provided Indians another opportunity to break the shackles of slavery. He
readily offered his services to the Japanese, who were then giving tough time
to the British. In liaison with their secret service, he started working among
the Indian forces in South East Asia to arouse their patriotic feelings against
the British Imperialism. "He played a very significant role in the foundation
of the Indian Independence league and the Indian National Army and became
Secretary in the Overseas Recruiting Department in the League Headquarters,
which role brought him in close contact with Netaji Subash Chandra Bose."
Here, on the South Eastern Front, his elder son Mr. Hira Singh Handry, who
was born and brought up in Indonesia, laid down his life, fighting for the
freedom of his 'Fatherland.'
A friend and admirer
of the Japanese for their valor and valuable assistance, Baba Usman openly
criticized them for their imperialistic designs towards India and alleged
rape of Indian womanhood at the hands of their soldiers in the occupied territories
of Andaman and Nicobar Islands. For this outspokenness, he had to pay dearly
with insults and injuries.
In 1945, as a
result of the atom bomb attacks, Japan was compelled to lie low and surrender.
The British being victors, most of the Indian patriots, fighting against them,
were forced to flee for their lives and limbs. Baba Hari Singh Usman, therefore,
went back to Indonesia, but his restless spirit gave him no peace. The Indonesian
struggle for Independence was in full swing and his sympathies were naturally,
with the native population. This earned him the wrath of the ruling Dutch.
On the charge of helping the rebels, he was captured, mercilessly beaten and
put behind the bars along with other Indonesian patriots. On anther occasion,
a group of religious fanatics nearly cut his like short. But he was yet to
live another quarter-century to see and taste the fruit of freedom!
With the help
of some Indian merchant friends in Jakarta, he secured his release from the
prison, and in October, 1948, set foot on the soil of free India, after an
absence of 41 years, to spend the rest of his days in his ancestral village,
Baddowal, near Ludhiana. One of his daughters and her husband, who are Indonesian
citizens, helped their aged parent build a small beautiful house, outside
the village, in the lap of nature, near the High School, where he took keen
interest in the welfare of the students. There, in seclusion, he expired on
the Independence Day, 1969, after a brief illness.
In May last, I
called on him to hear at first-hand his thrilling experiences and to know
his opinions about men and matters. The interview lasted two days. He struck
me as a wonderful man, very agile, erect and alert for his ninety years. Behind
his pathan like unsophisticated exterior, he seemed to possess a gracious
and hospitable heart and a keen zest for life. He narrated dozens of anecdotes
from his childhood onwards with relish, but sometimes with biting satire.
One thing, he said, he shunned most, was hypocrisy - be in religious, social
or political spheres. He appeared to me to be a deeply religious man, having
firm faith in God, but without formalism. "Death", he declared "is
not at all awesome for me. I have seen it face to face at least five times
in my life. Let it come, when it pleases, for I am now enjoying overtime."
And there was a twinkle in his eyes.
Only a few of
his close friends know that thought without a formal higher education, he
was a man of letters in his own right. In 1914, after Kartar Singh Sarabha
left U.S.A. for home, Baba Hari Singh took up the editorship of the Punjabi
section of the party organ 'The Hindustan Ghadar' for sometime. A few of his
poems were then published under pen-name 'Faqir'. His poetic narration of
the events of the Second World War in 757 stanzas of 4-lines each running
into 127 closely written pages, is the only writing of its kind in Punjabi.
Besides, he wrote five Qissas and about 50 short poems on varied topics in
Punjabi and Urdu, making the best use of is well-earned rest. In Urdu prose,
he wrote some essays concerning the youth, the character and the country.
Also in Urdu, he feelingly narrated some incidents form the book of his life
in diary-style. All these works were written, under pen-name 'Gumnam' - the
unknown - and still remain unpublished.
Displayed on the
walls of his living room, till his last day were two cloth banners - one in
English and Punjabi with the inscription:
Free
Thinker
Hari
Singh Usman
Na
Hindu Na Musalman
The other banner read in Hindi and Punjabi:
"Subash Chander Zinda Hain To Ham
Zinda Hain.
Ham Zinda Hain To Subash Chander
Zinda Hain."
For all the labors
of a life-time, the grateful nation granted him a pension of Rupees Twenty-five
per month, which he needs no more.
(By courtesy, The Tribune, Chandigarh)