Thaindian News

Washington, March 15 (IANS) The Global Organization of People of Indian Origin (GOPIO) is organizing the Gadar Centennial Commemoration, the 100th anniversary of the Gadar Movement to liberate India from British colonialism with the force of arms.

The nationalistic movement started as Hindustan Association of the Pacific Coast in 1913 with headquarters in San Francisco, GOPIO recalled announcing the initiative and seeking involvement of various non resident Indian organizations and agencies.

GOPIO plans include a petition to declare 2013 as the year of Centennial Commemoration of Gadar Movement; issuance of a suitably designed postage stamp and publishing a historic Centennial Commemoration book about the Gadar Movement.

It would include sacrifices of the Gadar heroes, brief bio-data of all the 48 martyrs and 69 Gadarites who were given life imprisonment, for free distribution to libraries, schools, institutions and organizations.

Establishing chairs in memory of the Gadar heroes in India and at least one or more in the United States are also planned.

Other plans include: Gadar Centennial Commemoration per city: Lecture forum series in several cities in USA, Canada, UK, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and India, with a finale on Nov 1, 2013 in San Francisco with a fitting memorial as a lasting tribute to the Gadar heroes.

In 2003, GOPIO, the National Federation of Indian American Associations (NFIA) and the Global Punjabi Diaspora jointly organized the 90th anniversary of Gadar movement.

The history of the Gadar movement is a testimony of the deep love that the Indian immigrants had for their motherland, India, GOPIO said.

The Gadar Movement is an integral part of the rich heritage in the United States for the Indian Americans and of Indian history, it said.

(Arun Kumar can be contacted at arun.kumar@ians.in)