Kartar Singh Sarabha (English: Kartar Singh Sarabha, born- 24 May, 1896, Ludhiana; died- 16 November, 1915) was one of the famous revolutionaries of India. He will always be remembered for his bravery, courage, renunciation and sacrifice. The way the brave Abhimanyu had embraced death in the Mahabharata war while still performing his duty,
Similarly, like Abhimanyu, Sarabha also happily sacrificed her life for the country at the age of only nineteen. The poignant story of his bravery and sacrifice continues to inspire Indians even today. If today’s youth follow the path shown by Sarabha, then not only themselves but also the country can raise their heads.
Kartar Singh Sarabha was born in the womb of ‘Mata Sahib Kaur’ in a village named ‘Saraba’ in Ludhiana district of Punjab. His father’s name was Mangal Singh, who had two brothers – one of them was an inspector in Uttar Pradesh and the other brother was working as a forest department officer in Orissa. Sarabha also had a younger sister, named Dhanna Kaur. At that time Orissa came under the state of Bengal. Sarabha’s father passed away when she was a child. His grandfather Badan Singh raised him and his younger sister. Sarabha received her primary education in Ludhiana only. After passing the ninth class, he went to his uncle in Orissa and passed the high school examination from there.
The revolutionary movement against the ‘Partition of Bengal’ of 1905 AD had started, due to which Kartar Singh Sarabha joined the revolutionaries. Although he was not imprisoned, the roots of revolutionary thought had reached deep into his heart.
In 1911 AD, Sarabha went to America with some of his relatives. He reached San Francisco in 1912. There an American officer asked him, “Why have you come here?” Sarabha replied, “I have come with the aim of obtaining higher education.” But Sarabha could not obtain higher education. He wanted to learn to build and fly airplanes. Therefore, to fulfill this objective, he joined a factory. At this time, he came in contact with Lala Hardayal, who, despite living in America, was seen striving for the independence of India. While living in San Francisco, he visited many places and gave speeches. Sarabha always stayed with him and supported him in every work.
Kartar Singh Sarabha was an embodiment of courage. He was always at the forefront in any work related to the independence of the country. On March 25, 1913, a large meeting of Indians took place in Oregon state, the main speaker of which was Lala Hardayal. While giving a speech in the meeting, he had said, “I need such youth who can give their lives for the freedom of India.” On this, Kartar Singh Sarabha first got up and presented himself. Amidst thunderous applause, Lala Hardayal hugged Sarabha.
In this meeting, it was decided to publish a newspaper named ‘Gadar’, which would propagate the independence of India. It should be published in many languages and sent to all the countries where Indians live. As a result, ‘Gadar’ was published in 1913 AD. Sarabha used to work as the editor of its Punjabi edition.
When the ‘First World War’ started in 1914 AD, the British got badly trapped in the war. In such a situation, the workers of ‘Ghadar Party’ thought and planned that if there is a rebellion in India at this time, then India can get independence. Therefore, four thousand Indians living in America agreed for this. He sold everything he owned, bought ammunition and pistols and boarded a ship and left for India. Sarabha was also one of those people. But due to the secret being revealed before the work could be completed, many people along with their ammunition were taken prisoner on the way and some even before they reached the shores of the Indian coast. Sarabha somehow managed to escape with her companions. Now after reaching Punjab, he secretly started preparations for the rebellion.
Sarabha decided to secretly meet the revolutionaries, so that the fire of revolution could be lit in India. To fulfill this objective, he met revolutionaries like Surendranath Banerjee, Rash Behari Bose, Sachindranath Sanyal etc. Due to his efforts, a seminar was organized in a garden in Jalandhar, in which all the revolutionaries of Punjab participated. At this time Sarabha was only 19 years old. In this seminar, the revolutionaries of Punjab suggested that Rash Behari Bose should come to Punjab and form an organization of revolutionaries. As a result, Rash Behari Bose came to Punjab and formed an organization of soldiers. At this time he also made a plan for rebellion. According to this plan, military cantonments all over India would revolt against the British government on the same day and at the same time.
Sarabha organized the Punjabi soldiers and inspired them to revolt by roaming around in cantonments like Lahore, Firozpur, Lyallpur and Amritsar etc. In fact, Sarabha had ignited the fire of rebellion in all the army cantonments of Punjab.
Rash Behari Bose lived in a house in Lahore in disguise. Sarabha kept coming to meet him. According to the plan, February 21, 1915 was fixed for revolution all over India. But the secret came to light on 15th February itself. What happened was that a spy had joined the revolutionary party. When he got information about the revolution taking place all over India on 21 February, he revealed the secret to the British government on 16 February. As a result, arrests started taking place everywhere. There were a number of arrests in Bengal and Punjab. Rash Behari Bose somehow went from Lahore to Calcutta (present day Kolkata) via Varanasi and from there got a passport made under an assumed name and went to Japan.
Rash Behari Bose had advised Sarabha to go to Kabul before leaving Lahore. So he left for Kabul. When he reached Wazirabad, the thought came to his mind that it would be better to sacrifice his life for the country by being hanged than to run away secretly. Someone has rightly written-
