Dr.

Bhagwain Singh Gyanee Pritam (link to photo)

BRIEF SKETCH OF LIFE LIVED BY BHAGWAN SINGH It was in the village of Wring, the P.O. Sirhall now Mohenpur, District Amritsar, Punjab, that I was born at about 4 AM on July 27th, 1882. My father was Shri Sarmukh Singh and mother, Srimati Har Kaur. My childhood and adolescence were spent like most village youths playing, learning and assuming certain responsibilities. I am the only surviving adult of nine children, the 3rd in line with the two elder sisters and five brothers who all died early in life & a younger sister who did not survive childbirth. Our village of about 150 people, though small in size, had two distinctions which other villages within a radius of a couple of miles did not possess. One was a primary school, the other, a liquor store. My main or formal education was under the guidance of my paternal Grandfather, Baba Rattan Singh who was a Hakim, as my father was also. He taught me Sikh History, Punjabi Literature and familiarized me with our Religio-political Traditions. Also I attended the Primary School where I learned Urdu. We had reached the middle of the primer one morning, the lesson was Huq keh mat dar baskar chaldo. Tell the truth fearlessly, rest at that, and keep on going. After noon recess that day, I was late for class. When asked the reason why, I answered: Mianji Jhanda, I was playing cards with other boys and lost sense of time. For this I

was severely punished, I had told the truth, without fear, was content and kept on going for school saw me no more. Click here to Continue ... SUMMARY OF BHAGWAN SINGH'S LIFE AND BIOGRAPHY Dr. Bhagwain Singh started active work in 1907-08 in India. When a warrant was issued for his arrest, he left India and traveled covering Burma, Siam, Malay Straits, Java, Sumarata, Borneo, and Singapore - everywhere preaching nationalism. In Hong Kong, he was a priest at the central Sikh temple from March 1910-1913. He worked in the army. Except for a few subedaras, the entire army and officers were ready to take up the cause for Indian independence. In May 1913, he found himself organizing Indians in British Columbia Canada. Within two months, he was arrested and was released on a two thousand dollar bond, and within five months he was deported. This is what historian Harish K.Puri on page 58 in his book Ghadar Movement wrote: "The arrival of Gyani Bhagwan Singh in Vancouver in the early months of 1913 give a real spurt to a revolutionary political movement in Canada. Bhagwan Singh had been a sikh priest in the Gurudwaras at Perak in the Federated Malay States and at Hong Kong, and was an 'orator' of great merit. He was the first man to deliver vigorous revolutionary diatribes against the British rule, both from the 'pulpit' and in open religio-social congregations of the immigrants. He had been considerably influenced by the revolutionary nationalist thinking of his time through his speeches in the Sunday congregations, punctuated with quotations from the scriptures, he alluded to the sikh history of crusades and the war poetry of the tenth Guru. He embellished these with his own passionate poetical compositions and asked his people to adopt the Revolutionary Nationalist salutation-Bande Mataram and filled his audience with revolutionary ideas. He was externed from Canada within three months of his arrival. The special tribunal in Lahore Conspiracy Case Judgment, rightly observed that Vancouver became the first centre of seditious propaganda among Indians, until it was eclipsed by that of California with the launching of Ghadar Movement." (This was extracted from the judgment, Lahore Conspiracy Case, Home Political A, Proceedings, October 1915,No.91) Also it was Bhagwan Singh who pursued Maulvi Barak Tullah to accompany him to USA to work for the Ghadar Party. When Lala Hardyal was forced to leave USA, Bhagwan Singh and Barak Tullah filled in as president and vice-president of the Ghadar

Party. As a president Bhagwan Singh traveled through Japan, north and South China, Korea, Manchuria, and the Philippines. When America entered the war he was among the first ones to be arrested and his bail had been set at $25,000, the highest amount of any. The trial lasted six months but Bhagwan Singh stayed in jail allowing others their liberty. There is much more untold story about my grandfather and all I'm asking is giving him a due recognition at every phase befitting the subject 90th Anniversary of Ghadar Movement. Contribution thanks to S.P.Singh (Grandson)

DEPORTATION OF BHAI BHAGWAN SINGH Bela Singh, a staff member of the Vancouver branch of the Immigration of Canada visited India and while coming back, managed to bring Bhai Bhagwan Singh with him in June, 1913. Bhai Bhagwan Singh served as a priest in Penang Sikh Temple (The first Sikh Temple built outside of India) for some time. This temple committee was under the control of British Government of Malaya. Then he left for Hong Kong and served in the Hong Kong Sikh Temple for about three years. He was well educated, orator and gifted poet. Among his own contrymen, Bela Singh was considered a traitor. He had his own group of East Indians to work as informers for him. Some people were afraid of him. Some others needed his help to get their friends and relatives waiting at Singapore, Hong Kong and Shanghai to come to Canada. His immiediate boss was William Hopkinson, an Anglo-Indian (English father and Indian mother). He was born in India, therefore, he could speak a bit of Punjabi and Urdu. Bela Singhs ulterior motive was to use Bhagwan Singh against the authorities of the Sikh Temple, Vancouver, he could not get along. His gang members were collecting money monthly from those, who were helped by William Hopkinson and Bela Singh. Bhai Bhagwan Singh stayed with Bela Singh for some time. Then he began attending congregations in the Sikh Temple but refused to inform the activities of the authorities of the Khalsa Diwan Society. After sometime Bhai Bhagwan Singh realized the ulterior motive of Bela Singh and walked out. He made some speeches and Khalsa Diwan Society liked his sermons and passed a resolution to offer him a job of priest. Bela Singh and Hopkinson became furious.

They got him arrested on the charges that he traveled on the false passport under a false name. The Khalsa Diwan Society got him released on bail. They appealed for Habeus Corpus on his behalf. Malcolm Reid, the Inspector of Immigration Department, Vancouver and William Hopkinson were distant cousins. Both of them were deadly against Bhai Bhagwan Singh because instead of becoming an informer he joined the Khalsa Diwan Society. They were ready to deport him at any cost. They feared that if on the basis of habeus corpus, he stays in Canada, the Department of Immigration will be insulted. They hatched a plot. William Hopkinson and Bela hid themselves in the dark and sent their man in the temple to ask Bhai Bhagwan Singh to come out because one of his friends was waiting outside. As soon as he came out, the immigration men jumped on him, tied his legs and arms, threw him in a boat at the middle of the night. When Malcolm Reid was asked why did he not wait for the habeus corpus proceedings, he replied, The Immigration Department has orders from Ottowa and need not be bound by the telegraphic order of habeus corpus by justice Morrison of the Supreme Court. Bhai Bhagwan Singh was deported on November 19, 1913. He left his ship in Japan and came back to U.S.A. after a few months (There are two different stories about his arrest and deportation)

DR. SUNDAR SINGH AND KARTAR SINGH JOIN TOGETHER WITH IMMIGRATION DEPARTMENT TO DEPORT BHAI BHAGWAN SINGH There was another reason for quick deportation of Bhai Bhagwan Singh. The only Punjabi paper The Sansar was owned and controlled by Dr. Sundar Singh and Kartar Singh Akali (Hundal). One or two pages were edited by Dr. Sundar Singhand Punjabi part of the paper was edited by Kartar Singh. They did not have any capital and financial assistance coming from donations and subscription. One day, after the congregation Bhai Bhagwan Singh brought up a point that the paper did not represent the community point of view, therefore, the financial assistance should be stopped. This point brought a clash between Dr. Sundar Singh, Kartar Singh on one side and Khalsa Diwan Society on the other. The following issue of the paper came out very aggressively against the authorities of the Khalsa Diwan Society and The Guru Nanak Mining and Trust Company Ltd. The

whole Sikh community became furious and sopped financial assistance. The case was registered in the law court about the ownership of the paper. Now William Hopkinson and Bela Singh found an opportunity to create another friction in the community. The immigration as well as editors of the paper had one common cause to get rid of Bhai Bhagwan Singh. They joined against Khalsa Diwan Society. Source: Canadian Sikhs (Part 1) and Komagatu Maru Massacre by Kesar Singh. 1st Edition. 1989 Pgs. 110-111

Chicago, Ill., September 3, 1919. Hon. W. B. Wilson, Secretary of Labor,Washington D.C. Dear Sir and Brother: This will introduce to you Mr. Bhagwan Singh, one of our Hindu brothers in danger of deportation on account of his activities in the interest of his fellows in India. You will recall resolutions unanimously adopted by the Chicago Federation of Labor and sent to you under date of July 22nd, also resolutions adopted by the A. F. of L. and presented to you by President Gompers. Also your letter of July 24 th (No. 5465/1) in reply to our resolution and setting forth four paragraphs, concluding that the matter would receive your careful consideration when the records come up for final consideration. Therefore, would you kindly give the brother and his delegation sent by the Pacific coast Hindustani Association an early hearing in order that they may lay the true facts before you. I might further add that we have made an investigation and secured a report from San Francisco from which the sentiment is fast developing

amongst the trade unionists of this city that the English government has been allowed too much latitude in this country in prosecuting and persecuting these unfortunate people. Thanking you ion advance for the consideration of this request, and with our best wishes for the Department of Labor, and yourself, we beg to remain, Most respectfully, CHICAGO FEDERATION (Signed)

OF LABOR, Secretary.

P.S. Enclosed find clipping of resolution referred to in this letter.

Link to Letters Written by The Indian Nationalist Publications of Dr. Bhagwan S. Gyanee Pritam
The Art of Living Science of Perpetual Youth The Ideal of Friendship Humanology Notes (12 Lessons) Paths to Perfection Why Men Fail Concentration Mysteries & Functions of the Subconscious Mind Love, Marriage and Divorce The Greatest Enemy of Man Yoga Exercises - Ancient and Modern Foods that Make or Break You Creative Wisdom ( 25 Lessons) Self Culture (25 Lessons) Hindu Prayer Card English Translation of Sanscrit Prayer (Hand Painted) Dr. Gyaneses Food Chart IndiaYoga as a Philosophy and a Science The Glands: Wonder Working Centers of the Body

Bhai Bhagwan Singh Gyanee Contributed by : S. P. Singh (The Story of my Grandfather)

He was a fiery orator, a revolutionary poet and president of the Gadar party from 1914 to 1920. He was also a founder of the Humanology Society andThe American Institute of Culture (1930) with affiliated Self Culture Associations. He was a philosopher, educationist, creative thinker and author of several books including, The Art of Living, Science of Perpetual Youth, The Ideal of Friendship, Humanology Notes, Paths to Perfection, Why Men Fail, Gyana Yoga, Concentration, Mysteries and Functions of the Subconscious Mind, Love Marriage and Divorce, The Greatest Enemy of Man, Creative Wisdom, Principles and the Law, Karma and Dharma, as well as many others. Bhai Bhagwan Singh was born in the small village of Wring, near Sarhali, Dist. Amritsar, Punjab on July 27, 1884. His father was Sri Sarmukh Singh and mother Srimati Har Kaur. He was the only surviving adult of nine children. He learned Urdu in village primary school but due to harsh treatment from his teacher for being late one day, even when he was telling the truth, he left school. His main or formal education was under the guidance of his paternal grandfather, Baba Rattan Singh who taught him Sikh history, Punjabi literature, Adi and Dasam Granth and also familiarized him with Sikh Religio-Political traditions. Baba Ji was a Hakim, had served in the Khalsa Army and had fought against the British during the Anglo-Sikh wars. Bhai Bhagwan Singh also stayed involved in wrestling and athletics and was a physically strong person. At the age of twenty, Bhai Bhagwan Singh was admitted to Updeshak College at Gujranwala where he completed Budhivan, Vidvan and Giani, all in eleven months. He was appointed as a teacher in the same college. In the following year, 1907, he was appointed lecturer on Sikhism, in which capacity he traveled extensively covering Northern India from Delhi to Peshawar. It was during this time that he became a Nationalist. He delivered anti-government speeches during the Agrarian unrest of 1907-1908. He met many leaders and gave many lectures alongside Sadar Ajit Singh, uncle of Shaheed Bhagat Singh. In the middle of 1908, after the suppression of the uprising in Punjab, the revolutionary movement went underground. Bhai Bhagwan Singh became a teacher in Daska, Dist. Sialkot, during which time he met Saint Har Bilas under whom he studied the Six Systems of Hindu Philosophy, the Upanishads, the Bhagvad Gita, Vedanta and Nyaya-Systems of Logic, etc. During this time Bhai Bhagwan Singh also remained politically active and it became necessary for him to leave India in August of 1909. From Calcutta, under an assumed name, he traveled covering Burma, Siam, Malay Straits, Java, Sumatra, Borneo, and Singapore, everywhere preaching nationalism, mostly to Army soldiers. While in Ipoh he was ordered to leave by a Subedar from his own village. He gave revolutionary speeches while he was a Granthi at Penang Gurdwara. Bhai Bhagwan Singh next reached Hong Kong in March 1910. His intention was to proceed to U.S.A., but after listening to his lectures, the central Sikh temple commitee made an offer and he accepted the position of the Granthi. Here he had a fierce clash with Police Jamadar Lal Singh who also happened to be president of the Gurdwara. Lal Singh was a very powerful police figure whom many people feared. By this time Bhai Bhagwan Singh had gained much popularity and support. He was able to gather 500 signatures which he submitted to the Governor of Hong Kong

regarding Lal Singh's unnecessary interference in the Gurdwara's affairs. As a result, Lal Singh was ordered to either apologize or be prohibited from entering the Gurdwara. The position as a Granthi gave him easy access to all strata of society, including the army, where he could come and go at will. He secretly preached revolution. The Sunday meetings at the Gurdwara were being attended not only by Sikhs but by Muslims and Hindus as well. Except for a few Subedars the entire army and officers were ready to take up the cause of India's independence. Bhagwan Singh relayed this information to Dr. Sun Yat Sen, the famous Chinese revolutionary, who did not think China was strong enough then to incur the hostility of the British. While in Hong Kong, he was twice arrested, once in 1911 and again in 1912, both times for preaching Sedition. Dr. Kir Pal Singh in an article published in The Sikh Review wrote This trumpet call to duty was responded to by the Sikhs living all over the world. Bhai Bhagwan Singh, the priest of Sikh temple in Hong Kong, took up that cause of his country's freedom. Poet as he was, he recited poems in Punjabi, breathing revolution, enjoining upon the audience to struggle hard against tyranny and oppression. The revolutionary priest greatly inspired Baba Gurdit Singh of Kamagata Maru... The British government in Hong Kong was so upset by the outpourings of Bhai Bhagwan Singh that the Sikh military men living there were prohibited to attend the Gurdwara. In May 1913, Bhai Bhagwan Singh, after making arrangements for his wife and three children to return to India, arrived in British Columbia, Canada. There he openly clashed with an English man by the name of Hopkinson who had been sent by the British Government of India in order to keep the community of four thousand Indians living in Canada disunited. Bhagwan Singh reorganized the United India League and Guru Nanak Mining Company which had almost ceased to function. He also unified not only the Sikhs among themselves, but the Indian community as a whole. Two months after his arrival, he was arrested but released on two thousand dollars bail. A special order was secured from the Governor General of Canada for his deportation. Thus five months after his arrival in Canada, he was dragged out in the middle of the night, on November 18, 1913, from the home of Babu Harnam Singh Sahri (later martyred) and deported, even though two writs of habeas corpus had been issued. He was man handled, physically injured, and literally thrown on the Empress of Japan, destination India.

The following is extracted from Gadar Movement by Harish Puri. The arrival of Gyanee Bhagwan Singh in Vancouver in the early months of 1913 gave a real spurt to a revolutionary political movement in Canada. Bhagwan Singh had been a Sikh priest in the Gurdwaras at Perak in the Federated Malay States and at Hong Kong, and was orator of great merit. He was the first man to deliver vigorous revolutionary diatribes against the British rule... The special tribunal in Lahore conspiracy judgement rightly observed Vancouver became the first centre of seditious propaganda among Indians until it was eclipsed by that of California with the launching of Gadar movement. Also (taken from War Against King Emperor, page xiv); The prosecution has not considered it necessary to place before us much evidence in regard to Vancouver, but we know from confession of Nand Singh (p. 407) that one Bhagwan Singh, a noted seditionist, arrived there at the end of 1912 or beginning of 1913, and commenced a series of lectures against the British government in India, He also started lecturing in the Vancouver Hall, remaining there for three months, filling, as Nand Singh says, his audience with revolutionary

ideas. Bhagwan Singh was eventually deported, but not before the seeds of mischief had been sown among the Indians at Vancouver. In spite of his injuries, Bhagwan Singh managed to escape his guard once in Japan. He knew that continuing the journey to India would have been fatal. In Japan he stayed with Maulvi Barak Tullah who was a professor of languages at the Imperial University at Tokyo. Here they met with Dr. Sun Yat Sen as well as Prince Toyama, the head of the very powerful Dragon Society of Japan. The need to secure arms and ammunition caused Bhagwan Singh to leave Japan in March 1914 for Germany on a Japanese Ship, but he was discovered by the British at Shanghai. Upon reaching Hong Kong a warrant was issued for his arrest and the ship was searched. However through the assistance of the captain he disguised himself as a Japanese, escaped again to Japan and rejoined professor Barak Tullah. While the Komagatu Maru was docked in Yokohama, Bhagwan Singh and Barak Tullah gave two lectures to the passengers and informed them of the conditions prevailing in Canada which was the destination of the ship. On May 23, 1914 Bhagwan Singh along with Barak Tullah landed in San Francisco. They immediately went to the Gadar Ashram, 430 Hill Street. Shortly after their arrival, Bhagwan Singh was elected president, professor Barak Tullah Vice President, and Pandit Ram Chandra given the responsibility of Hindustan Gadar., the weekly official publication. Moreover the three of them were appointed Commissioners. A few months later the first World War was declared. In their Commission meeting held in August 1914, it was decided to declare Open Warfare against British rule in India and proclaim India a FREE and SOVEREIGN REPUBLIC. Gyanee Ji wrote Ailan-e-Jung. (The Declaration of War). As a result of this meeting Barak Tullah was sent to Persia, Afghanistan, Turkey, etc and Bhagwan Singh was assigned to cover Japan, North and South China, Korea, Manchuria, and The Phillippines. In Japan Bhagwan Singh and Rash Behari Bose met in a very dramatic way. As a result Bhagwan Singh authorized and sent Rash Behari Bose to Germany on a secret mission. It was in Nanking, on a Chinese Ship, Bhagwan Singh wrote a booklet entitled Jung or Azadi ( War and Freedom), which embodied the aims discussed at the August meeting in San Francisco. With the help of Germans, Two Hundred Thousand copies were distributed among Indians all over Malaya, Hong Kong, Shanghai, and The Phillippines These were also sent to the thirty-five thousand Indian war prisoners held in Germany, most of whom were Sikhs. Bhagwan Singh was arrested in the Phillippines. Warrants were also issued in China for the arrest of Bhagwan Singh, Rash Behari Bose and Gopal Singh. In Manilla Bhai Bhagwan Singh had a secret meeting with Hafiz Abdullah who was later martyred. In June of 1916 while still in China, Bhagwan Singh made secret arrangements to return to San Francisco hidden in a cargo ship loaded with cowhides As he did so without passport or ticket, to avoid legal problems, he was forced to escape to Panama. Here too he was ordered to leave. He bought a ticket and while on his way to Galveston, Texas, aboard a U.S. fruit ship, he was removed in Havana, held for three days by immigration and sent back to Panama. Finally, Bhagwan Singh on the advice and help of General George Goethal, the builder and governor of the Panama Canal, he reentered the United States, legally, landing in New York on October 11, 1916, only to face arrest a few months later in the famous San Francisco Hindu conspiracy case. As his bail had been set at twenty-five thousand dollars, the highest amount among the so-called conspirators, he remained in custody for six months during the trial period. On judgement day,

Bhagwan Singh was given the maximum sentence of two years , minus six months already spent in county jail. He served the prison time at McNeill Island Federal Penitentiary. Besides doing hard labor, Bhagwan Singh availed the opportunity and read many English books on various subjects. Just before he was to be released, he was again arrested for deportation but was released on ten thousand dollars bail. He fought his own case and finally in 1920, the deportation proceedings were dropped. In 1948, at the request of his countrymen, Bhagwan Singh returned to the Pacific coast, holding meetings and editing and publishing a monthly periodical Nav-Yug for eighteen months. As soon as India was free, he applied for his passport to return home which he did not receive for two years. It was during this time his wife, Harbans Kaur, died without ever seeing her husband again. At long last, upon the invitation of Partap Singh Kairon, Chief Minister of Punjab (under pressure from family and friends) Bhagwan Singh returned to India. After nearly fifty years in exile in foreign lands, I'm home. I left incognito-under an assumed name to work for freedom, I returned a free man on an Indian ship under own flag. said Gyanne Ji. His first act on landing at Bombay harbor was to bend on his knees and say BandeMatram and then he laid flat on his belly to kiss the motherland which was Free at last. This was a scene to watch.

Kuli Kuli Pukarda Jag Saanun We are called coolies in countries abroad Saada Jhulda Kitey Nishan Kiyon Nahin We do not have a flag of our own Kikoon Bachangey Sada Ghulam Rahkey Will we always live the life of slaves? Saanun Rajniti Wala Giyan Kiyon Nahin Why do we not know the science of politics? Dhayi Totru Kha Gaye Khet Sada A handful of people have taken control of our land Hindustan da Koi Kisan Kiyon Nahin Why is there not a caretaker of Hindustan? (A few lines from one of Bhai Bhagwan Singh's very popular revolutionary poems) Contributed by : S. P. Singh 363 Avian Forest Drive, Stockbridge, GA 30281 spsingh4200@aol.com (678) 565-1792