Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Talks about Gadar Movement at PBD 2013
Los Angeles, Jan 10, 2013
Inder Singh/ Gary Singh
We were very pleased to hear MOIA minister Vayalar Ravi talk about Gadar Movement in his speech at the inaugural event for Pravasi Bhartiya Divas (PBD) 2013. We were extremely thrilled to hear prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh talk about Gadar Movement in his inaugural speech at PBD, as follows:
"This year, we are celebrating the centenary of the Gadar Movement, which was a luminous spark of support in distant California for the struggle for independence being waged at home in our country. Apart from commemorating it by the issue of a special postage stamp, we will also upgrade the Gadar Memorial in San Francisco into a functional museum and library with a sculpture to honor the Gadari Babas, the heroes of the great movement."
In order to create awareness among the new generation of Indian Americans, Global Organization of People of Indian Origin (GOPIO), National Federation of Indian American Associations (NFIA) and Global Punjabi Diaspora organized celebration of 90th anniversary of the Gadar movement in 2003 by holding a day-long seminar followed by a banquet in the evening at the Santa Clara Hilton (60 miles from San Francisco). Former President of India, K.R Narayanan traveled from India to the US to be the chief guest.
In June 2011, a letter was handed over to India's Consul General in San Francisco, asking Government of India to commemorate centennial of Gadar Movement at a grand scale, issue a postage stamp commemorating Gadar Movement, etc. A similar request was made to the Ambassador of India, and several other high ranking officials and ministers. GOPIO also sent a request to the prime minister of India, followed by personal contact with his office and worked closely with the ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs.
GOPIO, several organizations and individuals and descendants of Gadari Babas are overjoyed at the acknoweledgement of Gadar Movement by the Prime Minister of India at the annual convention of NRIs/PIOs (PBD 2013).
