The Ghadar centenary proclamation recently issued by the Burnaby City Council was installed at the heritage gurdwara museum in Abbotsford.

The Burnaby City Councilor Sav Dhaliwal handed over the proclamation to the Gurdwara President Mohinder Singh Gill amidst victory slogans raised by the Sikh congregation. The article was later installed at the museum where other rare documents and artifacts related to the Ghadar history are preserved.

The heritage gurdwara was built by the supporters of the Ghadar Party and used to be the nerve center of their activities. The Burnaby city council had issued the proclamation in October in recognition of the 100 years of the Ghadar Party. Of the two proclamations issued by the city one has already been sent to the Desh Bhagat Yadgar Hall Jalandhar.

Notably, the Burnaby City Council had issued a similar proclamation in 2007 in recognition of Bhagat Singh’s birth centenary. Bhagat Singh was also influenced by the Ghadar movement. His father Kishan Singh had donated money to the Ghadar Party leader Kartar Singh Sarabha whom Bhagat Singh considered as his role model.

Those who spoke on the occasion included Sav Dhaliwal, a Ghadar history researcher Dr. Raghbir Singh Sirjana, Mohinder Singh Gill and a senior temple executive member Jatinder Singh Gill. Others present on the occasion were prominent writer and researcher Sadhu Binning and a University of Fraser Valley Professor Prabhjot Parmar.

Binning, who is a resident of Burnaby says that he is proud of the city council for issuing proclamations to recognize the revolutionaries, like Bhagat Singh and the Ghadar heroes.