Wasawa Singh

Wasawa Singh was from the Hoshiarpur district’s Wara village. His father’s name was Jhanda Singh. He became a granthi in the 92 Punjabi regiment. His unit was sent to Siam. Here, he was swayed by the propaganda of the Ghadar Party and vowed to overthrow British rule. He was terminated from service because he was suspected of inciting sedition within the regiment. After that, he went to Chiengmai. Here, he established a Ghadar Party branch and was instrumental in sending a body of ghadarites to Burma with arms in order to incite a mutiny among the troops and police stationed there. In Chiengmai, he worked as a priest in the gurdwara and preached revolutionary ideas, raised funds for the movement, and was sent to San Francisco. He was an important leader of the Ghadar Party in Chiengmai. In April 1915, British authorities arrested a Ghadar Party member Chailla Ram. In the coming days, many other party members were also arrested. Wasawa Singh came to the police net while crossing the Siam border. He was tried in the first Mandalay Conspiracy case. The trial began on March 16, 1916. The British judges noted: “He not only joined the conspiracy, but he passed the Ghadar paper to others. He took advantage of every opportunity to preach sedition and spread the Ghadar Party’s views. He gathered subscriptions. He made friends with the Ghadar Party leaders and brought pistols to Chiengmai. These are acts of instigation to wage war and acts committed in furtherance of a conspiracy to wage war, for which he must be prosecuted under sections 121 and 121 A of the Indian Penal Code”. On 27 July 1917, the British court sentenced this brave son of India to death.