Desh Bhagat Hall, Jalandhar

The city of Jalandhar, located in the heart of Punjab played an active role during India’s tumultuous struggle for freedom. To pay a tribute to the commendable service of the freedom fighters who sacrificed their lives in the Gadar movement, Desh Bhagat Hall, Jalandhar was erected in the late 1950’s. The memorial also boasts of one of the finest libraries that stocks rare editions of books and manuscripts, which provide an accurate account of the upheavals of India’s freedom movement.

Baba Amar Singh Sandhwan, a foremer member of the Gadhar Party is said to have laid the foundation stone of the Desh Bhagat Hall in Grand Trunk Road’s Civil Lines area near BMC Chowk on 17th November 1959. This auspicious day was recognized as the 45th martyrdom day of freedom fighter Kartar Singh Sarabha and hence proved to be a suitable occasion for the preliminary proceedings for the construction of the memorial hall. Baba Sohan Singh, the then president of the Gadar Party, inaugurated the completed building a few months later.

The patriotic citizens of Punjab contributed in everyway they could to built the honorary memorial hall. They raised a stupendous sum of Rs. 70,000 among themselves and this money was used by the Desh Bhagat Yadgaar Committee to purchase the sprawling three acres of land from a lawyer Rai Bahadur Badri Das.

The Gadhari museum located within the museum’s premises showcases the pictures of over 250 gadaris and other renowned revolutionaries who became martyrs in the Lahore Conspiracy Case, Burma Conspiracy Case, Babbar Akali Movement, Naujwan Bharat Sabha Case, Gadar Movement, Kuka Movement, Harding Bomb Case and Pagri Sambhal Movement. The Yadgaar Hall also houses an auditorium, a library, and a hall that is rented out for exhibitons, a small lectern as well as a residential complex.

Desh Bhagat Hall, Jalandhar that pays a tribute to the country’s brave warriors recounts the horrific narratives of India’s struggle for independence.