CO129-429 - Public Offices & Others - 1915 — Page 370

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At the conclusion of the search, the Police took our names and addresses, The list thus prepared was compared with a list made in America of the passengers on our ship. My name was not in this latter list. I was asked for an explanation and said that I had taken the ticket of a Sikh passenger who had, at the last moment, decided not to leave America,

The question then arose as to whether we should go

to the Masjid or to the Gurdwara. As I was the only Muhammadan I suggested that we should go to the latter place. In consequence all the passengers (i.e. members of the Ghadr party) on board our ship proceeded to the Gurdwara. There we found about 40 Sikhs, also members of the Ghadr party, who had come from Canada with the intention of joining the revolution in India. They explained that the reason for their presence in Hong Kong was that they had been left behind by the last boat, only 20 Indians being permitted to Journey on the same boat at one time. Ten or twelve of

their number were leaving the following day.

Regiment

1

t to Hong kin

We had previously decided that, on arrival at Hong Kong, we would not betray our mission with wild and reckless talk against the British Government.

But on

entering the Gurdwara, we found the Sikhs from Canada in an

exceedingly restive state,

They were vociferous in their

denunciations of Government,

They further informed us that

they had got the Sikh Sepoys of the 26th Punjabis whose

barracks were in close proximity to the Gurdwara.

Fuary, 1912. 2.L. Tomkins, sepoys, they said, had become disaffected.

The

On hearing this, we decided to throw off our

disguise and thenceforth we showed equal, if not greater,

enthusiasm in inculoating revolutionary ideas into the minds

of the Sikh sepoys who visited the Gurdwara under the

pretence