Mahatma Gandhi – father of the Indian Nation, and Gurdit Singh, freedom fighter of Amritser – wooden charkha (portable spinning wheel), in good condition, appears intact and complete with bobbins etc, and also with examples of threads still present. This item comes with the following statement from our vendor: ‘My ancestor was Gurbax Singh. He was an associate of two very eminent freedom fighters of Amritsar, Baba Gurdit Singh and Sohan Singh Bakhana. Both were actively involved in India’s freedom struggle and Sohan Singh Bakhna was also imprisoned in Yeravda jail, at about the same time when Gandhi was there. Gurdit Singh was born in 1859 at Sarhali, district Amritsar. After becoming a successful contractor in Singapore, he chartered a Japanese ship, the Kamagata Maru in 1914 to go to Canada where the government had put restrictions on the entry of Indians. The Canadian government used the Continuous Journey Provision of the Immigration Acts of 1908 and 1910 to restrict the immigration of Indians. Immigration officers had the authority to refuse entry to anyone who did not come by continuous journey from his or her country of origin. Under pressure from the Canadian government, shipping companies would not sell through tickets from India to Canada, so it was impossible for anyone to come from India and meet the requirements of the Canadian law.&nbspThe ship sailed from Hong Kong to Vancouver on April 3, 1914, as a direct challenge to the Immigration Act, meant to prevent Indian citizens who were sons of the British Empire from immigrating to Canada. Ninety percent of the passengers were Sikhs. The ship reached Vancouver on May 22nd 1914, where it was not allowed to dock. It was attacked by the police during the night, but the attack was repulsed by the passengers. The spectacle raised major headlines and created a great stir between the Canadians and the Indian community which had already settled there. An agreement was finally reached and the ship was provided with all provisions paid for by the Canadian government who had been warned not to let the affair get out of hand, less it caused trouble in India, where a growing cry for freedom had the British fearing a revolution. Once the ship was loaded it was forced out of the harbour by a Canadian warship and started its long return trip to China. As war broke out during their return, the ship was forced to head for India. It reached Calcutta on September, 29, 1914. However the passengers were not allowed to enter Calcutta and had to dock at Budge Budge where a train was waiting to take them to Punjab. Suspecting the intentions of the British, some passengers led by Gurdit Singh started walking to Howrah, Calcutta from where they could get a direct train for Punjab. The government tried to stop them but in vain and ultimately resorted to firing. 19 passengers died on the spot and 23 were badly injured while the rest including Gurdit Singh managed to escape. He remained underground for many years and his family members were arrested and property forfeited. During this period, Gurdit Singh travelled incognito and met many leaders of the freedom struggle. My ancestor often used to accompany him. At times he used to stay secretly at our house. In 1921, he met Gandhi for the second time and acting on his advice, he surrendered voluntarily at Nankana Sahib. He was imprisoned for five years and after his release he settled down at Calcutta, where he died in July 1954. Baba Sohan Singh Bakhna was born at village Bakhna, district Amritsar in January 1870. He went to the USA in April 1909. Seeing the severe discrimination of Sikhs in the USA, he set up the Hindustani Workers of the Pacific Coast Association. He was elected its president. He launched a weekly paper, Ghadr (literally meaning rebellion, revolt) on 1/11/1913. The journal imported its name to the organization as well and the Ghadr party under Sohan Singh planned an uprising against the British for 1917, but rumours of a war in Europe and the Kamagata Maru episode hastened events. Sohan Singh himself contacted the returning Kamagata Maru at Yokohama and delivered to Gurdit Singh a consignment of arms. As he learnt there, that hostilities had broken out on 28-7-1914, he took a boat to India. As soon as the ship reached Calcutta on 13-10-14, Sohan Singh was arrested and sent to Central Jail Multan. He was tried in what is known as the first Lahore conspiracy case and was sentenced to death and forfeiture of property. The death sentence was later commuted to life imprisonment in Andamans where he reached on 10-12-1915. In 1921 he was transferred to Coimbotore jail and then to Yeravda. He fasted for the rights of the prisoners. In 1927 he was shifted to Central Jail, Lahore, and subsequently released in 1930. After his release, he was actively involved with the Communist Party of India and was arrested many times. He died on 21-12-1968. My father, Gurcharan Singh joined the British Malaya Police in 1950 after being recruited from India. My grandfather gave the charka to my father when he went to Malaya, probably to popularize khadi in Malaya, which was then under British rule and got its independence in1957. According to my grandfather the charka once belonged to Gandhi who gave it to Gurdit Singh, who then passed it on to my grandfather as a token of love and appreciation for the help and support rendered to him and his family during the time he was underground. Louis Fischer in his biography The life of Mahatma Gandhi, published by Harper Collins,&nbspLondon, 1997 Paperback edition, page 292, gives a description of this Gandhi charka: In 1924, 1925, 1926 and 1927, the popularizing of khadi possessed Gandhi’s mind. Each issue&nbspof the weekly Young India devoted several pages to lists of persons and the exact number of yards of&nbsp&nbsp yarn they had spun. Some spinners gave the yarn to the fund which gave it to villages, others wove their own. Gandhi’s Sabarmati Ashram was manufacturing simple spinning wheels, but in 1926 the manager announced that they had more orders than they could fill. Schools were giving courses in spinning. At Congress meetings, members would open a small box like violin case, take out a collapsible spinning wheel and spin noiselessly throughout the proceedings. Gandhi had set the fashion.