The party was built around the weekly paper The Ghadar, which carried the caption on the masthead: Angrezi Raj Ka Dushman (an enemy of the British rule). "Wanted brave soldiers", the Ghadar declared, "to stir up rebellion in India. Pay-death; Price-martyrdom; Pension-liberty; Field of battle-India". The ideology of the party was strongly secular. In the words of Sohan Singh Bhakna, who later became a major peasant leader of the Punjab: "We were not Sikhs or Punjabis. Our religion was patriotism". The first issue of The Ghadar, was published from San Francisco on November 1, 1913.
Following the voyage of the Komagata Maru in 1914, a direct challenge to Canadian racist anti-Indian immigration laws, several thousand Indians resident in the USA sold their business and homes ready to drive the British from India. However, Hardayal had fled to Europe concerned that the US authorities would hand him over to the British. Sohan Singh Bhakna was already in British hands, and the leadership fell to Ram Chandra. Following the entry of Canada into World War I, the organization was centered in the USA and received substantial funding from the German government. They had a very militant tone, as illustrated by this quote from Harnam Singh.
Rabindranath was greeted by the Americans in San Francisco. But, at the same time, some Indians, Rabindranth's own countrymen, members of Ghadar Party, agitated against him on political ground. At the time of discussions Ramchandra was the leader of then leader. Japan and German was their ally counries. When Rabindranath was criticising about the nationalism of Japan, they became annoyed.Before he stepped to America, Ramchandra wrote a letter to the editor of Call, a San Francisco news paper, on 16 Sept, 1916, addressing the non-resident Indian Revolutionaries of Ghadar Party, to become aware of the visit of Rabindranath to America and wrote;"The present trip to The United States is for other purpose than merely to deliver aesthetic lectures. One of his purpose is to place a check upon Hindu Revolutionary propaganda."