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SAT SRI AKAL

THE

Gurdwara Reform Movement

AND
THE SIKH AWAKENING.

1922

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FOREWORD.

I consider it an honour to be asked to
introduce this book to the public with a few
rords of my own. In the rapid march of
ivents all over the country during the past
Iwo years, nowhere has Mahatma Gandhi's
Lon-violent non-co-operation been so com-
pletely vindicated as at Tarn Taran, Nankana
Sahib and Gum-ka-bagh by the calm and cool
courage, and the patient, and even cheerful,
sufferings of the Akalis in the face of cruelties,
inhumanities and death. The story of the
•ecent remarkable awakening among the
likhs, their struggles for the freedom and
)urification of their historical places of wor-
ship, their disappointments and triumphs, will,
I am Bure, be read everywhere with absorbing
interest. As an eye-witness of some of the
thrilling, if tragic, incidents narrated by the
author, I cannot help remarking that the
simple rustics, who mainly composed the
Akali Jathas, appeared to us as the heroes of
a twentieth century Epic which was being
enacted before our very eyes. I hope it will
not be long before the story of their heroism,
inspired by a sublime idealism, is immortal-
ised in verse by a poet of eminence. It

519879

11

certainly deserves to be enshrined in our
memories with the same love, regard and
admiration as the ancient Epics are treasured
to-day.

In understanding the Akali movement,
three facts, all connected with the early Sikh
history, should clearly be borne in mind —

(1). The democratic character of the
Sikh faith.

I doubt very much if any other religion
enjoins upon its adherents equality between
man and man more persistently and with
greater strictness than Sikhism. It is well
known that Maharaja Eanjit Singh was once
arraigned before the Akal Takht on a charge
of 'associating with an evil woman' and, as
the author mentions, Guru Gobind Singh him-
self was, on a certain occasion, fined for a
slight deviation from the rules of conduct laid
down by himself. The Panth is considered to
be supreme in all matters and none may defy
its behests with impunity, whatever his rank
and position in life may be.

Sacrifice and service are the sole tests
for the faithful. The first five men who came
forward to offer themselves, one after the
other, to be literally sacrificed, as they believed,
for the sake of the Panth, are the 'Beloved
Ones' (Panj Piyare) of the community for
all time to come. In the daily prayer of the

Ul

Sikhs, they ate remembered along with the
name of the last Guru. They were the first
men to be initiated into the Panth by Guru
Gobind Singh, and it was they who, in their
turn, were considered fit to initiate the Guru
himself. The initiation ceremony requires
the Sikhs to consider themselves as belonging
to the same race (Sodhbans) as the Guru
himself. And, as some of the Beloved Ones
happened to belong to low castes, all distinc-
tions arising from caste, rank and profession
are completely obliterated.

(2). The Gurdwaras as centres of the
religious, social and political life of the
Panth.

In the mind of the Sikhs, the question
of the purification and freedom of the Gur-
dwaras has always been associated with their
national destiny, and no sacrifices have been
considered too great to make for bringing
them under the control of the Panth. The fact
is that the important Gurdwaras are either
connected with one or another striking inci-
dent in the lives of the Gurus themselves, or
they have been erected in memory of the
numerous martyrs who gave up their lives,
under very trying circumstances, in defence of
their faith, during the long period of persecu-
tion to which the Sikhs were subjected. Many
of these martyrs are also remembered in the

daily prayer of the Sikhs along with the ten
Gurus. All religious and social ceremonies of
the Sikhs, from birth to death, must be per-
formed in the presence of the Holy Book and
often within the precincts of the Gurdwaras.
Wherever the Sikhs have gone, they have
carried with them a passionate longing for
the freedom of their Gurdwaras, and, it is no
exaggeration to say that, the control of the
Golden Temple and other principal places of
worship by the Panth as a whole has always
been looked upon as a measure of their
religious, social and even political liberties.

(3). The Gurdwaras as Seats of Autho-
rity.

Four Gurdwaras, namely, the Akal Takht,
Anandpur Sahib, Patna Sahib and Hazoor
Sahib (Nander in Hyderabad Deccan) are
looked as the " Four Thrones " of authority,
from which commandments for the guidance
of the community are issued every now and
again. Of these, the authority of the Akal
Takht, which is situated opposite the entrance
to the Golden Temple at Amritsar, is regard-
ed as supreme, and all orders issued there-
from, are considered as binding upon the
whole Panth. The Akal Takht was founded
by the sixth Guru, Guru Har Gobind, in 1609.
It wafe here that he put on the sword which
marked an important point in the develop-

ment of the Sikhs as a martial race. All
classes of men and women have, from time
to time, approached those in charge of the
Akal Takht to seek for help and protection
against the tyranny of the strong and the
wicked. On the other hand, the award of a
robe of honour by the authorities of the
Golden Temple or the Akal Takht has ever
been regarded as a mark of very special
favour, which is only conferred on those who
may have rendered distinguished services
either to the Panth or the public at large.
The possession of these two historical
places of worship obviously meanB, for the
Sikhs, vastly more than their care-taking.
Those entrusted with the sacred charge are
regarded as the Interpreters of the inner-most
longings and aspirations of the Panth. But
in the hands of men unacceptable to the
community, the control may degenerate into
tyranny over the mind and conscience of the
worshippers. A couple of illustrations
will make this clear- The story of Baba
Gurdit Singh's patriotic enterprise in charter-
ing the ' Komagata Maru ' and its aftermath
is well known. A commandment issuing
from the Akal Takht in 1915 condemned the
Komagata Maru Sikhs. This gave rise to
widespread "indignation among the Sikhs.
It was felt that the authority of the Akal
Takht had been used for purposes for

VI

which it was never intended. Again, in
1919, immediately after the Jallianwala
Bagh massacre, General Dyer had the
audacity to present himself before the
Golden Temple and was actually awarded a
robe of honour by the Government-appointed
Manager of the Gurdwara. It was on the
strength of this mark of favour that General
Dyer and his friends in the House of Lords
boasted that the Sikhs had not only placed
their seal of approval on his exploits, but that
they had gone to the length of admitting
him to their fraternity. The whole Khalsa
Panth was scandalised and numerous meet-
ings were held to condemn the action of the
Golden Temple authorities.

It was in circumstances like these that
the Gurdwara Eeform Movement entered on
its latest phase a couple of years back. A
representative committee, now well known
all over the country as the Shromani Gur-
dwara Prabandhak Committee, was formed.
An active and well organised propaganda for
securing the control of all the historical
Gurdwaras was started. For a detailed ac-
count of the struggles, sufferings and achieve-
ments of the Committee, I cannot do better
than refer the reader to the pages of this
book.

LAitoRE : 1

VEUCHI BAM S&HNt
15th Decemier 1922. )

TABLE OF CONTENTS.

Chapter. Page.

I. Sikhs and Organization ... 1

II. Sikhs and Temples ... 11

III. The Need of Reform ... 19

IV. The Genesis of Reform ... 35
V. Iron Enters the Soul ... 53

VI. Political Awakening among

the Sikhs ... ... 74

VII. Gurdwara Reform ... 85

VIII. Gurdwara Babe di Ber ... 121

IX. The Golden Temple ... 137
X. The Shromani Gurdwara

Parbandhak Committee 163

XL Gurdwara Pan ja Sahib ... 173

XII. Some More Cases ... 181

XIII. Tarn Taran Tragedy ... 197

XIV. Nankana Sahib Tragedy ... 212

XV. After Nankana ... 250

XVI. Gurdwara Bhai Joga Singh 284

XVII. Kamalia, Satlani, Teje,

HoTHIAN, KAPURTHALA AND

Faridkot ... ... 293

XVIII. The Gurdwara Bill ... 307
XIX. The Keys Affair ... 342
XX. The Third Wave of Re-
pression ... ... 368

XXI. Guru ka Bagh .. ... 395

XXII. The Akalis ... ... 443

XXIII. The Kirpan ... ... 462

XXIV. Conclusion ... ... 477

ERRATA.

Page. Line.
1 2 Bead his for this.

„ 12 Read Bedar for Behar.
57 24 Eead agricultural for a#ri-

culture.
69 16 Read requested for request.

72 3 of the After arrested add : on 7tfft
footnote March, when he came to

Amritsar to pay his respects.

73 4 Read on for ^^^07^.

79 20 Read provided for provide.
81 1 Read intelligentsia for intelli-

gentia.

134 5 Read picA for ptcft n#-

170 32 Insert of after Committee.

192 24 Read remains for remained.

195 1 Read 15M for 1 7* A.

254 last Insert are after Sttft*.

261 21 After w# insert : the grave or
pull it down. Near by we
found some of the mud
graves pressed low.

342 7 Before Ahal Tahht insert :

and took away the bunch of
53 keys belonging to the
Golden Temple,

450 23 Go-operat should be co-oper a te.

CHAPTER |,

SIKHS AND ORGANIZATION.

When Yogis asked Guru Nanak to work
a miracle, he replied that in carrying on this
mission he relied on nothing but the Word
and the Assembly.* Wherever he went,
he left behind him a sangat or association of
his followers, with an injunction to build a
Gurdwara or temple for the purpose of meet-
ing and singing his hymns together. So that
in a short while there sprang up a network
of Sikh temples all over the country. There
were centres of his mission in Junagarh,
Kamrup, Surat, Cuttack, Behar, Johar
(Sbathu), Nanakmata (Kumaon Hills), Khat-
mandu, Persian Gulf,t Kabul, Jalalabad
and other places. Many of these temples,
such as the Nanakbara at Surat, Nanakmata
in Kumaon, inspite of long isolation, are

*Bhai Gurdas, Var 1. 42.

tWhile returning from Arabia Guru Nanak
left a sangat of Mohamedan converts to Sikhism in
Mesopotamia. Descendants of these people, more or
less still retaining some traces of conversion, were
found by the Sikh regiments that went to fight in the
last Great War. One of the Sikh commanders, writ-
ing to the "Loyal Gazette" of Lahore in January 1918
says that he saw the place commemorating the visit
of Guru Nanak to Baghdad. Outside the city to the

still intact, although most of the incum-
bents of these places are not conversant with
the Sikh scriptures or Sikh thought. Eem-
nants of old sangats still exist in Colombo,
Madras, Satur Kanjliban, Adilabad in Hyder-
abad Deccan, Mirzapur Deccan, Chittagong,
rjhubri in Assam, and other places in the
East founded by Guru Teg Bahadur or Diwan
Mahan Singh of Patna. Very old copies of
Guru Granth Sahib and autograph letters of
Guru Tegh Bahadur and Guru Gobind Singh,
addressed to different sangats, are found in
the latter places. From the* Yar XI of Bhai
Gurdas we get a list of prominent Sikhs whO:
lived in Kabul, Kashmir, Sarhind, Thanesar*
Delhi, Fatehpur Sikri, Agra, Gwalior, Ujjain

South-west, beside a grave-yard, there is an open
room situated within an enclosure wall. In one cor-
ner of the room is a platform on which Guru Nanab
is said to have sat, while he was conversing with
Shan Bahloi who sat on another platform in the
opposite corner.

The present priest named Sayad Usaf, who is in
charge of the place, described himself as the tenth in
succession to the first incumbent of the place. The
following words in Turkish dated 927 A. H.' are
inscribed on the wall behind the platform : —

jxbs ^iU (jIj i>>»*) )v; «>;^^ ^j. *>^l) ^l/" %iy!\

A n*. qpy *>}**» ^Ij" <^y) *^)ra>| ?-)£ Jf.t^i

The same account was sent to the Khalsa Advo-
cate, Amritsar, by Subedar Major, Saidar Fateh Singh-
Assistant Censor in Baghdad in May 1918.

Burhanpur, Gujrat, Suhand, Lucknow,
Piragraj, Jaunpur, Patna, Eajmahal, Dacca and
other places. In an old manuscript copy of
Guru Granth Sahib, written in 1675, is found
the story of a Sikh's travels in the Deccan,
called Hakikat Bah Mukam, from which we
gather something about the Sikh sangats and
temples scattered over Southern India and
Ceylon.

Each sangat was in charge of a leader
appointed by the Guru. The position of this
leader, as we learn from the Life of Guru
Nanak written by Sewa Das in about 1588,
was called manji, as he sat on a manji or cot
when preaching to the people. Bhai Lallowas
preaching in the North and Sheikh Sajjan in the
South-west of the Punjab. Gopal Das was in
Benares, Jhanda Badi in Bushair, Budhan
Shah in Kiratpur, Mahi in Mahisar, Kaljug
priest's son in Jaggannath, Devlut in
Lushai (Tibet), Salis Bai in Patna and Behar,
Baja Shivnabh in Ceylon, and a host of other
workers were scattered over the whole terri-
tory visited by Guru Nanak. Connection
with the centre was kept up by the constant
visits of Sikhs to the Guru.

After Guru Nanak, through the creation
of twenty- two man j is or diocese and fifty- two
pirahs or parishes, the mission work became
more regular, but the sphere of its activity
became narrow, as the forces it had created

in the Punjab required the constant presence
of the Guru there. The organization of the
Sikhs had gradually progressed unmarked,
until under Guru Arjan it became a power to
be counted with.* Each district was under
a masand,t whose duty was to preach re-
ligion and be responsible to the Guru for the
Sikh organizations in his diocese. At the end
of the year, on the Baisakhi day,' he was to
come to the Guru with a company of Sikhs to
render account of the offerings received and
to report on the progress of Sikhism. Amrit-
sar, with the Golden Temple and the sacred
Book installed in it, became the central place
for the Sikhs. The Guru was the central uni-
fying personality and, in spite of the changes
in succession, was held to be one and the

*The Sikhs in those days used to pray : "May
there be hundreds and thousands of Sikhs in every
city and hundreds of thousands in every country.' *
" May the Guru's Sikhs become hundreds of thou-
sands, yea, countless in the world, and may a Sikh

temple decorate every place." Bhai Gurdas : Vars

XIII. 19. and XXIII. 2. Khan Khan says about the
Sikhs : " Their Guru lived like a faqir near
Lahore. Even from the beginning he had estab-
lished sangats and temples in every city and town
of note under a saint."

tThat these masands were not tax-gatherers,
as is often alleged, will appear from the Dabtstan-i~
Mazahiby which says that they propagated religion,
and the money they brought yearly to the Guru was
& voluntary offering of the Sikhs who brought it
themselves to a masand according to their means.

same as his predecessors.* The love exist-
ing between the Guru and the Sikhs was more

*From the V -sinning it was held as a patent
fact that each succeeding Guru had the same spirit as
his predecessor. In the Coronation Ode written by
Satta and Balwand, two bards who lived from the
Second Guru's tirre upto the time of the Fifth Guru,
the,fol lowing verses occur :

11 Guru Nanak proclaimed the accession of
I^ehna as the reward of service.

He had the same light, the same method : the
Master merely changed his body."

" A scion of Guru Nanak exchanged bodies with
him and took possession of his throne."

" The wise being, Guru Nanak, descended in the
form of Amardas."

11 Guru Amardas obtained the same mark, the
same throne and the same court."

" Thou, Ramdas, art Nanak ; thou art Lehna ;
thou art Amardas ; so I deem thee.''

" The human race comes and goes ; but thou,
O Arjan. art ever new and whole."

Sundar, the great-grandson of Guru Amar
Das, while describing the death- scene of the 3rd
Guru, says :

" All fell at the feet of the true Guru, into whom
Guru Amar Das had iufused his spirit."

Mohsin Fani in his Dabista?i says about the Sikhs :
" Their belief is that all the Gurus are identical
with Nanak."

Guru Gobind Singh says about the Guius in his
Vachittra Natak :

11 All take them as different from one another ;
very few recognise them as one in spirit. But only
those realise perfection who do recognise tbem as
one.'

6

intense than has ever existed between
most romantic lovers of the world.* But
the homage paid to the Guru was made
impersonal by creating a mystic unity be-
tween the Sikh and the Guru on the one
hand and the Guru and the Word on the
otherf. Greatest respect began to be paid
to the incorporated Word, even the Guru
choosing for himself a seat lower than that
of the ScriptureJ. The Sikh Assemblies
also acquired great sanctity,§ owing to the

See Bbai Gurdas : Vars 1. 45, III. 12, XX 1,
XXVI. 31, and 34.

See also the Swayyas at the end of the Adi
Granth.

The Gurus always signed themselves as Nanak.

* Bhai Gurdas, Var XXVII. Sujan Rai of
Batala in his Khulasatul-Tawarikh says about the
Sikhs : '/ Tbe faith that these people have in their
Guru is not to be met with among any other people."

t"Tbe Guru lives within his Sikhs and is
pleased with whatever they like."— Gauri Ki Vary
IV.

" Guru is the Word and the Word is Guru."—
Kanra IV.

+ E.g., Guru Arjan in the Golden Temple
Amritsar. Guru Har Rai was once lying on his
couch, when somebody began to recite hymns from
the Holy Granth. The Guru at once fell down from
his couch in his anxiety to avoid irreverence. See
Suraj Prakask, X. 21.

§ Bhai Gurdas says: "One disciple is a
single Sikh ; two form a holy gathering; but where
there are five, there is God Himself" Guru Arjan
was never tired of praising the manifold spiritual

belief that the spirit of the Guru lived and
moved in them. They began to assume*
higher and higher authority, until collectively
the whole body called the Panth came to be
considered as an embodiment of the Guru.
Guru Gobind Singh himself received baptism
from the Sikhs initiated by himself. After him
the Sikhs ceased to have any personal Guru.
They could name Guru Nanak and Guru
Panth in the same breath. The * Sarbat
Khalsa ' or the whole Sikh people met once
at least at Amritsar on the occasion of the
Diwali and felt that they were one. All
questions of public interest were determined
by the resolutions or gurmattas of assemblies
which existed everywhere ; and these gurmat-
tas, when passed, were supposed to have
received Guru's sanction. Even ordinary
breaches of the rules of conduct were punished
in such representative meetings and no
person, however high-placed, was above the
jurisdiction of such conclaves. Even Guru
Gobind Singh was once fined Ks. 125.

advantages of attending the congregational meetings,
and the people, too, resorted to them as well for the
sake of getting their wishes granted as for getting
devotional merit. (See Dabistan-i-Mazahib and
Bhai Gurdas, Var V). Guru Gobind Singh also
enjoined upon his followers to elect five Beloved
Ones from among themselves for any executive work,
and be promised that he would be present in them
<See Suraj Prakash: VI, 41).

8

It was the organization of the Sikhs that
turned the Mogul Government against them,
and it was their organization that saved them
in times of persecution, when prices were laid
on their heads, when to grow long hair was
held a crime their* presence in cities was
banned and they had to roam about in jathas
in the deserts of Rajputana or in the forests
of Northern Punjab. The daily Prayer of
the Sikhs with the words, " May God's
protection and grace extend to all the bodies
of the Khalsa, wherever they are," still
pathetically reminds them of the time when
their sacred places were in the hands of
others or were desecrated by the foreigner,
arid their associations were cut off from the
centre with no link of union except this
Prayer.

It was their peculiar democratic organi-
zation that in the days of the missals
developed a federal form of government
among them. Every Sikh was free and was
a substantive member of the Khalsa. But
their positions and their abilities were

* See Malcolm's A Sketch oi the Sikhs. An
army was seat round the country to hunt out the
Sikhs who wore long hair. It was at that time that
some people, who believed inSikhism but had not the
courage to face the troubles consequent on the
adoption of Sikhism, began to go about without
keshas as a disguise. Such people were called
Sahjdharis.

9

different and unequal. Therefore, feeling
that all could not lead, they unconsciously-
developed a confederate system in which
different groups of people elected willingly to
serve under a leader.

It was the destruction of this democratic
spirit under the imperialistic Maharaja Kan jit
Singh that undermined the Panthic strength
and missionary activity of the Sikhs. It was
there, and not during Farrukh Siyer's days
of wholesale persecution, that Sikhism suf-
fered the greatest harm. For Sikhism can
work best through associations, when different
equal individualities are gathered up into
one. Even the Sikh prayer is not individu-
alistic. It is from all and for all. There is no
word for which other communities can rally
themselves as a whole. The Catholics have
got the word ' Church, ' but it cannot include
all the functions of a nation, its history, its
military, worldly and religious units into one.
But the word ' Khalsa ' includes all* the
institutions and activities of the Sikhs into
one whole. There are all possibilities for the
Sikhs as long as they can feel that they are
the Khalsa. Even Maharaja Eanjit Singh,
in order to succeed with the Sikhs, had to
keep up the forms and conventions of the
Khalsa. When after him there came con-
fusion and no stable head was allowed to rule
for a long time, it was the regimental puncha-

10

yats, formed of country representatives, that
maintained some form of government.*

Look at the activities of the Sikhs even
outside India, in Malaya, China, or Canada,
and you will find an ample proof of the Sikhs'
love for organization. They are a meeting
people; and even when they are only two or
three individuals, they will seek occasion to
meet and please themselves by singing a few
hymns together. If they find themselves
larger in number, they will surely found a
temple and an association to meet therein.
With this instinct in them and the tradition
behind them, whenever they have found
freedom to think about themselves, they have
sought to form themselves into jathas or
diwans in order to carry out the required
propaganda.

* Cunningham's History of the Sihhs> p. 239.

CHAPTER II.

SIKHS AND TEMPLES.

To Sikhs even more important than the
asscoiations are their temples, which have play-
ed a great part in their history. So much of
their history is taken up with either founding
of temples or their protection against different
kinds of aggressors. The Sikh Prayer, in
which the most stirring events of Sikh
history are daily recounted, grows most
eloquent when reference is made to the brave
heroes who suffered martyrdom for the
sake of the temples. Much of the daily
religious discourse turns on the labours of
the devout Sikhs, like Bhai Buddha, Bhai
Bhagtu, Bhai Bahlo, Bhai Kalyana and
thousands of others, in connection with the
excavation of sacred tanks or the collection
of material for the raising of temples ; or
it expatiates on the sufferings borne by
the Sikhs, like Bhai Mehtab Singh* and

* After the martyrdom of Bhai Mani Singh,
Granthi of the Golden Temple in 1738, the temple was
turned into a nautch-house and its precincts into a
stable by Massa Ranghar, the Mohammedan taluq-
dar. The Sikhs, who had been declared outlaws,

12

Baba Dip Singht in their attempts to rescue
their temples from the rulers or the immoral
priests. Sometimes it is a Massa Eangarh
and sometimes a Sarbrah, but the story is-
always the same. To tell the truth, the
freedom of their temples has always been
the measure of the Sikhs' freedom or pros-
perity.

During the days of persecution when the
Sikhs were living in a forced exile outside the
Punjab, their temples had oome into the
charge of certain monastic orders or those
who professed Sikhism but did not conform
to its outward symbols. The prominent
Grurdwaras were made the chief mark of
hostility by the enemy. When Taimur, the
son of Ahmad Shah Abdali, took charge of

were passing their days and biding their time in the
desert of Bikaner. They heard of the desecration in:
1740 and sent Bhai Mehtab Singh of Mirankot, a
village near Amritsar, to free the temple. He came
with only one companion and, killing the tahiqdar
and his party, cleared away in a few minutes. After-
wards he himself was martyred.

t Hearing at Damdama Sahib near Bathinda
that the Amritsar temple was being desecrated by
Ahmad Shah Abdali, he vowed to go and save the
temple or give up his life there. He came fighting,
until at a short distance from Amritsar his head
received a mortal cut. But it is said that he did not
mind it, and supporting his head with one hand he
fought on with the other, until he fell down in the
precincts of the temple, where his cenotaph stands.

13

the Punjab in 1757, the first thing he did was
to destroy the Amritsar temple and fill up
the sacred tank. This enraged the Sikhs as
nothing else had enraged them before, and
when in 1758 under two Jassa Singhs they
won complete victory over the Afghans, the
first thing they did was to restore the temple
and the tank. When the Durrani came again
in 1762, in his zeal to root out the Sikhs he
again demolished the temple, polluted the
sacred tanks with the blood of cows, and
took away the Holy Book to Kabul. But the
Sikhs rose again strong as ever and restored
the temple in 1763. Similarly in Delhi a
mosque had been erected on the spot where
the body of Guru Tegh Bahadur, executed by
the orders of Aurangzeb, was burnt. When,
however, Sardar Baghel Singh of the Karor-
singhia Missal got control over Delhi, he
used his authority only to raise temples over
the places sacred to the memory of Guru
Tegh Bahadur, Guru Harkishan, Mata Sahib
Eaur and Mata Sundri, and then he retired.

With the establishment of a centralised
Sikh Government the security and splendour
of the temples was ensured. Munificent
jagirs were added to them. All the wealth of
art was lavished on their buildings and their
equipments, and richest offerings suited to
the taste of a ruling people began to pour in
from all directions. Once a beautifiul canopy

14

decked with gems and jewels, was presented
to Maharaja Eanjit Singh. When he stepped
towards the royal chair placed underneath it,
he was so greatly impressed by the beauty of
the workmanship that he exclaimed : " Oh !
take it away to the Golden Temple. The
Guru alone deserves such a precious thing."
That canopy is still preserved in the Golden
Temple treasury, although many of the pre-
cious stones have since been removed by
somebody. There is another story showing
how the most valuable things were considered
worthy of the Sacred Temple only. At the
marriage of Prince Nau Nihal Singh, the
grandson of Maharaja Eanjit Singh, when a.
garland of pearls worth lakhs was brought to
him to wear, he said that it was too good
for him and at once sent it away to the
Golden Temple, where it is still exhibited
in jalau on certain ceremonial occasions. All
this interest, however, was shown on the
ornamental side of Sikhism, and no intel-
ligent attempt was made to preserve the
purity of the ritual, which was likely to grow
corrupt as scon as the Sikh influence was
lifted off.

In the days of the Gurus the temples were
supervised by the local sangats in the Guru's
name, or by masands, who were appointed
by the Guru himself and who, according to
the Dabistariy worked for their living and did

15

not receive any pecuniary help unless they
happened to be very poor or were found
incapable of helping themselves. They were
punished and their order was abolished by the
Tenth Guru, when they became corrupt. This
wholesome tradition was kept up even after
the Tenth Guru, when the Panth itself as the
Guru-incorporate became self-governing and
continued to govern the temples through
local congregations. The income of the tem-
ples was not permanent and being very small,
hardly sufficient to maintain the incumbents,
there was no temptation for them to grow
corrupt or defy the congregations. Besides,
the offering of money was looked upon by the
incumbents as poisonous* and was spent
on the free kitchens invariably attached to
the temples or in some other way beneficial
to the sangat 1".

There are many examples of Sikh preach-
ers, who refused to accept jagirs. Bhai
Lakha Singh refused to accept the patta of
the pargana of Sujanpur granted to him by
Sardar Amar Singh Bapa in 1764. Bhai Bhagat
Singh refused to accept the grant of seven
villages made by Sardar Sada Singh Bahrwalia

* See Macauliffe : Vol. I, p. 45 and Vol. Ill,
p. 8 ; Bhai Gurdas : Var XXXV. 12 ; and Rattan
Singh's Paiith Prakash prepared at the desire of Sir
David Ochterloney.

t See Suraj Prakash : instructions of Guru
Gobind Singh to one Santokh Singh.

16

Nakai in 1766. Bhai Suba Singh refused the
pargana of Mirpur granted to him by Sardar
Gujar Singh of Gujrat. Maharaja Eanjit Singh,
in recognition of his service to the Panth, made
a grant of land near the Akhara of Santokh
Das to Pundit Nihal Singh who had trans-
lated the Japji into Sanscrit. . The Pundit
tore up the patta in the presence of the
Maharaja and refused to see him • in future.
The names of Bhais Dargah Singh, Jai Singh
Thakur Dayal Singh, etc., are worthy of
mention in the same category*.

Even when they accepted any permanent
source of income as a charitable endowment,
the priests were kept straight in their conduct
by the influence of sangats. There are
instances of changes made not only in the
management but also in the control of Gur-
dwaras. The Golden Temple of Amritsar
and the Gurdwaras of Anandpur, Gandiwind
and Hafizabad were once in the hands
of Udasis, but when the Sikh sangats thought
it fit they removed the Udasi priests and
appointed Singhs instead. Similar changes
were made from time to time in other places
also.

But with the establishment of the
British Government the situation was
entirely changed. The central Sikh temples

* See the Nirmal Panth Pardipka.

17

at Araritsar and Tarn Taran gradually passed
into the hands of Government. The new
law made the position of the Mahants or
priests virtually as independent as that of
persons owning private property. The law,
as amended later, did provide in a case of
the misuse of trust that any two or more
persons interested in the affair, with the
consent of the Advocate General (Section 92
of the C. P. C.) or the Collector (Section 93
of the C. P. C.) could bring the matter
to a court. But this provision was hedged
round with so many restrictions in favour
of the incumbent who enjoyed great influ-
ence on account of his riches, and the whole
procedure was so lengthy and expensive that
it could be rarely availed of. The Mahants
began with impunity to sell off the lands and
property attached to the temples and to squan-
der the income on drinking and loose-living.
In many cases, with the connivance of autho-
rities, they got the Guirdwara properties
entered in their own names and became their
masters.

They could defy the Sikh Sangats with
impunity not only in the matter of disburs-
ing the income of jagirs, but also in the
observance of ceremony and ritual. Those
who had no other source of income except
the daily offerings could not dispense with
the congregations* but here, too, the Sikh

control being absent, they began to adapt
tne ritual to the inclination of the people who
f°rined a majority in the congregation. The
extent of this mischief may be measured
froin the fact that the Sikhs form a majority
nowhere in cities. In the central Gurdwaras
at Amritsar and Tarn Taran the Manager
and the priests were secure against any check
from the public and could introduce any
changes they liked in those temples. Many
superstitions and corrupt practices began to
prevail, first unobserved and then in defiance
of the Sikh sentiment. Idols were set up
and openly worshipped in the precincts.
Thieves and rogues began to haunt these
places with impunity. The worst of it all
was, that these places being the premier
temples, their example came to be followed
everywhere else.

CHAPTER III.

THE NEED OF REFORM.

Sikhisin as a religious movement re-
mained pure as long as the lust of worldly
power did not contaminate it. The Gurus
had been fighting against tyrants, but they
always kept their hands clean. Although the
Sixth Guru won all the battles he fought arid
the Tenth Guru was often victorious, they
did not acquire even an inch of territory as
a result of these victories, and whatever
land they possessed was either bought with
money or was accepted as an offering from
devoted men. They were opposed to rulirig
over men against their wishes. " Only those
like to rule over others, who are either stupid
or uninstructed, " says Guru Nanak. The
ideal of simplicity was kept up even in the
midst of the circumstances of comfort. The
bards, whose compositions are included in
the Holy Granth, are never tired of praising
this balance of character, called Baj Yogy
maintained'between asceticism and prosperity.
It is wrong to say that by the time of the

20

Fifth or the Sixth Guru the ideal of Sikhism
was lowered and the Guru came to be called
Sac ha Padshah, his seat a takht or throne,
and the assembly of his followers a durbar
or court. It will appear from the writings
of the early Gurus, and especially from those
of the bards who began to write in the time
of the Second Guru, that these terms were
not later innovations, but had been used from
the beginning*. They are eastern euphe-
misms used in respect of all revered faqirs.
Guru Nanak himself was called Nanak Shah.

A change did come over the spirit of
Sikhism, but it was after the last Guru
had gone away from the Punjab and died in
the Deccan. The chosen ones, who had been
trained in the school of Guru Gobind Singh
and whose presence could keep alive the
spirit of truth among the masses, were called
upon, soon after the death of the Guru, to
fight for their lives or defend the weak from
the oppressor. They were removed from
amidst the common people, who were left
to their own resources or had to depend upon
the old professional teachers, who now got the
chance of renewing their hereditary vocation
of mercenary teaching. The Sikh temples
fell into the hands of the monastic orders
and the congregations, depleted of the initiat-

*See foot-note "on page 5.

21

ed Sikhs, came to give the rule to those who
governed the temples.

There was another circumstance that
checked the balanced growth of Sikhism. It
was the fact that in later Sikh history con-
versions to Sikhism came to be confined to
one community only. As this side of the
question has been generally ignored we
intend to study it in some detail.

Sikhism was meant for all castes and
communities, and in the beginning converts
were made from Mohammedans as well as
Hindus. Guru Nanak left a host of converts
in Mesopotamia*, Persia and other comr-
tries visited by him. Sewa Das in his Janam
Sakhi mentions many places like the Kiri of
Pathans where a large number of Moham-
medans became Sikhs. From the list of
Sikhs given by Bhai Gurdas in his eleventh
Var we find among others such names as
Mardana, the rebeck-player, who accompanied
Guru Nanak in his journeys, Daulat Khan
Pathan who became a Sikh Saint, Gujjar a
blacksmith who was a Sikh of Guru Angad
and preached Sikhism in his village, Hamza,
and Mian Jamal the happy, who remained
constantly in the presence of Guru Hargobind.
From history we gather many names of
Mohammedans who became admirers of
Sikhism, like Eai Bular, the Mohammedan

*See foot-note t on p. 1.

22;

Qhief of Talwandi, who appreciated Guru
Nanak better than his own parents did ;
Allah Yar and Hussaini Shah, who profited
spiritually by Guru Am ar Das and may be
considered almost Sikhs ; Akbar> who was
influenced in his toleration policy and his
abolition of Sati by Guru Amar Das ; Mian
Mir, who was so intimately connected with
the work of Guru Arjan that the latter asked
him to la,y the foundation stone of the Golden
Temple ; Dara Shikoh, who was persecuted
by his brother Aurangzeb for being a convert
to Sikhism ; Sayyed Budhu Shah of
Sadhaura ; Kale Khan and Sayyed Beg, who
fought for Guru Gobind Singh. There were
others who actually became Sikhs. A few
of them may be named : Sajjan* who had
been a robber but who became a Sikh of Guru
Nanak and preached his religion ; a Nawab's
sont who was converted by Bhai Paro of
Dalla in the Jullundur Doab ; Wazir Khan J
who was an assistant Minister of Akbar
and who secretly followed the teachings of
Guru Arjan ; Budhan Shah § the Simeon
of Sikh history, who was devoted to the
memory of Guru Nanak and ultimately died
a Sikh in the time of Guru Hargobind ;

* Macauliffe : Vol. I. 45.

t Ibid, Vol. II. 66.

X Ibid, Vol. III. 17, 18; Vol. IV. 11, 26.

§ Ibid, Vol. IV. 140, 142, 213, 215.

23

Bibi Kaulan,* who was the daughter of
the Qazi of Lahore and was converted to
Sikhism by Guru Hargobind ; Saifuddint
of Saifabad in Patiala, who was converted
by Guru Tegh Bahadur just. before the latter 's
arrest; Sayyed Shah converted by Bhai
Nand Lai ; and a faqir called BrahmiJ or
Ibrahim, who was the first Mohammedan who
offered himself to Guru Gobind Singh to be
baptised. The Guru when baptising this
Mohammedan, who became Mahma Singh,
issued orders that "if any Moslem, whether
of high or low position, in good faith desire,
to join the Khalsa, it is proper that he should
be baptised and received into our community."
These are only a few names out of many who
must have embraced Sikhism. From the
study of these conversions, in the time of
Guru Nanak and later, we find that the
Pathans, Sayyeds and Shias, whose races
had been defeated by the Moguls, were more,
prone to accept Sikhism than the Moguls,
who had too much of the conqueror's pride,
to adopt the religion of the conquered. The
chief complaint of Jehangir against Guru

* Macauliffe : Vol. IV. 43, The Guru in i62l"
caused a tank to be dug near the Golden Temple
to commemorate her virtuons life. This tank, called
Kaulsar, is one of the holiest in Amritsar.

t Ibid, Vol. IV. 373.

J Suraj Prakash, Ay an I, Chap. XVIII.

24

Arjan, as recorded by the Emperor himself
in his Tauzak, was that "so many of the
simple-minded Hindus, nay many foolish '
Moslems too, had been fascinated by his^
ways and teachings. " The Gurus also con-
verted many outcastes and men of the
lowest castes, such as Eamdasias or shoe-
makers. Guru Gobind Singh opened the
door of pahul or equal baptism to all, even
to sweepers, who, for their staunch faith,
oame to be called mazhabis or faithfuls. The
Mazhabis are sometimes called Eanghrets,
a term which may be due to the fact that
some of them owe their origin to Mohamme-
dans of the Rangarh clan. On their show-
ing gallantry in rescuing the mutilated body
of Guru Tegh Bahadur, Guru Gobind Singh
called them Banghrete Guru he bete — the
Banghretas are the Guru's own sons.

Beside making impartial conversions,
there were other ways, too, by which the spirit
of Sikhism was kept balanced. In the free
kitchen, established by the Gurus as a means
of levelling down ail social barriers based
upon caste or other prejudices, it was made
a rule that all who came to take food,
whether Hindus or Mohammedans, must sit.
in a line and eat together.* Even Akbar

* "The whole congregation would come to
the kitchen and, without considering any distinction
of Varna 'or Ashram^ were seated in a line. They

25

and the Raja of Haripur, when they came to
see Guru Amar Dae, had to do the same. In-
order to show that those who were born
among Mohammedans or low-caste Sudras
were as acceptable as high-class Hindus,
Guru Arjan included in his Granth the com-
positions of Kabir, a weaver and Mohammedan
by birth; Farid, a Mohmmedan saint; Bhikhan,
a learned Mohammedan ; Sain, a barber and
sculptor ; Namdev, a calico-printer and washer-
man ; Ramdas, a shoemaker ; Mardana, who
had been a Mohammedan drummer ; and so
many bards some of whom were Mohamme-
dans. The significance of this can be best
realised, if we remember that the whole Book
containing these compositions is considered
by the Sikhs divine and is held in greatest
veneration by them.

The effect of these arrangements was
visible in the customs and habits of the Sikhs
of those days. They considered Hindus and
Mohammedans in the same light and did not
identify themselves religiously with any party.
The first utterance of Guru Nanak when he
took up the work of preaching was : " There
is no Hindu, no Moslem*, and when he
died, both Hindus and Moslems claimed him

were treated as if they were all equally handsome
and clean,"— Suraj Prakash, Ras I.
Janam Sakhi by Sewa Das.

26

as theirs. Guru Arjan says boldly in his
Book:—

I don't keep the Hindu fast, nor that ob-
served by Mohammedans in Bamzan..
I serve Him, and Him alone, who is

my ultimate refuge.
I believe in one Master, who is also

Allah.
I have broken off with the Hindu and
: the Turk.

I won't go on Hajj to Mecca nor dp

worship at the Hindu places.
I shall serve only Him and no other.
I wron't worship idols or read Nimaz.
I shall lay my heart at the feet of one

Supreme Being.
We are neither Hindus nor Mussal-

mans :
We have dedicated our bodies and
souls to Allah-Kam.*
The author of Dabistan, who visited the
Punjab in the Sixth and Seventh Gurus' time,
says about the Sikhs : —

" The Sikhs of Guru Nanak condemn
idolatry and believe that all the Gurus are
identical with Nanak. They do not read the
Hindu Mantras, nor do they pay any regard
to their shrines. They do not believe in the
Hindu Avtars, and do not study Sanscrit,

* Bhairo.

27

which, according to Hindus, is the language
of gods."

" The Sikhs do not have any faith in the
ritual and ceremonies enjoined by the Hindu
Shastras, nor do they observe any super-
stitious restrictions about dining. A learned
Hindu named Partap Mai, seeing that his
son was inclined towards Islam, said to him,
* There is no need for you to turn Moham-
medan. If you want to get freedom in
eating and drinking, you may better join
Sikhism."

Beside opening free kitchens and dis-
tributing communion food in order to teach
equality, the Sikhs in their temples observed
no elaborate ceremonials, and .therefore there
was no cause of friction that could give rise
to separate sects within Sikhism. The whole
religious service inside the Golden Temple
consisted of nothing else but the reading or
singing of sacred hymns from the Holy
Granth night and day. With the exception
of a small interval of an hour or two at
midnight, sacred music, performed by relays
or singers, went on without break. There was
no lecturing, no discussion allowed, and there-
fore there was no controversy. This simple
and beautiful custom among the Sikhs was
seen and remarked upon by Sujan Eai of
Batala who wrote in 1697 in his Khulasatul-
Tawarikh:

28

" The only way of worship with them is
that they read the hymns composed by their
Gurus and sing them sweetly in accompani-
ment with musical instruments/ '

Guru Gobind Singh has said quite clearly
that the Sikhs, with all their sympathy and
love for other communities, are not to con-
fuse their ideals with those of others : —

"The Sikh is to keep his observances
distinct from those of other people of all the
four Varnas.

He should have dealings with everybody/

But his belief and programme of life
should be different all the same."*

The Sikhs had for a long time been able
to keep their doctrines distinct and, though

* Suraj Prakash, Rut 3, Adhya 50. One out-
ward sign of distinction was the Keshas or the long
hair, which every Sikh was enjoined to wear by
Guru Gobind Singh. When this Guru entered on
his mission he called upon the Sikhs to rally round
him. But such was the fear of persecution by the
Government that many of the Sikhs denied their
Sikhism and declared that they had never departed
from their old religion. The Guru, astonished at
this illusiveness of the so called Sikhs said: " Now
I shall create such Sikhs who, in spite of themselves,
will not be able to hide themselves even in lakhs.
He ordered tbat all Sikhs should wear long hair.
This was the form most suitable to the Sikhs who
were to be brave and at the same time saintly like
the rishis of old. The stern discipline and bodily-
strength were combined with the saintliness of looks.

29

liberally benefitting by the Hindu and the
Moslem association, had been able to maintain
their growth free from any obsession from
either side. But the opportunities for the
display of this balanced spirit began to de-
crease, when the Sikhs began to fight against
the tyranny of the Mogul Government. Guru
Gobind Singh, out of his abundance of
love, was able to inspire love even in the
hearts of his enemies. Sayyed Beg, a com-
mander of Aurangzeb, came to fight with
the Guru, but on meeting the Guru
was suddenly struck with remorse and
turning away in shame *vowed never to
fight in aid of tyranny. It was Mohammedans,
like Budhu Shah, Nabi Khan and Ghani
Khan, who at most critical times came to the
aid of the Guru. But the growing antipathy
of the Moslems against the Sikhs began to
tell on the work of Sikh mission among the
Moslems, until, vftth the intense religious
persecution started by the later Moguls
against Hindus as well as Sikhs under Baba
Banda, the scope of conversions to Sikhism
came to be confined solely to the Hindu
masses, who brought to the contemplation
of the new moral forces revealed by Sikhism an
imagination saturated with the spiritual con-
victions of the old era.

The same thing happened to Christianity
in its early days, when most of the conversions

30

were confined to the Jews. The proselytes
were dealt with in the old Jewish manner,
which was to make distinction between pro-
selytes of the sanctuary and proselytes of the
gate. The former, who went through the
ceremony of circumcision and observed Mosaic
ritual-, were allowed to enter the innermost
part of the temple ; while the latter, who did
not conform to these rules, were declared
mere 'sympathisers' and were allowed
to worship only at the gate. The
Christians also made the same distinction
between the Jews and the Gentiles. The full
privileges of the Christian Church were grant-
ed only to the Jewish converts who would
submit to circumcision.

Similarly, when the veteran Sikhs dis-
ciplined by Guru Gobind Singh himself had
been martyred and their descendants forced
to remain in exile, the rump congregations
began to drift back to the old customs and
beliefs. Those who came from low castes
began to be distinguished from those who came
from the so-called high castes. Even after
receiving baptism, some were assigned posi-
tions at the gate, others in the sanctuary.
Some, who in the8 days of persecution could
not dare to confess Sikhism openly, were
allowed to go about without the outward
symbols. Such men were called Sahjdharis
or slow-adopters. In those days, when to

31

wear Jceshas was to invite death, nobody
•could have the heart to question the disguise
adopted by the Sahjdharis, who believed in
Sikhisni but could not afford to die for it.
The Sahjdharis who had adopted this apolo-
getic attitude never pretended to be repre-
sentative Sikhs. They always looked upto
the spirit and form of their brethren in exile,
whom they helped in every way.

The Sikh spirit and form were, however,
kept intact in the ranks of the Khalsa even
after it had been slackened in towns and
cities. From the Panth Pr ahash of Sardar
Battan Singh, written in 1809 at the sug-
gestion of Sir David Ochterlonyy we can see
that in spite of the hard times through which
they had passed, the old spirit still burned clear
and steady in the fighting Sikhs. They still
kept aloof from idolatry, performed the Anand
form of marriage, obeyed the Panth as the
highest authority, conducted themselves by
resolutions passed in their, assemblies, did not
believe in the sacred thread, incarnations,
caste or the pollution of food* and freely
■ reconverted those who had gone over to Islam.
Many notable Sikhs married Mohammedan
women converted to Sikhism. Some of them
were : . Anup Singh, who had been a Brahmin
of Chanarthal ; Takht Singh, who had been a

* Tbere is a proverb coming dovvn from those
days: "The cooking square of the Khalsa extends
witbfn 12 miles round."

32

Khatri of Paijgarh ; Hand Singh Bairar ; Kehar
Singh Bandhawa ; Karam Singh Man, etc.
Bhai Gurmukh Singh, Beis of Bagrian, baptised
a Mohammedan named Maula and renamed
,riim Bam Singh. Bam Singh's grandson
named Harcharn Singh was still living in
1906. Saunta, a Mohammaden, was convert-
ed and named Bam Singh, and his daughters
were married to Bamgarhia Sirdars. Bhai
Hari Singh of Bhadaur was by birth a
Mohammedan, whom Bhai Ude Singh of
Kainthal had converted to Sikhism. A Mo-
hammedan, who was baptised and renamed
Nihal Singh, became Mahant of the Gurdwara
of Bhaliani. At the instance of Maharaja
Narindar Singh of Patiala one Sadr-ud-Din
was converted to Sikhism and named Fateh
Singh by Mahant Haiba Singh. For 26 years
he was Mahant of the Dharmsala of Phul and
died in 1869. Baja Sarup Singh got one
Allia converted into Gian Singh. This man
became Mahant of a Gurdwara at Jind. A
Mohammedan of Chugana, who was converted
and renamed Massa Singh, became priest of a
Sikh temple at Bhaliaiyna in Muktsar pargana.
Thousands of Mohammedan men and women
were brought into the fold of Sikhism in the
time of Maharaja Ban jit Singh.

When, however, Maharaja Banjit Singh
came to rule, Sikhism received a rude shock
even in the Khalsa ranks, where it had been

33

preserved more or less in its pristine purity*'
He destroyed the simplicity and independence
of the Sikhs by building his luxurious empire
on the ruins of the democratic principles laid
down by Guru Gobind Singh. In fact, Sikh-
ism is a simple and stern religion and does
not easily lend itself to luxury and ease.
Most of the religious and even secular cere-
monies of the SikhB contain nothing but hymn-
singing and prayer. How can a Maharaja
keep his position among his brother-Maha-
rajas, if he does not invite astrologers ancj
pundits to help him in making his coro-
nation or marriage imposing and circum-
stantial ? The Sikh monarch s and
grandees have always found it difficult to
break Sikhism to their taste. They are,
therefore, often obliged to go out of the pale
of Sikhism, when they want to indulge in
mere ceremony and show.

After Maharaja Eanjit Singh, when king-
ship became a thing of jewels and clothes,
Sikhism, too, with the higher classes, became
a mere fashion of the turban and the beard,
until a people with sterner ways and better
discipline struck the sceptre from their hands.
It was the people who retained some sembl-
ance of the old spirit ; and they too, with the
change coming over the temples along with
the shock they had received on the battle-
field, felt paralysed for the time being. They

declined in numbers too. The English, how-
ever, forgot the late enmity in the admiration
for the noble bravery of the Sikhs, which now
|tegan to be used on their side, and tried t.o
befriend them. This friendship put the
Sikhs again in some heart, and they began to
enlist in the British Army, where they could
keep their baptismal forms intact. But in
all other ways the Sikhs showed no life,
religious or national, in them. They worship-
ped the same old gods, indulged in the same
old superstitious practices from which their
Gurus had so heroically worked to extricate
them. Their baptism and five symbols became
a mere anomaly.

CHAPTER IV.

THE GENESIS OF REFORM.

A great upheaval, second only to Chiliari-
wala, came to rouse the Sikhs from stupor,
but, as it was not preceded by a general' edu-
cational awakening, it was not felt by the
whole Sikh nation. Attempts were made to.
restore Sikhism to its original position. But
the circumstances had so changed and the,'
progress of Sikhism had been so long neglect-
ed that to a great extent the battle had to-
be fought over again.

Two reform movements, the fore-runner*
of the Singh Sabha movement, began about
the same time iu the North-Western Punjab.
One was the Nirankari and the other the-
Namdhari movement. The firat originated
with Baba Dyal of Peshawar, who came to
settle in Eawalpindi and died there iu 1870*
He preached against idolatry and sought to
restore the worship of one Niranhar or God?
in spirit. . He inveighed against the fast-in";
creasing evil of drink, which the military ser:
vice had introduced. The purely Sikh forme

36

of marriage and funeral services were revived,
and widow marriage and other reforms were
encouraged. But owing to the want of educa-
tion the movement touched only a few business
men of the locality, who came to believe in
Baba Dyal as a successor of Guru Nanak and
Guru Gobind Singh.

The Namdhari movement was started by
Baba Balak Singh (1799—1861), a shop-keeper
of Hazro, and his disciple Baba Ram Singh of
Bhaini in the Ludhiana district. This puritan
movement was a protest against the prevail-
ing laxity of morals and sought to revive the
old devotional spirit among the Sikhs. It
was a vigorious campaign against the im-
moral and superstitious practices of the priests
in charge of Gurdwaras. Baba Bam Singh,
born in 1815 of a poor carpenter family, rose
to be a great leader of men. He had learnt
discipline in the Sikh army, which he left in
1841 at the bidding of his religious preceptor,
and wonderfully organized his followers. He
appointed a Suba in every district, two jatha-
dar& in every tehsil, and one Grantbi in every
village. He established elementary verna-
cular schools and free kitchens wherever he
went, and exhorted the Sikhs to live simple
lives and support these institutions. He saw
that the Western culture was undermining
the simplicity of life and the strength of
oharacter. He, therefore, banned the "Western

37

education and interdicted the Government
service and courts.

His preaching made a great stir in the
country. The priestly class, annoyed with
his criticisms, shut the Gurdwaras against him
and his followers ; and the Government in-
terpreted his attacks on Western civilization
as due to racial hatred. Measures were
adopted to restrain him and his followers'
activities.

Strange as it may seem, the Baba's mis-
sion was specially marked by the teaching of
righteousness, toleration and mercy. It is
true, some of his followers got out of control
and in a religious frenzy committed unpar-
donable excesses. But this evil is due to an
intensity of feeling in ignorant men, aggravated
by great provocation. The large majority of
Namdharis disapproved of such actions*
and the Baba's influence was always exerted
on the side of moderation and kindness. A
murderer, who had escaped conviction, came
under the influence of Baba Bam Singh. He
went at once to the Sessions Judge, confessed
his guilt, and cheerfully accepted the punish-
ment. In the summer of 1870 a few Nam-
dharis happened to pass by the Lahori Gate
of Amritsar, where, in spite of the long tradi-

*The Ludhiana Gazetteer.

38

tion and an order* of John Lawrence
passed in 1847 against cow-killing in Amritsar,
a slaughter-house had been established.
There was a rumour in the city that four
butcher shops were going to be opened in the
sacred city. A great indignation prevailed
among the Hindus and Sikhs. The Nam*
flharis, who had a great hatred for cow-slaugh-
ter, came after some deliberation in the city*
fell upon the butchers, and killing a few of
them ran away. After a year Baba Earn
Singh, who came to know of it, sent for those
men and said to them : " You have com-
mitted murders, and innocent Nihangs have
been arrested. Go to the court and confess
your guilt so that the innocent may be saved.' *
They went, cleared up the case before the
authorities, and calmly resigned themselves to
their fate.

In January 1872 a bullock was provok-
ingly slaughtered by a police officer of
Malerkotla before the very eyes of aNamdhari
Sikh, who had remonstrated with the owner
of the bullock for his cruelty to the animal.
The news told in the yearly diwan at Bhaini
Stirred up wrath in the audience, and, in spite
of the attempts of Baba Earn Singh to dissuade
them, about 150 Sikhs got out of hand and

#This order inscribed on a wooden board was
upto 1922 still hanging outside the north-western
entrance of the Durbar Sahib, but it has now been
taken down for safety.

39

marched towards Malerkotla to take venge-
ance. The Baba Sahib at once informed the
police about it*. First Malaudh and then
Malerkotla were attacked with sticks and
axes, and 10 men were killed and 17 wounded,
while the Namdharis got 9 killed and 38
wounded. They were ultimately surrounded
by the army, and Mr. Cowan, the Deputy
Commissioner of Ludhiana, without trying
them ordered 49 of them to be immediately
blown away from guns and the others were
tried by the Commissioner, Mr. Forsyth, and
executed on the following day. Baba Bam
Singh, who was admittedly * a thoroughly re-
ligious character \ and who had helped the
Government in this crisis, was deported with
his Subas to Bangoon, where he remained
/prisoner upto 1885, when he died.

The Government of India recorded on
these proceedings an elaborate resolution,

* For the?e and ether facts mentioned before
about the Namdharis the author \$ irdebted to some
Namdhari records and a history called Fanth
Prakash by Bhai Kala Singh. This book mentions
among the Sikhs, who attacked Malerkotla, two
women also who are said to have been let off
when men were blown away from guns. For the
remaining account the Ludhia?ia Gazetteer and some
information supplied by Namdharis has been availed of.

40

which contained these words : .".His Excel-
lency in Council is under the painful necessity
of affirming that the course followed by Mr.
Cowan was illegal, that it was not palliated
by any public necessity, and that it was charac-
terised by incidents which gave it a com-
plexion of barbarity. And so His Excellency
was compelled with deep regret to direct that
Mr. Cowan be removed from the service."
Mr. Forsyth, too, though later recompensed
in other ways, was removed from his appoint-
, ment as Commissioner. Sir Henry Cotton
says in his Indian and Home Memories :
" For my part, I can recall nothing during
my service in India more revolting and more
shocking than these executions, and there
were many who thought as I did, and still
think that the final orders of the Government
of India were lamentably inadequate. "

The troubles of the Namdharis did not
end with these executions or the deportation
of their revered leader. A police guard was
stationed ab the door of their central temple
at Bhaini, and all the Namdharis were in-
terned in their villages and their move-
ments restricted. Most of these restrictions,
which involved unthinkable police harass-
ment continued upto very recent time. It
was only on 10th December, 1920, that the
long-standing restrictive orders were can-
-celled and the police guard was* changed into

41

a police station*. For fear of harassment
the Namdharis changed the peculiar mode of
their turban and wore the woollen rosary under
their clothes. They were left in isolation and
in their agony they had nothing else to con-
sole them except the memory of Baba Earn
Singh, whom they raised, unauthorised by
him, to the position of a Guru or successor
of Guru Nanakf.

This reform movement was successfully
paralysed owing to the want of a
common feeling among the Sikhs, which
could be engendered only by education. It

* The Government communique announcing
the removal of restrictions against the Namdharis
begins thus : —

" In 1872 after the Kuka disturbances restric-
tions were placed by the Punjab Government ovar
the movements of the leaders of the ff ct and a police
post was established at Bhaini Ala, their head quar-
ters in the Ludhiaha District. Those restrictions
involved the reporting of their movements by the
leader?, surervision over visitors to the shrine and
proHbit;on of meetings without sanction from the
authorities.''

t Of course the setting up of a Guru after
Guru Gobind Singh, except Guru Granth Sahib, was
against the ba^ic principles of Sikh:sm, and this was
responsible for the growing: isolation between the
General Panth and the Namdharis, who fell away-
more and more from the high ideal of Bab* Ram
Singh urtil in the present movement of Gurdwara
Reform they are doing nothing but playing into the
hands of the enemies of Sikhism.

42

is a significant fact that, while all other
communities at that time felt the inspira*
tion for reform from the Western education,
the Sikhs* first attempts at reform were the
result of their own inherent genius. They
realised, however, that their endeavours to
rouse the whole community to feel the
necessity of reform would be fruitless unless
they first got themselves educated. The
first and most urgent need was education.

A reform association called the Khalsa
Diwan was founded at Lahore in 1888. It
had a network of Singh Sabhas spread over
the province, with the common object of
restoring the purity of religion and making
the Sikhs feel their lost individuality. A
few English and Gurmukhi papers were
started to help the movement. The Punjabi
language also began to make a conscious ad-
vance. Modern poetry and especially prose
owe their origin to the strong advocacy of
religious reform by such writers as Bhai Dit
Singh. They were later improved and their
scope was enlarged by Bhai Vir Singh of
Amritsar and his associates in the Khalsa
Tract Society. Free-interdining, removal of
untouchability, abolition of caste, performing
of marriage, funeral and other ceremonies
according to the Sikh rites — these were the
main features of the reform propaganda.

43

Soon after the establishment of the
Lahore Diwan an active campaign was start-
ed to found a central college for the SikhB
to be worked in connection with a system of
schools in the outlying districts. The move-
ment was due to such enthusiastic Sikhs as
Sardar Gurmukh Singh, a teacher in the
Oriental College of Lahore, and Sardar
Jawahir Singh, a clerk in the N. W. E. Office,
but they were whole-heartedly helped by the
Government and the Sikh States. Those
were the days when the Sikhs fully trusted
the Government as their best friend ; and*
the Government, too, fully confided in the
devotion and friendship of the Sikhs tested
in many trying crises. That was the time
when a Viceroy could say : " "With this
(educational) movement the Government
of India is in hearty sympathy. We appre-
ciate the many admirable qualities of the
Sikh nation, and it is a pleasure to us to
know that, while in days gone by we recog-
nised in them a gallant and formidable foe,
we are to-day able to give them a foremost
place amongst the true and loyal subjects
of Her Majesty the Queen Empress j * and
a Lieutenant Governor could feel " that the
British Government owed the Sikhs a debt
of gratitude for their large share of the credit

* Lord Iyansdowne in his speech at Patiala-
on 23rd October, 1890.

44

lor victories won by Punjabi Eegiments in
-Hindustan and in China, and afterwards in
Abyssinia, Egypt and Afghanistan."*

The Sikhs, too, appreciated this sym-
pathy in such glowing terms : " They are
actuated by no other motives than those of
■philanthropy, of friendliness towards the
Sikhs, and we are very grateful to them."t

The College was founded in 1892. Col.
W. E. M. Holroyd, Director of Public In-
struction, Mr. J. Sime, another D. P. I.,
Sir W. H. Eattigan, Mr. W. Bell, Principal,
Government College, and several other
:European gentlemen gave active assistance
to the Sikhs in the work of founding and
conducting the College. They were associat-
ed with the Sikhs with the latter's free
consent and were elected as special members,
simply to help them, and were nob there to
exercise official control.

When, owing to the deaths or abstention
of its active members towards the end of the
19th century, the Lahore Diwan became

* Sir J. Lyall, while laying the foundation
stone of the Kha!sa College Main Building on 5th
March, 1892.

t 7 he Secretary of the Khalsa College
Council, while referring to the European mem-
bers of the Council in his speech at the opening
ceremony of the Khalsa Collegiate School on 22nd
October, 1893.

45

deteriorated, the College, too, was foundl
verging towards bankruptcy, and it was
seriously proposed by Sir Mackworth Young,
the Lieutenant-Governor, that the College'
classes should be abandoned altogether. But?
fortunately the Chief Khalsa Diwan, another
central body, came into existence at Amritsar
just at the time when the Lahore Diwan
became defunct, and Sardar Sundar Singh
Majithia, the moving figure in the new dis-
pensation, became Secretary of the College
in 1902. To facilitate business the unwieldy
College Council, under the advice of the=
Lieutenant-Governor, delegated all its
governing powers to a small Managing Com-
mittee of thirteen members. With the
return of public confidence and the patronage
of princes, the financial condition of the-
College began to improve, and in 1904, as a
result of a great Sikh Conference held at the
College under the presidency of the venerable
Maharaja Hira Singh of Nabha, the Endow-
ment Fund, not including the promises, went
up by a leap to Rs. 15,30,477, and the Main
Building Fund stood at Rs. 3,28,480 includ-
ing Rs. 50,000 granted by Government. Sir
Charles Rivaz, the Lieutenant-Governor,
exerted himself utmost in the interest of
the College, and with his help i anna per
rupee on the Government revenue was>
collected from the Sikh zamind&rs.

46

The policy of Government up to that
ttime had been of trust, and in return for its
help it did not require any official control to
be introduced *. But after some time the
vicious policy of Lord Curzon, inaugurated
by the Universities Act of 1904, came to
overtake the former policy of saympathy ;
and when the mistrust of the educated classes
led the Government to take the Universities
under a stricter State control, the Khalsa
•College, which was the fountain-head of Sikh
education, also came in for its share. A
little incidentf in the College and the

• The European members did show anxiety
in 1900 to reserve the Principalship for an European
even when a Sikh at a great sacrifice was offering
himself for the post, but on this point the Sikh mem-
bers themselves were divided. Even the appointment
of Sardar Suudar Singh as Secretary in March 1902
was strongly opposed by the European members,
who wanted Mr. Cole, the Principal, to be also the
Secretary, but they could not withstand the grow-
ing influence of the new Sikh party and, in spite of
the threatened deadlock, Sardar Sundar Singh was
confirmed in his position.

t The Sikh Engineer Sardar Dharam Singh,
who was working honorarily and vras against carry-
ing on the building operations on the original extra-
vagant scale, was replaced, at the suggestion of the
Lieutenant-Governor, by a paid European Engineer.
This appointment and specially Major Hill's remark
about the honorary services of the Sikh Engineer,
that 'the labour of love was nonsense,' created a
great sensation in the community. About 75 Sikh

47

general unrest in the country in 1907 Beared
.away the old trust which had always inspired
the Government officials in their dealings
with the College. After the Managing Com-
mittee had worked for six years, much .to
the advantage of the institution, it was dis-
covered by Government and the Punjab
University that the Committee had been
illegally constituted in 1902 and that its
funds were bogus*. The threat of dis-
affiliation was held out, unless the fundmental
rules of the Society were changed, which
meant that the Society should consent
to the introduction of Government control.
A sub-committee, appointed by the Punjab
Government and consisting of the Commis-

associatiocs sent resolutions of protest against the
European member's remark, from which the Manag-
ing Committee were also obliged to record their
dissociation. There was a strong agitation against
Europeans or officials being present on the manage-
ment. When the new engineer came to the College
on the 10th February, 1907, some boys are said to
have behaved rudely towards him. The whole stu-
dents body put on black badges and held a fast.
The Government was highly offended and the Phul-
kian States withheld payment of tbe interest on their
endowed money.

* The reference was to the fact that the dona-
tions of the Sikh States, on which the College
mainly depended, were deposited with the States
themselves and were not placed in the hands cf the
College trustees. But this had been the case from the
beginning and upto the present remains the same.

48

sioner of Lahore (Chairman), the Director
of Public Instruction, a Sikh Sirdar who was
a ' safe ' man, and Sardar Sundar Singh
Majithia who protested all along, proposed
revision of the constitution of the College.
The draft rules, approved by Government
and passed by an Executive Committee
suggested by Government, were placed before
the old Council on 10th June, 1908, but
without the requisite number of votes forth-
coming the rules were declared passed, and
the remaining votes were secured later on by
July 3rd*, By the new arrangement the Com-
missioner became president, and the Deputy
Commissioner, the Director of Public In-
struction, the Political Agent, Phulkian States,
and the Principal were appointed ex-officio
by the Government to the College Council.
With the Commissioner as Chairman, the
Deputy Commissioner as Vice-Chairman of
the Managing Committee, and the Secretary
nominated and removed by Government, the
effective control of the College may be said
to have passed into the hands of Govern-
ment.

The Principal, Mr. Cole, could say com-
placently that " the reconstitution of the
College Managing Committee on the lines
indicated by Government and the University

* See the Secretary's report for the yeat
1908-09.

49

has served to place matters on a more definite
basis ;" but the Sikhs thought otherwise.
There was a great outcry in the community.
The independent-minded member Sardar
Harbans Singh of Atari resigned, and the
position of Sardar Sundar Singh also became
more and more difficult. The great influence
he commanded in the management was too
much for the Principal and the official mem-
bers, and " the Government expressed a
desire that the constitution should be changed
as it did not work well.,,* It was proposed in
September, 1912, that the number of mem-
bers from the British districts should be
reduced and the Secretary should not be an
honorary but a paid officer to be appointed
and removed by Government. He was not
to have a seat on the Managing Committee,
and his powers were further sought to be
limited and placed at the mercy of the
Principal. After a hard contest the Secre-
tary's position was more or less maintained,
but the proportion of the members from the
British districts on the Committee was
reduced, and the Lieutenant-Governor of the
Punjab was given the power "to suspend
the rules and to direct the Committee to
take such action as the special circumstances
may appear to demand, and it shall thereupon
be binding upon the Committee to take such

* Secretary 's report for the year 1912- 13.

so

aetiom'' Sardar Sundar Singh had, of course,
^to resign his office in November 1912, and
•Several ' strong * men on the staff were forced
to retire soon after* To help the institution
the Government consented to provide three
English professors, including the Principal,
to the College.

The College became very unpopular and,

'as admitted by the new Secretary, was openly

•cried down as a Government College. The

Lieutenant-Governor,, who came to distribute

prizes in 1914, noted this change in the attitude

•of the Sikhs, but tried to justify the officialising

-of the College by referring to the happy

results of the Sikhs being led by British

officers in the army. The story of India in

;the : leading • strings was repeated here.

.The same efficiency and the same outward

show of prosperity* was there, but it stunted

the growth of the native genius.

Disgusted with this state of affairs the
JSikhs left the College to its fate and began to
'concentrate their attention on the growth
rot- school education, which had been one of the
"object's of the Lahore Diwan in founding the
^College. Ever since 1908, when the higher

5 More than 15 lakhs have been spent on the
buildings alone and the capital for the maintenance of
rPthe'CoUeg;;e"exjsts mainly on paper. The Goverkment

■and the" States caii stop the College any day by

' refusing their grants,

51

education begau'tcr slip arway from the Sikh
control, the Chief Khalsa Diwan, through its
Educational Committee, had been holding an
Educational Conference every year ; and
wherever it was held it left a school behind it,
until in a few years it came to support a host
of Primary, Middle and High Schools in the
Province*. It heroically fought for the cause
of the Punjabi language and its influence was
felt by the Educational, Postal and Railway
authorities, although the attitude of Hindus
and Moslems, with the exception of a few
like Professor Ruchi Ram, Choudhri Shahab-
ud-din, Chaudhrani Sarla Devi, etc., became
more stiffened against Punjabi as the mother
tongue of the people |« The Educational

* At present . the fo lowing number of edu-
cational institutions are affiliated to the Educational
Committee of the Chief Khalsa Diwan: —

33 High Schools lor boys; 37 Middle Schools
for boys and 7 for girls ; 4 Miscellaneous
schools; 3 Lower Niiddle Schools; 5 Board-
ing Houses; 49 Primary Schools for beys
and 70 for girls; 19 Mixed Schools; and
7 Night Schools.
The Committee spends on education about
Rs. 40,400 annually out of whiclj about Rs. 28,C00
are given in grants. Beside those under the Edu-
cational Committee, there are scores of other privately
managed Sikh institutions which are not affiliated to
the Ccmmittee.

t The prejudice against Punjabi is so strong,
that in the Reformed Council of the Punjab it is Urdu
that is officially recognised as the Vernacular of tie

52

Committee, as admitted by Government,
became the most active educational body in
the Punjab.

The Sikh schools were not only dispensers
of education, but they also served as strong-
holds of Sikhism wherever they were
established. Even the Singh Sabhas, which
had been organized to propagate reform,
could not compete in popularity with the
schools. This spread of education created
among the Sikhs a public spirit with
which they came to feel for their religious
and political disabilities. Just at that time
occurred a few incidents which roused the
Sikhs most and gave a point to their griev-
ances.

speakers, and even in the national scheme of edu-
cation promulgated by the Punjab Congress Committee
no proper place is given to the mother tongue of the
people.

CHAPTER V.

IRON ENTERS THE SOUL.

GURDWARA BlKAB GANJ.

The first incident was the Eikab Ganj
affair. Eikab Ganj is a Gurdwara in Delhi
built on the site, where the body of Guru
Tegh Bahadur, martyred by Aurangzeb, was
cremated. With the transfer of the capital
to Delhi in 1911 preparations began to be
made to build the Viceregal Lodge opposite
to the place where the Gurdwara is situated.
The Government considered that the old six-
cornered enclosure wall of the Gurdwara was
too ugly to stand in front of the Viceroy's
palace and proposed that it should be
demolished. In 1912 under the Land Acquisi-
tion Act the Government acquired from an
accommodating Mahant the whole land lying
between the Gurdwara and the outer wall.
Early in 1914 a part of the wall was pulled
down. The Chief Khalsa Diwan, which was
consulted as the only representative body
of the Sikhs, seemed inclined to accept the
Government's position, in view of the fact
that the Government did not want to do it
to injure the feelings of the Sikhs but simply

54

to improve the outlook of the Gurdwara.
There was, however, among the Sikhs a great
agitation against the action of Government,
and the Chief Khalsa Diwan. also came in for
its share in the unpopularity. A voice of
protest was raised by Sardar Harehand Singh
of Lyallpur even- in the Educational Con-
ference held in April 1914 at Jullundur, but
it was immediately hushed up. The voice,
however, could not be hushed outside, in the
press and on the platform. , A separate meet-
ing was held on the same night after the
Conference and strong exception taken to the
proposal of the- Government. The voice of
opposition grew in volume, until the
Chief Khalsa Diwan was constrained to call
a general meeting of the Sikhs whom it
considered representative. About 245 Sikhs,
thus summoned, met in the Town Hall of
Amritsar on the 3rd of May, 1914, and in
the midst of great uproar passed six reso-
lutions, one of which ran as follows : —

" That the Government be humbly re-
quested to restore the land and enclosure
wall of the Gurdwara garden to their original
condition ; but if for reasons of State it is
considered essential to change their form,
then in the opinion of this Committee it
will be acceptable if, without reducing the
total : area of the land, the whole place is

55

given a rectangular shape and the Gurdwara
comes in the middle of it, with roads running
on both sides. The entire work, however;,
should be entrusted to a Managing Com-
•mittee of Sikhs who should be helped by
.Government financially for this purpose.*
In the other resolutions they requested that
the Sikhs should be allowed complete liberty
io visit or reside in the Gurdwara at all
times in the day or night ; that a Committee
of 7 Sikhs be formed to control and manage
the Eikab Ganj and other Gurdwaras situated
in the new Delhi ; and that for their main-
tenance sufficient canal land should be granted
in compensation for the village of Raisina.
The Government agreed to form a Committee
-and give full freedom of staying or worshipping
in the Gurdwara. It also promised to grant
30 squares of land on the Lower Bari Doab
Canal in compensation for the Gurdwara
lands acquired by Government. It did not,
however, accept the main demand that the
garden land attached to the Rikab Ganj
should be allowed to remain as it was. The
Government expressed itself ready to giy.e
fin equal area of land on the condition that
it was made parallel to the roads on the two
eides of it, and that before constructing any
building in the compound or erecting any
wall or railing round it, Government sanction
must be secured.

56

The Chief Khalsa Diwan seemed to be
satisfied with this offer, but the other Sikhs
would have none of it. On 31st May a great
meeting was held at Lahore to condemn this
arrangement ; and then meeting after meet-
ing began to be held— at Patti, Khanna,
Bhasaur and innumerable other places, until
the Government was alarmed and it stopped
a meeting that was going to be held at Gojra.

It was August, when people's minds were
also greatly exercised over the Hansli ques-
tion. Hansli is the water channel dug by
the Sikhs long before the British rule to
provide river water from the Ravi to the
sacred tanks of Amritsar. Mr. King, the
Deputy Commissioner, stopped this aqueduct
and made insufficient arrangements for pro-
viding tube-well water to the tanks. There was
great uproar, and in spite of his threatenings
the people held huge meetings to protest
against his arbitrary action. Just at that time
Sikhs were going in large numbers to jail,
where they were not allowed the use of the
Gomb (which beside being a religious symbol is
an absolute necessity for the Sikhs) and were
forced to wear caps which are forbidden to
them by their religion. The Kirpan question
had also come to the fore. Through the
efforts of the Khalsa Youngmen's Association,
Rawalpindi, the Kirpan had been allowed to
the Sikhs in the Punjab, but they were still

57

Buffering hardships in other provinces, where
it was not allowed. This only aggravated the
situation which was already becoming bad on
account of the Komagata Maru affair.

Komagata Maru.

Sikhs like other Indians have gone abroadr
but they prefer those countries where labour
is free and respectable life possible. They
have gone in very large numbers to the
Malaya States, Burma, China (Hong KongT
Shanghai, etc.), Africa (Nairobi and South
Africa mostly) and America. There are
several thousands in the Malaya States, doing
very great business and owning property worth
lakhs. Like their brethren in Shanghai and
elsewhere, they contributed very handsomely
to the War funds, beside frequently sending
princely donations to different Sikh institu-
tions. There are thousands in Burma and
China. There were in 1913 about eight
thousand Sikhs in America. Their chief
centre of business was Vancouver, where they
had got their temple with a Khalsa Diwan,
and very large trade and agriculture business.
The Canadian Government, like many other
Colonies, was bent upon keeping these
• Blacks • away.

In 1908 it was proposed to induce the
Indian labourers to go to British Honduras*
The Indians saw through the scheme, which r

■according to the memorial prepared in 1913
after the Bradlaugh Hall meeting in, Lahore^
was, designed ' to effect the wholesale ... trans-
portation of the Indian settlers to British

Honduras •• by offering them plausible

terms, which were not only to reduce them
from free immigrants to the -level of inden-
tured, coolies, but also to considerably L reduce
their earnings.' A commission appointed by
the Government reported against the pro-
posal, and in a large meeting the Indians un-
animously resolved not to go. to Honduras.
The matter was dropped, but the Canadians
began to put other difficulties in the way of
the Indian immigrants. Sometimes they
brought charges of the want of civilization and
sometimes of polygamy. There was no great
leader with the Sikhs as Mahatma Gandhi in
Natal, and they suffered a great deal. They,
however, proved in courts that they were
Aryan by blood and were not polygamous. At
least those who went there did not have
more than one wife. They were not allowed
to have their families with them. All appeals
to the Candians' humanity, all appeals to
them as British fellow-subjects proved futile.
The Indian Government also did not fight
for those Sikhs as zealously as. it is now doing
in defence of the Indians in Africa. The
Sikhs were fighting their battle single-
Jianded,

In May 1910 certain ordinances were
passed in Canada, which prohibited immigra-
tion into the country of persons of every
nationality except by a; continuous journey on
through tickets from their country of origin,
and imposed on all Asiatics— other than those
who were admissible under treaty or other
restrictive terms — the necessity of being pos-
sessed of 200 dollars before being allowed to
land. " As there was no through shipping ser*
vice plying between India and Canada, this
ordinance appeared to be directed specially
against Indian immigration.

In 1912 the families of Bhai Balwant
Singh and Bhai Bhag Singh Granthi of the
temple at Victoria came to Canada, but the
Immigration authorities ordered their depor-
tation. The case was taken to courts, but,
before the case came on for hearing, a depu-
tation attended by a Christian missionary
went to Ottawa, and as a result of that the
families were allowed to land.

The general prohibition, however, con-
tinued and there was great agitation over it.
All representations to the Canadian Govern-
ment having proved fruitless, a deputation
composed of Bhais Balwant Singh Granthi,
Nand § Singh, B. A. and Narain Singh left
Vancouver on 14th March 1913 to influence
opinion in England and India and move the
Governments of these countries to intercede

60

with the Canadian Government. Leading
Indians, like the la be Mr. Gokhale, in England
supported the deputation, and in India, too,
the deputationists created a sensation by their
revelations of the ill-treatment of Indian
settlers in Canada. The meetings were at-
tended by thousands. Never had Indians
heard such a tale of woe, such a description
given by Bhai Balwant Singh in their own
tongue of their helplessness in the British
Empire, for which they had shed their life's
blood in the past and were still ready to do
so. The Amritsar meeting was presided over
by Sardar Sundar Singh Majithia and the
Lahore meeting, held in the Bradlaugh Hall
on 18th August, was presided over by Sardar
Baghel Singh (who became President of the
Chief Khalsa Diwan.) The most important
resolution passed at the meeting was moved
by Sir P. C. Chatterjee, the famous Chief
Court Judge, and supported by Sardar Sewa
Ram Singh, Vakil, now a Sessions Judge.
Deputations were sent to the Lieutenant Gov-
ernor and the Viceroy to secure help for
getting the restrictive laws of Canada relaxed
as regards their operation on Indians*.

* It was for such activities in India and else-
where that Bhai Balwant Singh was charged three
years after with waging war against the King * in
Lahore and India', Japan, Canada and other coun-
tries, and in spite of such defence witnesses as Sardar

61

Beside sending deputations, the Sikhs in
Canada were also conducting an English-and-
Gurmukhi paper called Sansar, in which they
were airing their grievances.

Their activities were perfectly constitu-
tional and, not to mar the justice of their
cause, they were scrupulously keeping them-
selves aloof from the Ghadar party, whose
centre was San Francisco and which, created
by Hardial, was carried on by such non-Sikh
revolutionaries as Earn Chand, Munsha Ram,
Barkat Ullah, Guru Datt, etc. It appears
from evidence recorded in British courts that
when in 1913, in the absence of Bhai Balwant
Singh, an attempt was made by Bela Singh,
a secret agent of the Canadian Immigration
Department, to smuggle in Bhagwan Singh,
a man who later fell away from Sikhism and
who at that time had taken to sedition
preaching, the Sikhs of Vancouver led by Bhai
Bhag Singh Granthi opposed the landing of
such a mischievous man ; and when in spite
of their attempts he was allowed to land and
began to preach sedition, they helped the Cana-
dian Government in deporting him. They
were well-organized and all their proceedings
were carried on above-board. Therefore they
were able to keep themselves free from in-

Sundar Singh Majithia, S. Mehr Singh Chawla, S.
Sewa Ram Singh and S. Baghel Singh, was hanged.

62

fection, and even the Tribunal trying the first
Lahore Conspiracy case had to record that
" the prosecution has not considered it neces^
sary to place before us much evidence in re-
gard to Vancouver" as a centre of conspi-
racy. Indians in Canada were, described in
the memorial presented to the Viceroy after
the Bradlaugh Hall meeting as " men of in^
dustrious, regular and steady habits, temper-
ate and thrifty living, and pleasant and
straight-forward manners."

On 17th October 1913 about 39 Sikhs,
who went in a ship to Canada, were arrested
by the Immigration Department and orders
for their deportation were secured from the
Ottawa Government'. But the Canadian
Sikhs, in behalf of their countrymen, appealed
to the court of Chief Justice Hunter, who de-
cided on 24th November, I9l3rin their favour,
declaring that restrictive notification issued
in 1910 was invalid and ultra vires. The
news of this decision were published far and
wide in Canada, Japan, China and India,
Wherever the Sikhs received the Sansar of
Vancouver and the Khalsa Sewd* *:o£ Amrit-
iar, they hailed the ] newp witli: Joy. —From
letters and wires, too, received /from Canada
fcjiey felt sure; that, for six months -at. ., lea&t,
until the Candian parliament forged a new
law for them, there would be ho restrictk&L
on landing in ^Canada, ' -

Baba Gtirdit Singh, a Malaya merchant
who had emigrated from India some 30 years
before and was looked upto for his age and
experience in the East, came to Hong
Kong on 5th January 1914 and began to
make arrangements for taking Indians to
Canada. At first some shipping companies
agreed to take Indians to Canada, but
they soon withdrew their promises, and the
Sikhs in the East were left the only alterna-
tive of chartering their own vessel at any
cost and settling the immigration question
once for all. They expressed their readiness
to subscribe freely to start a navigation com:
pany, and for this venture the Sikhs in Canada
also held out large promises. But for the
•present they confined themselves to charter-
ing a vessel. Baba Gurdifc Singh wanted to
.'leave nothing to chance and proposed to start
direct from Calcutta after a ship was charter*
ed. But in negotiating with different compa-
nies in Singapore he had to spend about a month
-and the intending J immigrants wanted; to
be quick and reach Canada before the Domi-
nion Parliament met. Therefore they had
^wired to him at Singapore on the 29th Janu-
ary, urging him not to go. to Calcutta but to
coin e and: start a vessel; direct from Hong
\K©ng to Vancouver. .TMy must have hen rU
by this time that the Governor-Gener&l of
Canada had re-issued an order in Council on
7th January, 1914, identical — witb $h&? ©&§
already declared invalid in the court of Jus-

64

tice Hunter, but they trusted on the judgment
of the court and believed that there would be
no difficulty about getting admission into the
country, or hoped to win their cause legally
as their brethren had done before.

After trying many Chinese Companies,
a ship called the s.s. Komagata Maru was
chartered for six months from a Japanese
Company for 11,000 dollars per month, and
was renamed the Guru Nanak Jehaz, The
hire was to be paid in instalments, the last
one being due after two months from com-
mencement of the charter. It was clearly
stated in the charter that the ship would be
taken to Canada. Baba Gurdit Singh issued
tickets to a large number of the intending
emigrants but many of them were not able to
pay their fares, as is evident from the fact
that notes for nearly 24,000 dollars executed
by various passengers on this account were
found afterwards in the ship. " Majority of
them were poor men who had saved but little
and many had sacrificed all they had in the
way of savings to pay the expenditure incurred
by this voyage. There is also evidence to
prove that many gave up regular service and
appointments in which they were receiving
good pay in Hong Kong, Shanghai, and else-
where to embark on this disastrous voy-

age."*

* The Report of the Enquiry Committee ap-
pointed by Government.

65

The ship was to start on 27th March,
but on 25th March Baba Gurdit Singh was
arrested by the Hong Kong Police, and most
of the intending passengers were scared away.
Only 165 out of 500 or more were ready to
start. When after a great deal of trouble the
case was withdrawn, the Governor refused to
sign the clearance certificate. The Baba
Sahib strongly protested to the Governor
against this illegal detention and represented
that he was being put to a great loss. The
acting Governor, who turned out to be an old
friend of Baba Gurdit Singh, admitted in an
interview that he had detained the ship be-
cause he was expecting a reply from the
Ottawa Government and the Indian authori-
ties in London, whom he had wired six days
before for instructions. After waiting use-
lessly for a reply, the Governor allowed the
ship to start on the 4th of April. He also-
promised to move the Governments of
Canada and India to help the Baba Sahib.

The ship proceeded to Shanghai where it
took in 111 new passengers, and then to Moji
and Yokohama where more passengers were-
taken on board, until there were 376 men in
all, of whom only 25 were Mohammedans and
the rest Sikhs. At Moji it was discovered
that the ship-doctor Eaghunath, a renegade
from Sikhism, was an informer and was trying
to create parties among the passengers. His

66

offer for service in the ship had been accepted
on his promising that he would give up smok-
ing and become a Sikh in earnest. But now
that he was found out to be a secret agent*
he was asked to go. The Baba Sahib was,
however, persuaded to forgive the man and
re-employ him* This leniency cost the Sikhs
a great deal afterwards.

On 21st May the s. s. Komagata Maru
anchored off Victoria, where the authorities of
the port demanded the clearance certificate
from Yokohama* On the ship-captain's say-
ing that the paper was missing, the autho-
rities at once wired to the Ottawa Govern-
ment for an order to send back the ship.
The situation was, however, saved by Baba
Gurdit Singh's secretary who went to the
captain's cabin and found out the paper
hidden there. Two days later the ship
reached Vancouver.

Here the tussle began. The Immigra-
tion authorities held up the ship at some dis-
tance from the coast and placed it under a
strong guard in launch boats. Dr. Eaghu-
nath with his family was, of course, admitted
and so was the Japanese Captain of the ship,
who, according to the Charter, was under
orders of the charterer, but became a ready
tool in the hands of the coast officers. Other
passengers, in spite of their repeated protests,

6T

were not allowed to land. If the coastal
authorities had been minded to proceed strict-
ly according to law, they should have allowed
Baba Gurdit Singh and his personal staff to
disembark as non-immigrants, for he was a
merchant come with his ship to touch the
coast temporarily. Then they should have
put the remaining passengers in the Immigra-
tion Shed and held a regular enquiry into
each individual case. The ship should have
been released. But nothing of the sort was
done. The attitude of the Immigration offi-
cers of Canada may be gathered from the
following recorded wTords of one of them :
" The Hindus on board the ship came to this
country deliberately intending to force their
presence upon a people who do not wish
them.11 From 1st June onwards they began
to take one passenger after another to the
coast and leisurely examine each case before
a Board of Enquiry, simply to cause delay.
The authorities were informed by the Captain
that Baba Gurdit Singh had to pay the last
instalment of his ship-rent by the 4th June,
failing which he would lose his ship and incur
enormous loss. They, therefore, would not
allow him to sell his coal and realise money
or to see or correspond with his countrymen
on the coast, who had formed a committee to
help him. Even his legal adviser was not
permitted to go on board the ship.

68

By 2nd June provisions ran dry and the
passengers began to starve, but in spite of
protests from Baba Gurdit Singh the Immi-
gration Department would not help him nor
allow him to go to the shore and make his
own arrangements. The Baba Sahib had to
wire to the King Emperor in London and to
the Governor General at Ottawa before he
was allowed relief on that score. He also
wired to the Chief Khalsa Diwan at Amritsar
to move the Indian Government for aid*
But beyond acknowledging the receipt of
the Diwan's representation, the Government
of India seems to have given no assurance of
help. The Baba Sahib in despair had to trans-
fer the ship's charter to Bhai Bhag Singh and
Mr. Bahim, the representatives of the Shore
Committee. But even these assignees of the
charter were not allowed to have control of
the ship.

About 20th June, at the suggestion of
the legal advisers of the Immigration De-
partment Baba Gurdit Singh consented to
take a case to the Board of Enquiry, which
would test the validity of the Order in Coun-
cil without prejudicing the other cases. But,
as confessed by Messrs. Macrossan and Harper,
who were asked by the Hindustani Associa-
tion to take up the Komagata Maru case,
the matter had gone quite out of the legal
sphere and had become political. They wrote

69

on 24th June : " We feel that the matte*
has become of such great moment that it has
got beyond the realm of mere legal proceed-
ings, and has become largely, if not entirely,
a question of national policy of vital import-
ance to not only the Government of this
country but also involves conflicting Imperial
•interests. In the face of this, it seems to us,
it is a question for diplomacy rather than
law, and we do not feel that we could con*
scientiously enter upon a legal fight under
these circumstances, notwithstanding the fact
that you have offered a very generous re-
tainer." The case was, of course, doomed.

Now the Shore Committee, which claimed
the ship, request the Immigration Depart-
ment to allow the cargo to be loaded and also
to provide passage money for the passengers,
who were now ready to go back, or to take
them off to some other ship. But the Depart-
ment would not allow any man of the Shore
Committee to go to the ship nor send any
relief to the passengers who were clamouring
for food. When they were sick and starving,
an attack was made by the police on the night
of July 20 to force away the ship, but it would
have been death for them to go away in that
impoverished and unprovided condition, and
they resisted the cruel attempt. The autho-
rities then provided food and, bringing an

70

armed force in a vessel, ordered them to re*
turn to the ports from which they had come.

They started on 23rd July. A few
disembarked in Japan, but after that none of
the passengers was allowed to land either in
Hong Kong, Shanghai, or any other place on
the way. Baba Gurdit Singh had now no
authority over the Captain or the ship,
but he asked the Captain many times
during the voyage to satisfy himself that
there were no arms kept by the passengers.
The Baba Sahib had been very scrupulous on
this point and had always been on the alert
against the smuggling of arms or undesirable
literature. When staying off Vancouver, an
attempt was made by the Immigration agents
to discredit the Baba's cause by throwing in
seditious literature, but as soon as he found
a bundle of such papers he sent them at once
to the authorities, protesting against such
tactics.

On 27th September the ship, with 321
men on it, arrived at Budge-Budge, some 14
miles south of Calcutta. By the Ingress into
India Act of 1914 the Bengal Government, in
consultation with the Government of the
Punjab, had decided that the returned Pun-
jabis on landing at Budge-Budge should be
put into a special train and conveyed to their
homes in the Punjab. All were searched
three times upto the time of their landing, but

71

no arms were found on them. 17 MohamJ
medan passengers consented to obey the
orders, and went into the train, but the others
represented that they had got nothing left in
the Punjab to call their own and that they
should be allowed to seek their fortune in
Calcutta. They began to move towards Cal-
cutta in a procession with their Holy Book
before them. They were shown a military
force which brought them back to the railway
station. On the way, as it appears from evi-
dence, some of the European police sergeants
roughly handled the Sikhs. When they came
back to the station a bloody scene ensued in
darkness. Twenty of the passengers and four
on the Government side were killed. Beside
these two Indian residents of Budge-Budge
also fell, one of whom at least is admitted by
the Government report to have been killed
by the British troops. A constable killed on
the Government side had also received a
gun-shot wound from some of the troops.
Those Sikhs who escaped were arrested.
They were brought to the Punjab and interned
or thrown into jails. Baba Gurdit Singh had
escaped*. A large sum of money belong -

* After seven years' wanderings, during which
he suffered terrible difficulties, the old Baba suddenly
appeared in a big national assembly held at Nankana
Sahib on 16th November. 1921. The whole concourse
of people numbering lakhs, accompanied him peace-
fully to the Dak Bungalow, where he offered himself for

72

ing to Baba Gurdit Singh was left at the
place of occurrence, and the Baba's complaint
is that no account of it has been published so
far.

The story of the Komagata Maru men is
strange. Even now you might come upon a
straight-walking, pathetic-looking man, who
would, like the Ancient Mariner, hold you
with his eye, and pnjs let you go until you

arrest. After some months' detention he was released
on 28th February, 1922, as there was no case against
him. He was, however, again arrested at the Golden
Temple.

He was originally charged under the Seditious
Meetings Act for the speeches made about his own
sufferings and in reply to the welcome addresses pre-
sented to him by the Congress and the Khilafat Com-
mittees ; but about a month later the Government
thought it fit to prosecute him for the much graver
offence of sedition for the same speeches. The Gov-
ernment did not provide him with his private papers
which had been seized at Budge-Budge in 1914,
and which he required in preparation of his defence.
The Court, too, disallowed, as irrelevant as many
as 19 witnesses out of 21, whom Baba Gurdit Singh
wanted to produce to clear up certain allegations that
had been made against him in connection with the
Komagata Maru and the Budge-Budge affairs ; and
this in spite of the fact that the judge himself devoted
about one half of his lengthy judgment to the same
affairs. The Baba Sahib, therefore, gave up his
defence in protest. He was convicted on July 26,
1922, under Section 124A of the Penal Code and sen-
tenced to five years' transportation.

73

have heard his rueful tale and assured him
that the Ship would sail again.

After the departure of the Komagata
Maru men, upon account of the scarcity of busi-
ness consequent on the War and the increase
-of prejudice against them, the Sikhs found it
more and more difficult to remain in America.
Some of them, especially those coming under
the influence of the Frisco revolutionaries,
out of bitterness did take to anarchical me-
thods and deserved punishment. But many
innocent men, like Bhai Balwant Singh, also
suffered with them. Their lives were sworn
away before Special Tribunals by such men as
the notorious Bela Singh of the Immigration
Department of Canada, who had murdered
with impunity Bhai Bhag Singh Granthi in
broad daylight in the Vancouver temple.
Under Sir M. O'Dwyer an America-returned
Sikh ran a perilous chance of being taken as a
seditious man, and to get such a Sikh interned
or arrested on some charge was considered the
height of loyalty. If any paper like the
Loyal Gazette of Lahore expressed the
panthic grief over it, it was at once punished.
It was war time, and the Sikhs did not want
to embarrass the Government by making any
strong agitation. But iron had entered into
their spirit.

CHAPTER VI.

POLITICAL AWAKENING AMONG THE SIKHS.

The War and the democratic princi-
ples for which it was waged by the Allies
created a passion for democracy everywhere
and the Sikhs had their share. When the
great announcement of August 1917 was
made and Mr. Montagu came to hear
evidence, the Sikhs felt hopeful and free
to express their views before the Secre-
tary of State. The Chief Khalsa Diwan
gave expression to these views and demanded
that the Sikhs should be given 1/3 of the
seats in the Provincial Council. In 1909,
in spite of representations made in behalf of
Sikhs by the present Maharaja of Nabha, who
was then a member of the Imperial Legis*
lative Council, and Bhai Sahib Arjan Singh
of Bagarian, the Sikh claims had been
quietly passed over in the Minto-Morley
Seheme. By a compact made at the Luck-
now Congress in 1916, Hindus and Mohamme-
dans also had divided the seats in the Punjab
Council equally among themselves ignoring the
share of the Sikhs. In the Montagu-Chelms-
ford Beport, however, the Sikhs' claim to
separate representation was recognised ; but
when the franchise rales were framed, out
of 54 seats the Sikhs were recommended for

75

8 seats only. This was quite inadequate, as
this number was fixed on the numerical
strength of the Sikh community, and not on
their special qualifications. The words in the
Eeport were : " To the Sikhs, therefore, and
to them alone, we propose to extend the sys-
tem already adopted in the case of Mohamme-
dans/' This system according to the Minto-
Morley Eeforms had based the scheme of
Mohammedan representation on the principle
that a community in minority cannot allow
itself to be swayed by the majority vote
purely on a numerical basis. Therefore, in
those Provinces where they were in minority,
they were allowed seats far in excess of their
numerical strength. Why not in the case of
Sikhs ? The Punjab Government had written
about them to the Government of India on
23rd November, 1918 : " But their (Sikhs')
influential position in the Province, which is
based partly on historical and political factors,
partly on their military prestige, and partly
on their comparatively high educational level
and economic importance in the Central and
Colony districts, entitles them to a consider-
ably greater degree of representation than is
indicated by numbers alone."

The Sikhs themselves emphasised the
following points in support of their claims : —

(1) They have a large stake in the
country, comprising as they do among them-

76

selves, besides the ruling princes, no less than
half of the aristocracy and the greater part
of the landed gentry and peasantry of the
Punjab.

(2) They pay at least 40 per cent, of
the land revenue and canal charges of the
Province.

(3) The number of voters among the
Sikhs is 93,725, while that of Hindus and
others 92,450, and of Mohammedans 1,37,939.

(4) Their services in the Mutiny, in the
Afghan Wars and other wars, were out of all
proportion to their numerical strength.

(5) In the Great War, so wrote the
Punjab Government, " the number of Sikhs
in the Army is now believed to exceed 80,000,
a proportion far higher than in the case of
any other community." Being about 11 per
cent, of the population of the Punjab, their
strength in the entire Indian Army was 20
per cent, and they supplied not less than one-
third of the total number of men recruited
from the Punjab. The awards made for dis-
tinguished services on the battle-field were
won by the Sikhs to the extent of one-third
of the total won by the Punjabis.

After all the efforts of the Chief Khalsa
Diwan and the Sikh League, two more seats
were given ; but the total number of the non-
special elected seats was also increased, so
that the Sikhs had now 10 out of 58 seats.

77

Even their deputations to Simla and to
London were not able to effect a further change.
When Sardar Sundar Singh Majithia expres-
sed his disappointment at the result of the
Diwan's humble representations, Mr. Hallifaxr
who represented the Punjab Government,
said to the Sardar Sahib tauntingly : " Will
you now go and join the Congress party P ,r
The difficulty with the Government was that
it wanted to keep the number of the Moham-
medan seats intact and let the Sikhs divide
seats with the Hindus. This greatly disap-
pointed the Sikhs. If the Government had
altogether abolished the system of sepa-
rate representation based on religion, the
Sikhs would have gladly agreed to it. It was,
however, not possible for them to accept a
status proportionately inferior to that accord-
ed to a sister community in other Provinces.
Over and above this came the Jallian-
wala Bagh Massacre. The Sikhs lost at
least one-third of the whole number. It was-
the Baisakhi Day in Amritsar, the day on
which the Sikhs had been baptised as the
Khalsa by the Tenth Guru. On the same
day again, they received the baptism of fire
in the city of their Gurus. General Dyer,
instead of expressing regret, vaunted of his
deed and called himself a Sikh. Lord Finlay
repeated this absurdity in the House of
Lords. Many non-Sikhs were calling them-

78

selves Sikhs in order to swamp our interests,
and here was another addition to our ranks !
After this who would not call himself a Sikh ?
And yet the Government would not change
the definition of a Sikh. It defined a Sikh
to be a person who simply declared that he
followed the Ten Gurus and their teachings.
In this way even those who were condemned
by the Sikhs as apostates were declared Sikhs
by Government, e. g., Harnami Shah in
Amritsar and Ganda Sinh in Sialkot.

Thoughtful Sikhs were gradually coming
to the conclusion that they must organize
themselves, if they wanted to save them-
selves in the rush of events. Sardar
Jogendra Singh, in his speech at the Edu-
cational Conference of April, 1917, had
exhorted the Sikhs to organize ; and again
while writing in his East and West about
the Sikhs and the Eeforms he said : " They
must organize their villages, towns, districts
and the central representative assembly. "
But as long as there was war, the Sikhs
chose to remain mute on all questions of
political reform, believing that the supreme
necessity of the hour was the successful pro-
secution of the war. When the war was over,
the Sikhs saw nothing but complete disil-
lusionment of their long-cherished hopes. \

Their other grievances apart, they were
■:&% -the mercy of the ! Government even

79

in regard to the wearing of religious symbols.
A police officer in the Jhelum district
removed the comb and the iron bracelet from
the persons of three Sikhs who were com-
mitted to the judicial lock-up. Sardar Gajjan
Singh put a question about it in the Council
and asked if the Government would instruct
the Police Department not to interfere
with the religious possessions of the Sikhs.
Mr. French, Chief Secretary, on behalf
of Government, admitted the fact, but
relying on the police rules, which did not
allow any articles to be taken into a lock-up
by an accused person, he did not give any
assurance against the repetition of the wrong,
* for in the hands of a dangerous or desperate
criminal these symbols could be used to
attempt suicide, or possible escape, or to
cause self-inflicted injuries ' ! We must re-
member that the jail regulations provide
the compulsory wearing of an iron bracelet by
habitual offenders.

Circumstances were forcing the convic-
tion on the minds of Sikhs that their public
voice was everywhere disregarded because
of their political backwardness. In the
autumn session of the Punjab Council in
1918, while refusing to accept the amend-
ment of Sardar Gajjan Singh to his resolution
recommending the Congress division of the
seats between Hindus and Muhammedans

80

in the Punjab, Mian Fazl-i-Hussain told the
Sardar that as his community had kept aloof
from the Congress it had no ground to
complain afterwards and amend its decisions.

At Amritsar, when the Congress held
its sittings in 1919, the Sikhs also held the
first session of their political body called
the Sikh League. The big-wigs or title-
holders did not join it. But all the middle
class people were with it. It had a host of
district leagues scattered over the Province.
A vernacular paper, the AJcali, was started
at Lahore in May, 1920. It roused the
people to respond to the national call. It
influenced the common people in the villages.
A fund was started for the relief of the
families of those Sikhs who had gone to jail
for their religion and country, among whom
were many who, in spite of the King-
Emperor's Amnesty Proclamation, were not
released. Harrowing stories were told by the
Sikhs who went in disguise, to distant jails
to see how their brethren incarcerated there
suffered for not wearing topees or not salaam-
ing proud jailors.

There were going on political meetings
in the villages at the same time. The
educated people had been taunted by the
bureaucrats that they were mere agitators,,
that the masses were contented and undisturb-
ed by the passing political storms. Mahatma

81

Gandhi threw a challenge to the intelligen-
tia of India by demanding suspension of
legal practice and studies in colleges. The
talking politicians retired from the field, and
only those remained who could make BOine
sacrifice. The appeal, therefore, began to
have greater effect on the masses who could
make sacrifice. The political meetings in
the villages began to produce great effect on
the people. In October, 1920, the Sikh League
passed the full Non-Co-operation programme.

The practical effect of this resolution on
pleaders and title-holders was next to
nothing. But it gave a great shaking to
the inner spirit of the people, many of whom
had fought for liberty in the West. They
began to recognize what was their own, and
felt it keenly when it was not given to them.
While other communities were preparing
themselves in other ways, the Sikhs were
thinking of righting the long-standing wrongs
and acquiring by the way a discipline and
experience which could be useful in the
struggle for Swaraj also. They wanted to
do something practical. They found that
in spite of their humble but urgent requests
their Golden Temple and their Khalsa College
were still in the hands of the Government.

We shall see in another place how the
Golden Temple was taken. Here we may
note in passing how the Khalsa College was

freed. Long before the political movement
had begun, the Sikhs had been talking and
writing about nationalising the management
of the Khalsa College. They had requested
the Government in their Educational Con-
ference of April, 1920, to hand over the
control of the College to the community.
Resolutions to the same effect were passed
by associations all over the Province, even
in Basra and Baghdad. The professors of
the College also had, a year before, drafted
a few essential changes to be made in the
constitution of the College, and the Principal
had sent the draft to the Commissioner-
Chairman. But nothing substantial had
come out of it. Now seeing that the storm
of Non-Co-operation was coming and fearing
that it would destroy their beloved College,
they wanted to be beforehand with it by
proposing changes themselves and getting
the indefensible weakness removed. They
decided to take strong action, so that their
earnestness might not be doubted. They
sent a letter to the Government asking it
to withdraw its control from the manage-
ment of the College before 5th November,
1920, or they would resign. After much
haggling for a month, during which the
College remained closed and the Professors
had to resign, the thing was done and the
College saved. By that time the first wave

83

of educational Non-Co-operation had spent
itself.

At the same time agitation about the
Kikab Ganj wall began again. To satisfy
the public it was announced that by an agree-
ment between the Government and the
Khalsa Diwan Delhi the old contested w,all
was not to be touched. The Committee of
the Diwan welcomed the suggestion of an
extra grant- of land to the Gurdwara. The
whole compound was to be squared by build-
ing a new wall enclosing the whole area on
a' pattern to be approved by the Chief
Engineer. The Committee further agreed
not to make any buildings inside the enclosure
without the permission of the Imperial Delhi
Committee or its successors. The Jand in-
side the enclosure wall was to be in the
perpetual possession and control of the
Khalsa Diwan. If the Diwan wished to
rebuild the Gurdwara and the residential
quarters attached thereto, the Imperial Delhi
Committee would welcome the proposal.
A contribution towards the building of the
Gurdwara wall was promised from the New
Capital estimates. Thirty squares of land
on the Lowjsr Bari Doab Canal were to be
given as compensatory grant.

As far as the site was concerned, this
arrangement was fairly satisfactory, but the
Sikhs still insisted that the demolished

84

portion of the old wall should be rebuilt at
the Government expense. H. H. the
Maharaja of Nabha is also said to have moved
in the matter. Sardar Sardul Singh Cavees-
sieur proposed in September a band of 100
volunteers who would go to Delhi and restore
the wall with their own hands. There was
great enthusiasm shown by Sikhs in giving
their names for this work, and in a short
while about a thousand men and women offered
themselves. Most of these volunteers met
at Lahore on the occasion of the Sikh League
session in October 1920 and resolved to go
to Delhi on the 1st of December and rebuild
the wall. Before they went, however, the
Government got the work done and peace was
restored.

CHAPTER VII.

GURDWARA REFORM.

Tkkhminary Stage.

While the struggle was going on for get-
ting control of the Khalsa College, the Sikhs
were also getting control of their temples.
For, the control of the temples to them
is as important as the Khilafat is to Moham-
medans ; and Swaraj, too, means nothing to
them, if it does not mean this. The freedom
of their temples is also the measure of their
religious purity. They live their religion in
their temples, which are not only places of
worship, but training grounds of social service,
public deliberation and other kinds of practi-
cal religion as well.

After carrying on for some years the re-
form propaganda through Singh Sabhas and
schools, the Sikhs found that their work was
seriously hampered by the corrupt condition
of their temples*. All efforts of the re-
forming Sikhs were practically undone when,
opposed to their solitary temple in a city,
there were hundreds of other temples made

* *} The world is on the vay to ruin when the
sacred places become corrupt.' ' Dhanasari I.

86

proof against all reform by wealth and the
absence of popular control.

There were three ways open to Sikhs to
carry out reform in their temples : boycott,
pressure of public opinion, and litigation.
Boycoft could never be effective against
priests, who possessed enormous wealth and
could easily dispense with the offerings made
at the temples. With the existing law liti-
gation, too, without the conscientious support
of the Government, could be of no ' avail, as
the priests could afford to weary out the poor
congregations in this expensive game. Some
of the priests had an income of Ks. 200
a day, others had a yearly income of
Ks. 200,000 or Ks. 300,000 from land alone,
beside what was got from cash offerings every
day. The Sikhs, therefore, in the beginning
relied chiefly on the pressure of public opinion
and went to law-courts whenever they hoped
for Government support.

The Singh Sabha, helped by such news-
papers as the Ehalsa of Lahore, was the only
movement by which their public opinion was
formed and exerted, and there being no poli-
tical movement among the Sikhs their public
voice did not carry as much weight as it de-
served. Beside the fear of Government al-
ways kept the leaders in check. They would
push their claims so far as they safely could.

87

but never beyond the point where official dis-
pleasure began.

Wherever reform was needed, Sikhs
would go in large numbers and hold a diwan.
Thousands of people would thus see with
their own eyes the things that required re-
form, and the custodians of the place, too,
would see for themselves the awakening
among the Sikhs and the Panthic power this
awakening brought with it. The Mahant
would accept reform forthwith, or weigh the
influence he could exert with the officials and
challenge the whole community in the courts
of law. From about 1895 a jatha of Lahore
Sikhs under the leadership of Sardar Mehr
Singh Chawla would go yearly on foot to
Nankara Sahib and hold a diwan there. Pub-
lic subscriptions were raised for extending
the building and gold-plating the central
dome of the Janam Asthan, providing certain
rooms to the Baradarianda well to the Bal
Lila. After some time it was proposed that
a representative committee should be ap-
pointed to control all the Gurdwaras at Nan-
kana Sahib. On a fixed day a meeting was
held, which was attended by many Sikh lead-
ers and Mahants of the local Gurdwaras.
The Deputy Commissioner of Lahore, Mr.
Hallifax, was also present. After some dis-
cussion the Mahants, who were present,
agreed that the Gurdwaras were the property

88

of the Panth and that they would serve under
a Committee of Control. They signed a
document to this effect, which document and a
lengthy report by Mr. Hallifax must still be
found in the District Office of Gujranwala.
Soon after this agreement was signed, the
Mahants, it is said, acting on the advice of
a Hindu Tehsildar, changed their minds, and
as the Deputy Commissioder came away the
matter was left where it was. Mr. Hallifax
went again to Nankana Sahib some months
after, but was not successful in settling the
affair. The Sikhs, however, went on struggl-
ing until about 1905 the lands attached to
the Nankana Sahib temples were entered in
the name of the temples instead of their
Mahants.

The case of Babe-di-Ber, Sialkot, is much
older. But in 1895 definite complaints were
made against the Mahant that he was mis-
appropriating the Gurdwara money. We will
deal with this case separately. The case of
Bawli Sahib was started about 1904. Al-
though two courts had found that the miscon-
duct of the Mahants was proved beyond doubt,
the Chief Court set aside the decision on
merely technical grounds. In 1913 again it
was found established by a District Judge
that the temple was in the hands of a
Mistress of the Mahant who was dead, and an

09

.appeal about it is still pending before the
High Court.

In 1905 a very interesting case occurred
in Kabul. There is a Gurdwara there, sacred
to the memory of Guru Har Rai. A Brah-
min priest had quietly put up an idol in the
temple. The Sikhs protested, but did not do
anything beyond that. After some time, when
the Brahmin died, the Sikhs requested the re-
lations of the Brahmin to remove the idol.
They refused. The matter went to court.
A commission was appointed to enquire into
the case. There was a great excitement
among the Hindus and the commission decided
in their favour. But the Amir himself
looked into the file and gave the following in-
teresting judgment : —

" I, Abdur Rahman, Amir of Kabul, am
King of Afghanistan. In our reign has oc-
curred a suit between certain men who wor-
ship God and others who worship idols.

There is a temple called the Dharamsala
of Guru Har Rai in this city. The idol-wor-
shippers claim that in that Dharamsala they
possess a room in which they worship idols.

The God-worshippers contend that the
old servant who was a Brahmin used to keep
idols in the Dharamsala secretly in a niche.
After the Brahmin's death the Sikhs handed
over the images to another Brahmin. The
contention of the God-worshippers is reason-
able and is supported by evidence.

90

^ In our view idol-worshippers have got:
nothing to do with a place called Dharamsala.
This Dhararasala is named after Guru Har
Rai, the seventh successor of Baba Nanak
Sahib, who was the greatest Unitarian and
was opposed to idol worship. Similarly Sikhs
have got no concern with a place called
Thakurdwaraor Shivdwara, which must belong
to Hindus. As this particular place is a
Dharamsala, the only people interested in it
are the God-worshippers.

I, as King, order that the suit of the
idol-worshippers be dismissed. "

In the summer of 1905 idols were
removed from the precincts of the Golden
Temple, Amritsar. Those who disliked this
action tried to influence powerfulparties among
the Sikhs against the reforming party. The
venerable Maharaja Sir Hira Singh of Nabha,
who was the most respected Sikh Euler of
the time, was asked to interfere, but he re-
fused. Then the priests of Hazur Sahib
(Nader) in the Deccan, which is one of the
Four Thrones, or places of highest authority
for the Sikhs, were moved to condemn the
Singh Sabha movement. These priests
issued a bull, addressed to the other three
Thrones at the Akal Takht, Patna and Kes-
garh (Anandpur), forbidding Sikhs to associate
with the Singh Sabha people, who were con-
verting Mohammedans and men of low castes

91

and were giving the same baptism of the'
double-edged sword to women as to men.
Tbey forgot that in 1879 (on 12th Eartik
1936 Vik.) the priests of the Akal Takht and
Darbar Sahib had issued a joint Hukamnama
welcoming the Singh Sabha movement as the
restorer of the original form of Sikhism, and
calling upon all Sikhs to join the movement.
The Sarbrah or Manager of Hazur Sahib it-
self had issued, some time before, a letter to
the press contradicting a rumour that the
Singh Sabha people were not welcome at the
Takht Hazur Sahib. As to the conversion
of Mohammedans, it is interesting to find that
on August 11, 1906, one Sheikh Ahmed Din
of Sialkot, with his whole family, was con-
verted to Sikhism by the Akal Takht priests
and was renamed Jiwan Singh. The priests
issued a Hukamnama proclaiming the fact
and ordering all Sikhs on peril of their
souls not to have any scruple in eating and
drinking with the newly-converted family.
It was signed by the following priests : —
Bhais x\rjan Singh, Sundar Singh, Teja Singh,
Bur Singh, Multana Singh, Partab Singh,
Dial Singh and Narain Singh. But in 1905
they acted against their convictions, as they
did again in 1920, and openly condemned
the reform movement. There was great
indignation expressed at the conduct of the
priests. They were reminded that " the

92

Gurdwaras belong to the Community and
not to the priests, who were mere servants
of the Panth."* They were told that the
Gurdwaras were no hereditary possessions
of the priests, but were given to them for
the performance of service, and that those
who did not perform their duties well could
be ousted by the Panth. An example was
given of Babu Gopal Singh, Mahant of the
Akal Takht, who had recently been dismissed
on account of his non-Sikh character. The
removal of Udasis from the control of Darbar
Sahib and the appointment of Sikh Granthis
was also quoted to shew that the Panth
could exert its right of effecting changes in
the administration of temples.

From that time onward, as the rest of
India was slowly awakening to the conscious-
ness of its lost liberties, the Sikhs began to
agitate for the freedom of their temples.
The abuses prevailing in the sacred places
were mercilessly exposed and were rightly
ascribed to the want of Panthic control.
The Khalsa Advocate, the Khalsa Samachar,
the Khalsa Sewak, the Punjab, and other
newspapers were most active in advocating
the temple reform. Beside airing griev-
ances about the central temples at Amritsar,
it was complained that the Gurdwaras in
Majha and Malwa were being coDverted into

* The Punjab of Amritsar : October, 1905.

93

private houses by Udasis and other sadhus.*
In August, 1906, certain visitors found the
priests of Muktsar drunk and holding a
music party within the temple. About the
same time a complaint was made that the
Udasi custodians of the Dharamsala of
Saidoke in the Ferozepore District were wast-
ing their income on drinking and loose-living.
Seeing that no reform was possible there,
the people erected a new temple, where the
morals of their women would be safer.
Some Christians took possession of a Bung<th
belonging to the temple of Tarn Taran. A
hard struggle led by one Sardar Sant Singh
followed. The case went to court and on 5th
January, 1907, it was decided in favour of Sikhs.
We read in newspapers about that time that
the management of Hazur Sahib had recently
been put in the hands of a committee, a
great majority of whom were non-Sikbs and
the Sarbrah was only a Secretary. Mahant
Mitha Singh of Panja Sahib got the land
attached to the Gurdwara entered in his
own name. Several Sikh associations, led by
the Singh Sabha of Abbottabad, passed resolu-
tions condemning the action of the Mahant
and calling upon him to render accounts of
his income and expenditure to the public.

In 1906, when there was a rumour about
the change of the Sarbrah of the Golden

* The Punjab : October 15, 1906.

94

Temple, the Singh Sabhas and the Sikh press
urged on. the Government to allow the Sikhs
to appoint the Sarbrah themselves in future,
and called upon the Chief Khalsa Diwan to
move in the matter. This agitation con-
tinued, and in the Chief Khalsa Diwan itself
a resolution was passed that in consultation
with the Panth the Dastur-al-Aml, by which
the Golden Temple was governed, should be
changed. But nothing came out of it.

The Chief Khalsa Diwan had formed a
Sub-Committee for the reform of Gurdwaras,
but the position of the Diwan was not strong
enough to enable it to effect reform in the
teeth of all the opposition that was daily
gathering strength. People, although admiring
the work of the Diwan, had in fact begun to
take less and less part in the performance of
the work, and even in 1906 it was complained
that the members did not care to attend the
Diwan' s meetings. The whole burden of
the work fell on the shoulders of a few
veteran workers, who could not, therefore,
feel strong enough to face the difficulties
involved in the struggle for releasing the
Gurdwaras. In 1915 a pamphlet was written
in English, advocating the freedom of temples
as the basis of all reform. It was printed
at the expense of the Chief Khalsa Diwan,
which circulated it among prominent Sikhs
for opinions and suggestions. The few
gentlemen who cared to give opinions were

95

not very hopeful about success in reclaiming
the Gurdwaras, and the matter was dropped
as impracticable.

The most serious attention of the Sikhs
was, however, drawn to the necessity of
reform in temples by the irresponsible
conduct of the Kikab Ganj Mahant, who had
sold the land belonging to the Gurdwara iuto
the hands of Government without letting
the public know anything about it. In view
of the strong agitation described before the
Government suspended ittf action in regard
to the wall, but the grievance still remained
there.

In the same year it was found that
Mahant Harnam Singh of Akali Phula Singh's
Samadh at Nowshera had sold a great
portion of the endowment land and was
wasting the remainder in riotous living.
The Samadh was the monument erected by
Maharaja Kan jit Singh in honour of Baba
Phula Singh, his captain, who had fallen on
the spot while fighting against the border tribes
in 1823. The Maharaja had also assigned
two-thirds of the land of Pir Sabak for the
up-keep of the shrine. Hearing that the
Mahant had alienated so much of. the land,
the Sikhs of Peshawar, especially Military
Sikhs residing in the cantonment, held a
great meeting under the auspices of the
local Singh Sabha and resolved to rescue

96

the shrine from the profligate Mahant. In
October, 1914, permission to sue the Mahant
was obtained from the Collector. Subedar-
Major Bhagwan Singh, Jamadar Thamman
Singh and Bhai Bhag Singh, who were the
leaders in the movement, had to struggle
hard for two years in collecting funds for
the expenses of the suit, which was filed on
13th April, 1916. The claim under Section
92/93, C.P.C., was that the Mahant be dis-
missed and a Committee be appointed for
management and control. The case went on
in the court of the District Judge, who ac-
cepted the plea of the defendant that he held
the land in his own right and dismissed the
suit with costs. The Sikhs appealed to the
court of the Judicial Commissioner, who set
aside the decision of the District Judge on
5th March, 1917, and ordered the case to be
tried anew on its merits, provided the Sikhs
secured from the Collector a certificate per-
mitting them to sue the Mahant as Jagirdar.
'The Mahant in the meanwhile had sold
another portion of the land for Es. 8,000. An
order was issued by the District Judge on 27th
July, 1917, forbidding the Mahant to sell any
land belonging to the Gurdwara. The case
lingered on for another year and the con-
ductors of the case had a great deal to do
to collect subscriptions to meet the expenses.
In the beginning the response was very meagre
and the failure of the Sikhs of Rawalpindi to

97

carry on a similar suit against the Mahant
of Panja Sahib for want of funds was a
discouraging example. But Bhai Bagh Singh
and his colleagues went on heroically, until
with constant appeals in the press and on the
platform they were able to create a sufficient
interest not only among the Sikhs but among
the lovers of reform in other communities
also. The followiDg letter from Kai Thakur
Datt, an Arya Samaj leader, will speak for
itself : " Will you kindly remit the enclosed
Ks. 15 to the gentleman who is conducting
the case about the Samadh of Akali Phula*
Singh. I would have sent this small con-
tribution to him direct, if I had known his
name and address. I sympathise with his
laudable object of trying to regulate and
purify the management of a religious endow-
ment." An attempt was made by the
counsel for defence to prove that as Akali .
Phula Singh was a Nihang, the trust was of
a private nature, concerning the Nihang Sikhs
alone, and that Sikhs of the Singh Sabha
persuasion could have no interest themselves
and absolutely no status to interfere in the
management. But the evidence of the Four
Takhts, or the highest places of Sikh autho- '
rity, and the opinions of some eminent
Nihangs and other Sikhs were accepted by
the Judge as supporting the Contention of
the plaintiffs that the place, with the property,

98

was a public religious trust and that the
Singh Sabha people had full interest in it.
The case was decided on 18th July, 1918.
The Mahant was removed on account of
his " mismanagement and frailty of charac-
ter " and was further called upon to render
an account of the income and expenditure
of the shrine for the past ten years. The
court also directed that for the management
and control of the institution a Committee
of three members be appointed in consul-
tation with the plaintiffs or their repre-
sentatives and the representatives of Akali
Phula Singh's family. The Committee, was
empowered to appoint, subject to the approval
of the court, a Mahant who was to be an
Akali Sikh. The Mahant preferred an appeal
to the Judicial Commissioner, but it was
rejected. The counter appeal which the
Peshawar Singh Sabha had filed to enlarge
the Trust Committee under new arrange-
ments, was accepted.

It was reported in June, 1915, that the
Gurdwara of Nanheri Sahib in Patiala,
erected in honour of the 9th and 10th Gurus,
was in a deplorable condition. There had
been 350 bighas of land originally attached to
the temple, which came to be administered
by the Mahant of Bhai Bir Singh's Dharmsala
in Patiala City. This land had been alienated.
One Bhai Nidhan Singh set up a movement

99

in the locality to reform the Gurdwara and
held diwans for the purpose. Information
was received about the same time that Bhai
Mukand Singh, Mahant of Takht Patna Sahib,
where Guru Gobind Singh was born, was
putting a ban on progressive Sikhism and
would not allow any Singh Sabha man to
enter the Takht. While giving eyidence in
a case in April, 1915, he admitted that like
his predecessors on the gaddi he had been
selected by the Sikh public out of many can-
didates for the Mahantship of the Takht and
had been made to sign an agreement about
his appointment. In the same year it was
reported in the Panth SewaJc of Lahore,
which was becoming an energetic advocate of
Gurdwara Eeform, that Mahant Mitha
Singh had got the Gurdwara of Panja Sahib
as well as the land attached to it entered in
his own name. In June, 1916, in response to
a general commotion in the community, the
Singh Sabha of Eawalpindi called a meeting
of representative Sikhs and decided to sue
the Mahant in the court. For want of funds,
however, the case was not long pursued.

In Chittagong there is a Gurdwara, of
which possession had been taken from the
old idolatrous priests and given to an Udasi,
Bawa Kirpal Das. The rejected priests
attacked the new Mahant and were punished
each with a fine of Bs,25, That was in July,

100

1916. Their appeal was rejected by the Col-^
lector. After some time when Bawa Kahan
Singh, a railway overseer, with whom Bawa
Kirpal Das had left the keys, was also absent,
the old priests came in a force and, breaking
the locks of the Gurdwara, took its possession*
They removed the Holy Granth to an almirah
and put idols in its place. Bawa Kahan
Singh went to the police and then to the
Collector, who sent him to a First Class
Magistrate, who ordered that the Sikhs should
have the control. The Sikhs went with a ■
police constable to the temple, but the priests
refused to give access. Bawa Kahan Singh
with Bawa Arjan Singh went again to the
Magistrate and got an order, but the priests
again refused to comply with the orders. On
this the police broke open the locks and gave
possession to the Sikhs, who removed the idols
and re-established the Sikh form of worship.

Bawa Kirpal Das brought to light many
similar cases in the east, where non-Sikh& '
were insinuating themselves into the manage*
ment of Gurdwaras, sacred to the memory ;
of Guru Nauak and Guru Tegh Bahadur, and I
were substituting idols for the Holy Granth*
In i921 he invoked the help of the Shromani ■•■>
Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee to aid him -
in rescuing a Gurdwara in Dacca. In October, !
1*921, news was received that this energetic :
MMranir, wha kept1 the flag of Guru Nanak ^

101

flying in the east, had been asked to furnish a
security for good behaviour ! On refusing to
give security he was sentenced to one year's
rigorous imprisonment.

One of the most important Gurdwara
cases, over which the minds of Sikhs were exer-
cised for long, was that of Hafizabad templ(e,
which is sacred to the memory of , Guru Har
Gobind. There is some land attached to
the Gurdwara. Once the Gurdwara was
in the hands of an Udasi Mahant, who
died without appointing a chela. The Sikh
sangat of the city appointed a baptized Sikh
in his place. After some time, when the de-
pendents of this Sikh Mahant increased, they
began to shift the burden of their duties on
one another's shoulders. Seeing the service
-of the temple suffering from neglect, the Sikh
leaders of the city again made a selection and
appointed out of the same family one named
Bhai Dyal Singh to carry on the duties of
collecting the income and keeping the
establishment in good order. After him the
sangat gave the charge of the place to his
son, named Bur Singh. The man began to
adopt strange ways and, in spite of remon-
strances from the sangat, would not improve
his character. One day in the winter
of 1915-16 he was caught in the act ©f
misbehaving with a woman of a respectable
family. The sangat condemned the Mahant
in an open meeting and unanimously resolved

102

to remove him. They went in a body to the
Deputy Commissioner, Mr. S. W. Hamilton,
and gave an account of the whole affair. The
Deputy Commissioner asked the people to
nominate another Mahant. The sangat again
held a meeting and resolved that the new
Mahant should be a married man. They un-
animously elected Bhai Fateh Singh to be
Mahant, and reported their decision to the
Deputy Commissioner the next day. The
Deputy Commissioner approved of the nomi-
nation and ordered that the name of Bur
Singh as Mahant be removed from the records
and that of Bhai Fateh Singh substituted.
The change was duly made in the Govern-
ment records by the officials concerned. The
Deputy Commissioner having refused to listen
to the protestations of Bur Singh, the latter
in August, 1916, filed a civil suit against
the following five gentlemen : Bhai Fateh
Singh, Sardar Sohan Singh, Pensioner Post-
mas ber, Sardar Bhagwan Singh, Reis, Sardar
Gurdial Singh, Reis, and Bhai Ladha Singh.
The case went on for several years until
finally in an appeal against the order of the
District Judge of Gujranwala, Messrs.
Broadway and Abdul Qadir decided on 22nd
November, 1921, that " a self-constituted
sangat, not proved to have any customary
right to interfere in the control of the Gur-
dwara or removal of its Mahant whose suc-
cession is quite independent of any action

103

on their part, cannot remove a Mahant without
having recourse to law."

In August, 1916, it was learnt that the
Gurdwara of Balia in U. P. was in danger of
passing completely into the hands of non-
Sikhs. The Gurdwara, situated in a beauti-
ful place on the Ganges, is sacred to the
memory of Guru Tegh Bahadur, who had
visited the place when on his way to the east.
There being no source of maintenance for
the Gurdwara, which was in constant need of
repairs, a few Sikhs of the locality approached
the Collector, who moved the Government to
grant 10 Viswas of land for the temple.
Sometimes a Sikh from Moghal Serai and
sometimes Bhai Lachhmi Singh of Balia
would come to sweep the place and open the
Holy Book. There being no regular Granthi
there, and the place being isolated from the
home influences, non-Sikh influences began
to prevail, until Bhai Lachhmi Singh was ob-
liged to ask Bhai Mukand Singh of Patna to
rescue the temple. The latter, who was
already falling out with the Panth, came and
gave the control of the Gurdwara to those
very people from whom Bhai Lachhmi Singh
had in vain tried to save it. In a few days
the Holy Granth was removed and images of
Shiva and Ganesh were installed in its place.
The Sikhs from different centres sent resO-

104

iutions of protest to the Collector of Balia
and a case was started.

After two weeks more another case of
corruption was brought to light. In a village
named Bodal, in Hoshiarpur District, there
is a Gurdwara called Garhna Sahib, founded
by Guru Har Gobind, who had stayed there
while going from Hargobindpur to Kiratpur.
The temple has got one ghumaon of land and
a fine new building erected at the expense of
the Doaba Sangat. With the increase of
income and influence the Mahant of the Gur-
dwara, Bhai Lachman Singh, came to fall into
questionable ways. He got the land entered
in his own name, and began to practise
magic on women. The Khalsa Diwan of
Jhingar Khurd tried to reform the Mahant,
but he persisted. A great agitation was the
result. In the end a big meeting of the local
Sikhs was held, and the Mahant was called
upon to mend his ways or quit his post. The
Mahant came and expressed his readiness to
follow the orders of the Panth. The sangat
asked him to act on the true principles of
Sikhism and not to associate with certain
loose women. The Mahant submitted and
said that if ever again they saw him in the
company of those women or any men of evil
ftepute, the sangat would be free to oust him
and to appoint another in his place. An agree-
ment to this effect was drawn up and signed

105

then and there. Bhai Pala Singh Granthi of
the place, against whom were proved graver
charges, was dismissed at once. There was
great satisfaction expressed at this amicable
settlement.*

In September, 1916, measures were taken
by the Managing Committee of Gurdwara
Diwan Khana in Chuni Mandi, Lahore, to
improve the condition of its buildings, etc.
This is the place where Guru Arjan as a boy
had spent his time in preaching Sikhism while
attending the marriage-party of Bhai Sahari
Ram's son. The revenue of village Qadian
near Shahdara had been granted for the
upkeep of the place, but some time after the
advent of the British rule the grant was
confiscated. Since then the Gurdwara had
been lying in a neglected state.

In October, 1916, a case of usurpation of
waqf property came to light. There is a
Dharamsala of Baba Daraz near the Old
Kotwali in Lahore. Beside the Sikh temple,
it also contains Baba Daraz's tomb, a Hindu
temple and a well. From fifty years the
whole place had been a waqf property. Lala
Mohan Lai, a Hindu Goldsmith, wanted to
appropriate the place and began to build a
private house there for himself. At this,

* The Mahant willingly accepted the control
of the Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee of Hoshiar*
pur on February 10, 1922.

106

two public-spirited Hindu gentlemen, Pandit
Girdhari Lai and Lala Gurditta, filed a com-
plaint in the court, and as a result the tomb,
the Hindu temple and the well were spared.
Seeing this the Sikhs of Lahore also be-
stirred themselves, and Bhai Lai Singh,
timber merchant, who was their leader, filed
a suit. The building was stopped.

The Panth Sewak of Lahore exposed the
deplorable condition of the Gurdwaras at
Kurchhetra, Thaneswar, Sultanpur, Dalla and
many other places.

Complaints continued all along about
corruption and mismanagement in the Darbar
Sahib, Amritsar. The Sikhs said that the
temples belonged to the Panth. But Bhai
Partap Sfngh, Granthi of the Darbar Sahib,
who had already made himself notorious for
opposing the passage of the Anand Marriage
Act, openly defied the community by declaring
that the Gurdwaras were the property of
Granthis.* At Campbellpur certain non-Sikhs,
basing their claim on the offerings made
by them, demanded the local Gurdwara
for themselves. The case was decided in
favour of Sikhs. The decision was upheld
by the Chief Court. There arose a dispute
between Sikhs and certain followers of Yogis
about a Gurdwara at Dhamtaur in Abbotta-
bad District. This, too, was won by Sikhs
in July, 1917. At the same time the Hindus

•The Khalsa Advocate, June 9, 1917.

107

of Hazro claimed the right of placing idols in
the local Sikh temple. The Sahjdharis con-
tested this claim. A Hindu Sub- Judge of
Cambellpur decided the case in favour of
Hindus. But the Sahjdharis took the case to
the High Court, where it is said to be still
pending.

In October, 1917, a report reached the
Punjab that the land attached to the Gur-
dwara in Dhubri (Assam) was acquired by the
Government for the erection of water works.
Dhubri, which is situated on the right bank
of the Brahmaputra, was a place visited by
Guru Nanak when he was proceeding to
Kamrup. Guru Tegh Bahadur had erected
a temple on the beautiful spot, where Guru
Nanak had sat meditating with the forest-
clad Garo hills to the south and the snow-
clad Himalayas to the north. When Guru
Tegh Bahadur made peace between the
Moghal invader and the Baja of Kamrup, he
asked the soldiers of both armies to join
together and, filling their shields with earth,
to raise a huge mound, on which a tempfe
was built in honour of Guru Nanak the Prince
of Peace. The revenue of the whole place
was conferred on the temple. In the course of
time, due to isolation from the Panth, the land
was gradually appropriated by the people, until
the Gurdwara was left with seven houses
only. These, too, were measured, and an
order was given to vacate them. The Mahant
Bachitter Singh protested and wrote to all

108

the Four Takhts and the different leading
societies in the Punjab. Hundreds of resolu-
tions were sent to the Chief Cpmmissioner
protesting against the action of the authori-
ties.

The Chief Commissioner many months
later informed the Chief Khalsa Diw.an that,
though he believed the land under dispute
-was the personal property of Mahant Mukand
Singh in whose name it was registered,
yet in view of the feelings of the loyal
Sikh nation he had abandoned the idea of
erecting an engine there. S. Gurbakhsh
Singh, Superintendent, Telegraphs, brought to
light the neglected and corrupt condition of
many G-urdwaras in Assam, Bengal, Behar
and U. P.

In January, 1918, the whole Sikh com-
munity was shocked to hear that, in spite of
warnings giveu beforehand, the Government
had appointed a non-Sikh retired Tehsildaras
Manager of the Kartarpur State* which in-
cludes the sacred Gurdwara where the original
manuscript copy of Guru Granth Sahib is kept.
He was also to be in charge of two Sikh
minors, who, when grown up and educated,
would come to administer the religious place.

The Municipal Committee of Amritsar
passed a resolution on 4th February, 1918,
proposing, on sanitary grounds, the filling up
of Santokhsar, the oldest sacred tank in, the

109

city. It was, however, saved by a strong
agitation carried on by the Gurdwara Service
Union. To .remove the complaint of insani-
tation, the Sikhs undertook voluntarily to
clean the tank. In 1905, when Babeksar was
cleaned, attempts had also been made to
pump out water from Santokhsar and
remove the silt, but with no great success.
Now Bhai Sham Singh, the oldest saint alive
among the Sikhs, with Bhai Gurmukh Singh,
led the Sikh sangats from the city and out-
side to take out mud with their own hands.
The tank was cleaned, and the situation was
so improved, that some gentlemen in the
Municipal Committee proposed to float a
pleasure boat on the sacred water. The
Sikhs had again to agitate to prevent this
desecration.

In the summer of 1918 the case of the
Gurdwara near the railway station of Lahore,
which had been lingering in the court, ended
successfully. The Gurdwara had got 4 kanals
of the adjoining land for its maintenance,
Its management was now handed over . to a
Committee.

Another successful case was reported
about that time. There is in Benares a Gur-
dwara of Guru Tegh Bahadur, to which some
house property was attached by the Pa tiala t
State. Many years ago a man, named I
Munnoo, took possession of this property and,.

110

in spite of all efforts on the part of the Sikhs,
would not vacate it. After his death his
widow, Anandi, continued the legal fight about
possession. After her the Sikhs pursued the
case for seven years against one Bachu, who
claimed to be her successor. In the end
the case was decided in favour of Sikhs.

In 1919-20 the opportunity given to
Sikhs to exert themselves for the safety of
the Gurdwara of Kartarpur roused in them
their old love for the service of Gurdwaras.
This Gurdwara is the place where Guru
Nanak had spent the last sixteen years of his
life as a preacher and farmer. Some years
ago, as a result of some operations by the Gov-
ernment Engineers, the river Eavi had
turned away from the side of Dehra Baba
Nanak and had come to attack Kartarpur.
A local Committee, with the advice of Baba
Shiv Singh Bedi, took the work of defence in
hand. In the rainy season of 1919 the floods
washed away the defences and the water
came to flow within barely 9 feet of the
temple. Hearing of the danger thousands of
Sikhs gathered on the spot, and with their
impromptu labour — throwing in of trees and
stones — some temporary safety was secured.
The expenses, about Bs. 1,500, were met by
the Sikhs. Then came some respite with
the winter. The Sikhs wanted to do some-
thing before summer set in with the rise of

Ill

water consequent on the melting of snow in
the upper streams. The Chief Khalsa Diwan
took up the work. The Government also
sent its engineer, who reported that at least
Bs. 35,000 were required for temporary
defences and about four lakhs for a perma-
nent bund. Government lent the services
of two Sikh engineers, Baba Shiv Singh Bedi
and Sardar Mangal Singh, and promised
financial help. The Diwan also approached
the Maharaja of Patiala who sent Es. 35,000
at once and promised to give two lakhs more
when the permanent scheme was ready. The
people's enthusiasm in working with their
own hands knew no bounds. Men and
women, rich ? nd poor, from all directions
went to the place, and thought it a privilege
to carry stones and baskets of mud on their
heads. The work is not yet compete.

After the terrible year of 1919, when the
whole of India went through an unprecedented
crisis, the agitation about reform assumed a
new shape. The Sikhs could not remain
content any longer with the piecemeal
reform of their temples. They had tried the
courts for a sufficiently long time, and except
in a few minor cases, had found them quite
unavailing.

The process of law was dilatory and
the expenses almost prohibitive. The Court
fee of Bs. 10 on the plaint was only a small

112

fraction of the enormous expenses that the
reformers going to court had to incur. Even
this fee became too much for the poor
enthusiasts, when the courts insisted that it
should be levied on the full value of a pro-
perty attached. The plaint of Sialkot Sikhs.
in the case of Babe-di-Ber was rejected on
the ground that the plaintiffs had failed to
pay the Court-fee on Bs. 50,000. The Sikhs
had to depend on public subscriptions, while
the Mahants had at their disposal the vast
revenues of the Gurdwaras. The few
successes of the Sikhs rather worsened the
situation. The Mahants were put on their
guard, and they found out the weakness of
the law and the strength of their own
position.

They began openly to defy the-Panth by
selling the property of the Gurdwaras and
recklessly wasting the money on wine and
mistresses. One of them was carrying on
his love affair with his own aunt. His love
letters in which he admits his wine drinking
are filed in the court. Another Mahant,
whose love letters have also been captured
and whose photo drawn with a loose woman
is on the court file, boasted in another court
that he had got more than 300 Gurdwaras
under him. The existing law had proved a veri-
table boon to him. He said in the court that*
he was the Shri Mahant or the acknowledged'

113

head of all the Sikh temples in northern
India ; and the sign of his Shri Mahantship,
he said, was that he received from Govern-
ment two boat-loads of bhang, which he
supplied to all the Gurdwaras under him.
Another Mahant, that of Nankana Sahib,
who had taken the vow of celibacy, was
openly living with a low class Mohammedan
woman and had children by her, whom he
was providing with property worth lakhs
out of Gurdwara funds. What could the
Sikhs do to reform them ?

They had tried the experiment of liti-
gation in many cases, but after some time
they began to despair. They could not free
the temple of Sialkot from an apostate, who
openly flouted Sikh religion. "What was this
law that allowed a man, even whose company
Was forbidden to Sikhs, to give the rule in
their temple. In the past they had resorted
to law in tne hope that the Government
would realise their position and help them.
But the Government failed to realize theijr
position. When in those days a bill* to secure

* Act XIV of 1920. It authorised any person
interested in a religious or charitable trust to apply
to a competent Court lor the examination of accounts
or for any information about the object, value or
condition of the trust. No application", however,
could be made in respect of accounts relating to a
period more than three years prior to tbe date of
petition. It also provided that the trying Court, i

114

a little more effective control of religious
and charitable endowments was introduced
in the Imperial Legislative Council, it was
the Punjab Government that heroically stood
up against it, saying " the bill is in advance
of the public opinion ! " Which public opinion?
The question of Sikh temples had just at
that time become most serious, and if there
was any province in which the particular
reform was needed, it was the Punjab. Sardar
Sundar Singh Majithia from his seat in the
Imperial Council had expressed his profound
regret at the strange attitude of the Punjab
Government, and the Home Member had
said that if so be thought (that the Bill was
in advance of public opinion), then the Punjab
should be excluded from the area to be pro-
vided under the Act. The Sikh press and
certain associations like the Reform Com-
mittee of Sialkot protested against this in-
difference of the Government to the question
of temple reform.

What to say of Government helping the
Sikhs in their attempt to get control of
other Gurdwaras, it would not withdraw its
own control from the premier temples at
Amritsar and Tarn Taran. Sardar Gajjan
Singh who presided over the first meeting

it thought " necessary in the public interest," might
direct the defendant to deposit a sum to meet the
expenses of the plaintiff in whole or in part.

115

of the Sikh League at Amritsar in 1919
asked for this Control. The League itself in
a resolution referred to " the sore and long-
standing grievance of the Sikh community "
that the administration of the Golden Temple
was still in the hands of a Government
nominee, and demanded that it should be
placed in the hands of a representative body
of Sikhs, constituted on an elective basis and
responsible to the Panth. It also asked that
" the management and control of Sikh
temples and endowments should no longer be
withheld from the community."

Finding the existing law of no avail and
the Government indifferent, the Sikhs, in
the words of a memorandum by the Chief
Khalsa Diwan, began to rely mainly on the
ancient right of reform by the assertion of
public opinion. It meant that the Sikhs in
their usual daily or extraordinary meetings
held in the temples would exercise the right
of gurmatta which had been granted to them
by Guru Gobind Singh. By this constitution
the Sikh community assumed the position
and authority of the Guru. Wherever there
were Sikhs, they were to organize themselves
into sangats or congregations, and whenever
there arose an important question, affecting
the whole community or any part of it, the
sangat was to elect from among its member*
five piaras or Loved-Ones and submit to

116

them the execution of all the work in hand
according to the spirit of Gutu Granth Sahib
and the rules laid down by Guru Gobind
Sin^h. When a Sikh committed some fault
against Sikhism, he was expected to present
himself before the nearest sangat and, stand-
ing in the lowest place with folded hands, he
was to make an open confession of his fault.
Or if he did not confess himself, he would be
publicly arraigned by somebody else. The
congregation would refer the question to a
duly elected Commission of Five, who would
consider the case among themselves and
report their decision to the Assembly. The
Assembly would then confirm the decision
by a hearty shout of Sat Sri Akal. The
punishment meted oufc was willingly received
and was humorously . called Tankhah, a
reward or salary- There was no rancour left
in,,the heart of the man punished, for the
punishment came from the whole sangat re-
presented by five Loved Ones. The resolu-
tions passed in such assemblies were called
gurinattas. When the gurmatta was carried
unanimously, it was supposed to have re-
ceived the sanction of the Guru, and any
attempt made afterwards to subvert it was
taken as -a sacrilegious act. If a man would
noF .-submit, he was, called a tanhhahia, and .no .
Si|h. would have anything to do with him.

117

In actual practice in. the present move-
ment it worked in this way. Whenever
grave complaints were received about a
Mahant or custodian of a Gurdwara, some re-
presentative Sikhs would approach him with
« a request to remove the grievances and'to
come to an understanding about the manage-
ment. Sometimes an agreement was reach-
ed. But if the Mahant refused to reform,
and inspite of warnings continued in his
perverse course, he would be called upon by
a gurmatta in a public meeting to explain
himself. If his faults were proved, he would
be asked to submit to a religious form • ©f
punishment, which usually consisted of clean-
ing the shoes of the congregation, bringing
water to the temple, or completing the read-
ing of the Sacred Book once or twice. That
the man of sin trembles before his pure
accusers has been often examplified during
this movement. He not only trembles, but
sometimes actually runs away, leaving the
temple into the hands of the reformers, who
are obliged to make a temporary arrange-
ment for the continuation of service. This
temporary arrangement often becomes per-
manent, when the runaway priests, inspite of
invitations to come back, do not consent to
resume their duties. This happened actually
in many cases, as at the Akal Takht. It is
true that in this method there is a danger of

; lis

violence. Only in two cases, however, actual
violence with lose of life occurred, and in
both cases, it is important to observe, the
reform party scrupulously refrained from
raisig even the little finger to defend them-
selves against violence and suffered terribly.
In all other cases the Mahants submitted
and often saw prudence in applying to the
reform committee to take charge of .the
Gurdwaras. The trouble arose only when
the Government gave up its policy of non-
intervention, which it had followed since the
successful termination of the Sialkot broil,
and the Mahants began to feel that the
Government, as well as the law, would
support them in resisting the reform activ-
ities of the Sikhs.

Some people are of opinion that the Sikhs
should have waited and postponed the move-
ment until the coming of Swaraj in India.
But the Sikhs could not wait upto the advent
of Swaraj, because the property attached to
the temples was being sold or alienated every-
where, and immoral practices could not be
tolerated. Besides no Swaraj is successful
without religious reform, as Eussia and China
have learnt to their cost. More than half of
what Swaraj meant to Sikhs was the emanci-
pation of their religious and educational insti-
tutions and their management by themselves.
When others were thinking of building a new

119

heaven and a new earth of national freedom,
the Sikhs had still to struggle hard to get rid
of the foreign control even from their central
Temples and their central College. Could
they wait ?

They had tried many times before but
had failed, simply for want of a strong public
spirit. Now that with the coming of national
feeling they gained a sufficient amount of
enthusiasm, they did not want to miss the
opportunity. People called them impatient.
But reformers have always been so. They
are compelled to move fast, because bigots
or their supporters will not move early.
Keformers are compelled to do their work in
times of excitement, because bigots will not
do the needful in times of peace.

•

...... 6 ^

,

hi I

>. i, u

CHAPTER VIII.

GURDWARA BABE DI BER.

When Guru Nanak visited Sialkot he
«at under a Ber tree, which exists upto this
time and has given its name to the Gurdwara,
which was built on the spot. Sardar Natha
Singh Shahid, a Sikh Chief, endowed the
shrine with a jagir, which was increased by
Maharaja Ranjit Singh. At the time of the an-
nexation of the Punjab by the British Govern-
ment the jagir was continued partly for the
life of the priests and partly in prepetuity for
the maintenance of the shrme. The value of
the jagir for the shrine was Rs. 3680 in 1855 ,
and the condition of its grant, as laid down by
the Government of India, was the good be-
haviour of the Manager. According to an
agreement, signed by all the priests and the
sangat before Raja Tej Singh in 1853, the
whole income of the shrine^ which amounted
to about Rs. 5000, was to be spent under the
following heads : —

(1) Free Kitchen Rs. 1,800 per annum.

(2) Food to servants

(3) Karah parshad,

lighting, festivals 174/8 „

122

(4) Gurmukhi School

(5) Establishment

(6) Gold drinks for the public

(7) Building Bepairs

In 1861 Baba Mehtab Singh of Kotli
Faqir Chand decided a dispute about certain
disbursements between the Manager and the
priests and made both the parties sign an
agreement, according to which the income of
the jagir was to be spent in the following
ways : —

Es.

(1) Public Kitchen .... 1440/-

(2) Establishment .... 404/-

(3) ZariTax .... 200/-

(4) Kepairs, etc. .... 932/2.

Total .... 2976/2

The free kitchen was a great feature of
the shrine. Mr. Bunbury, A. C, Sialkot, re-
ported in 1891 : ' In the Baba Ki Ber Sahib
itself there is a langar (Kitchen) kept up,
from which food is dispensed twice a
day to any one who may come and ask for it.
This is one of the best features of the insti-
tution, and in the distribution of food no
distinction is made of class or tribe or caste..
Sikhs, Hindus and Mohammedans are all
treated alike \ The report also mentions a
regular expenditure on repairs, alms and
clothing to the poor. The grants wortb

123

Rs. 1,047, sanctioned for the lives of Bhajs-
Nihal Singh and Gulab Singh priests, were
resumed by Government in 1891, In I900r
however, the Government granted ten
squares of land on the Chenab Ganal to the
shrine. Among other terms clause 5 of the
lease lays down as follows ; - " The tenant
shall duly and regularly apply the whole and
every part of fche produce, rents, profits and
all other income whatsoever of the land to
the maintenance, support and service of the
aforesaid Ber Baba Nanak's institution."

In the beginning there were priests with
a manager at their head. The manager used
to receive a fixed salary, as did the rest of
the establishment. Bhais Gulab Singh and
Nihal Singh did not call themselves Mahants,
and were paid Rs. 400 and Rs. 375 per
annum respectively.

The appointment of the Mahant was
always subject to the sanction of the Sikh
public.

In 1885 when Mahant Nihal Singh
wanted to appoint Bhai Prem Singh to offi-
ciate for him temporarily in his absence, he
stated in his application that all the residents-
of Sialkot approved of this appointment. The
Tehsildar, too, recorded the opinions of the
leading Sikh citizens.

In 1887 Bhai Nihal Singh convened a.
meeting of the citizens of Sialkot and with

124.

the approval of the Sikhs Bhai Prem Singh
was appointed his successor. When a rival
claimant to the Mahantship filed a suit
against Mahant Prem Singh in 1890, the
latter stated in his defence that the office of
the Mahant was not in his power, nor could
it be regarded as a hereditary post, that the
appointment was in the hands of the Sikhs,
who had faith in the shrine. About his own
appointment he said that he was appointed
by all the leaders of the town of Sialkot in
the presence of the Deputy Commissioner,
Cantonment Magistrate and Amla, with the
consent of Mahant Nihal Singh and all the
priests of the temple. In a civil suit decided
in 1886 Mahant Nihal Singh, too, had plead-
ed that the office of the Mahant was not
hereditary. When Prem Singh appointed
Harnam Singh, his grandson, as his suc-
cessor in 1901, he sought the approval of the
residents of Sialkot.

Mahant Harnam Singh died on 26th
September, 1918. Four days later Prem
Singh wrote to the Deputy Commissioner
that he had appointed G-urcharan Singh, his
grandson, as Mahant, and requested
that the Deputy Commissioner might
kindly grace the occasion of the instal-
lation, which was to take place on 8th Novem-
ber, 1918. As the Sikhs objected to the
appointment of Gurcharan Singh, a minor,

125

as Mahant, the Deputy Commissioner refus-
ed to attend or send any officer to represent
him. A reference to the statement of
Hazura Singh, brother of Prem Singh, made
before Bawa Kanshi Earn, E. A. C, shows
that Gurcharan Singh was in the presence
of D. Charan Das, Pleader, P. Todar Mai
and Mr. Ganda Sinh appointed Mahant by
Prem Singh, who himself was not Mahant at
the time. No leading Sikh joined the cere-
mony. The Collector, however, held that he
was only concerned with the mutation side
of the case, which he thought advisable to
carry out in favour of the deceased's lawful
heir, leaving the contending parties to go to
the civil courts. He sanctioned* the muta-
tion of the jagir in favour of Gurcharan Singh
on 6th May, 1919.

The story of abuses prevailing in the
management is long. They entered when
the Mahants began to take the Gurdwara
property as their own. Soon after his suc-
cession MahanfcPrem Singh began to trans-
form from a priest to a layman. The Settle-
ment Collector, Sir James Dunlop Smith,
wrote on 25th May, 1891 :— " I agree with
what Mr. Bunbury says about Prem Singh.
I would only add that he keeps up a certain
amount of state iri the world and interests
himself a good deal more in lay matters than
h'as been the custom of his predecessors. He

126

never loses a chance of improving his social
position and, as is inevitable, finds that the
possession of money smooths his way." He
•succeeded in gagging the mouths of the com-
plainants and getting the files of complaints
consigned to the record room.

It was complained against Mahant Prem
Singh in 1895 that he did not pay the priests
.and was misappropriating the Gurdwara pro-
perty, and that he should be called upon to
render accounts. The Mahant admitted that
a garden near the Aik Bridge was in his name
because he was the Mahant, but that in the
past it was the property of the temple. He
also admitted that he had purchased some
land in his own name with the money belong-
ing to the temple, and that the building in
which a press was located was built with the
temple funds. After some enquiry the Col-
lector said that he could not interfere in the
internal management of the shrine, nor
could he call on the Mahant for accounts.
He, therefore, referred the petitioners to the
civil court.

In the same year another case was filed
against Mahant Prem Singh for the exami-
nation of accounts under Section 18 of Act
XX of 1863. The Mahant stated before the
District Judge that he had full authority to
dispose of the income in any way he pleased.
The judge ordered that the sanction of the

127

Collector should be obtained under Section
539 of the C. P. C. The required sanction
was obtained and a civil suit was filed in
June, 1896. The relief prayed for was : —

(1) That a new trustee should be ap-
pointed under the trust ;

(2) That an Executive Committee be
appointed to administer the funds of the
trust, or that a scheme of management might
be framed ;

(3) That the past accounts should be
audited and rules for the audit should be
framed for the future.

On 31st August, 1897, the District Judge
passed a decree, by which the Mahant was not
removed from the office, but was required to
render accou its to the District Judge. It
was also directed that on the death of
Mahant Prem Singh a Committee of manage-
ment should be appointed. The plaintiff
appealed against this order to the Sessions
Judge, who on 18th April, 1898 held it proved
that the Mahant was unfit for the post he
held as a trustee, and directed his removal
from the post. The rest of the District
Judge's decree was confirmed with certain
modifications necessitated by the Mahant's
dismissal. The Mahant appealed to the
Chief Court, which set aside the decrees of
both the original and appellate courts.

128:

; The next Mahant Harnam Singh proved
worse than his predecessor, He felt embold-
ened by the fact that none of the complaints
made against him even upto the Local Gov-
ernment could harm him in any way. It was
complained in July, 1907, that Mahant
Harnam Singh was neglecting to maintain
the Shahid Bungah or the tomb of Sardar
Natha Singh Shahid, who had endowed the
shrine with a jagir and had been its first
manager. After enquiry the Tehsildar fixed
the responsibility on him, and reported that
the Mahant was not maintaining the free
kitchen, nor was he keeping any regular
accounts, but was wasting the temple funds in
luxury, as if it were his private property.
The Kevenue Assistant practically supported
the Tehsildar. The Deputy Commissioner
however, on 29th May, 1908, filed the case
with the remark that he had explained to the
Mahant that he should pay attention towards
the buildings and repairs of the Shahid
Bungah. There had another petition been
filed in September, 1907, complaining against
the personal character of Mahant Harnam
Singh and his lack of interest in the mainte-
nance of the central shrine, the out-houses of
which were badly falling out of repair. It
Was also pointed out that the money, of the
jagir was not being spent for the purpose for
which it had been granted. The Deputy

Commissioner consigned the petition to the
record room with the illuminating remark
" Seen " on 4th October, 1907.

. In March, 1909, S. Hazura Singh Pleader,
S. Kapur Singh, B. A. and several others
petitioned the Lieutenant Governor, saying
that Mahant Harnam Singh was addicted to
drink and did not properly take care of the
institution, and that the ' jagir income was
not being utilized for the purpose for which
it was granted, They prayed that a portion
of the money be entrusted to a committee
for the upkeep of the shrine. The matter
came to the Deputy Commissioner for dis-
posal.

There was another petition signed by
a very large number of citizens, including
Mr. G-anda Sinh, praying for a committee
of management. It was stated therein that
the income of the institution was being
spent by the Mahant for his own personal and
unlawful purposes and the requirements of
the temple were beting met from private
subscriptions. The Tehsildar reported in
March, 1910, that the Mahant was wasting
the money in luxury and for private purposes.
The Revenue Assistant, however, put a white-
wash on- it, saying that the kitchen was not
expressly; maintained in the terms pf
the grant, but that the character of
the Mahant was: -not very objectionable,

m

as be only drank and wG$ iipt a drunkasd !
He suggested a warning to the Mahant.
The Deputy Commissioner on this passed
the following order : "I agree generally,
and the Mahant may be informed according-
ly and advised to give up drink. He bears
the marks of heavy drinking. "

Mahant Harnam Singh died in September,
1918, and Prem Singh also died some months
lat>er. We have seen how Gurcharan Singh
was made Mahant in spite of the local Sikhs,
without whose consent the appointment
could not be valid.

The Singh Sabha (now Khalsa Diwan)
of Sialkot petitioned the Deputy Commis-
sioner and the Collector, requesting that as
the Mahant had died and there was no
regularly-elected Mahant, the management
of the shrine should be handed over to
a committee of management to be constitut-
ed in the following manner : —

Five members to be nominated by the
Khalsa Diwan, Sialkot.

Five members to be nominated or elected
by the Singh Sabhas of the district, one
from each tehsil.

. Two members to be elected by Sialkot
City who are not members of the Diwan.

Two members to be nominated by the
Sikh jagirdars of the district.

One member to be elected by the priests.

131?

The Mahant should also be & "member. He
should be appointed by the Committee and*
should work under it*

While this matter was pending- before
a local E. A. C. who was ordered by the
Collector to make an enquiry and report,
the widow of the late Mahant appointed by
a registered deed Mr. Ganda Sinh, an
apostate from Sikhism, as the guardian of
her son and the Manager of the shrine. A
very strong voice of opposition was raised
by the whole Panth against this outrage.
Telegrams from almost all the important
Sabhas were sent to the Lieutenant Governor,
the Commissioner and the Deputy Commis-
sioner. After the submission of the report
by the specially deputed E.A.C. the Collector
sanctioned the mutation in favour of the
minor son of the late Mahant. Application
was then submitted that the Jagir should
not be paid to Mr. Ganda Sinh till the
matter was decided by the civil court, but
the Collector rejected this petition also.

Then after having obtained the sanction
of the Collector under Section 92, C. P. C,
a civil suit was filed in the court of the
District Judge with a special application to
the effect that the case should not be made
over to P. Kundan Lai, Sub-Judge, as he
had previously expressed his opinion in

132

"Waiting against the views of certain members^

of the reform^ |>arty who were conducting

the present case. Owing to some transfers,

in the judicial staff the case, however,

came to R Kundan Lai. The plaintiffs

applied for transfer of the case from this;

court, but the application was rejected.

They further applied to the High Court

for transfer and put in an application in

the court of P. Kundan Lai, informing him;

that an application had been lodged and

praying for the stay of further proceedings;

in his court pending the High Court decision.;

The Pandit Sahib, however, proceeded with

the case and ordered the plaintiffs on 20th1

August, 1920, to pay the court-fee on the

value of Es. 50,000 by 30th August, 1920,.

which date was, on account of the September

vacations, extended to 8th October, 1920:

The plaintiffs,1 beside maintaining an active

Khalsa Diwan, had to meet the expenses of

a well-equipped High School for boys , and

a Middle School for girls, had built recently

a Gurdwara at Tahli Sahib in honour of the

6th Guru and had been fighting out the case

of - Eawli Sahib. They failed to pay the,

required, court-fee, and their plaint was

rejected. ; ■> ;.

tn^^^a^^^,a^i|a^ioii was in full
swing against, r Mr. Ganda SinhV appoint-
ment,; wlticK was clearly an insult -|o the

133

Sikh religion. An apostate, who had done
away with the sacred keshas and was openly
flouting Sikhism, to be in charge of a Sikh
temple and give the rule to the worshippers !
It was unbearable. The Sikhs of the locality
had sufficiently organized themselves to
take care of their religious interests. c They
had heroically fought their case in the courts,
but law had utterly failed to help them.
They, therefore, decided to help themselves".
They had already formed a Khalsa Sewak
Jatha and reformed the Gurdwaras in the
city. They began to hold weekly and then
daily morning services in the GurdwarW
of Babe-di-Ber, which is about half a mile
from the city. Mr. Ganda Sinh, who feared
for his position, began to place many difficul-
ties in their way. A party of gundas was
daily seen visiting the place just at the time
when worshippers from the city would come
to hold their musical performance. Qne of
•the worshippers, B. Jawahir Singh by name,
while crossing a little stream that runs
between tbe city and the temple, was set
upon and beaten by the gundas. Others
were threatened with a similar fate, John
Hadow, the son of Mr. Ganda Sinh, is also
said to have shown his pistol ; in the
Gurdwara. Certain women were also sent
to beat and abuse the Sikhs and interfere with
the Kirtan.

m

j As ■. :agit^tic«pr increased against the
Manager ,vv- tjie :;: &urdwara began to present
^ strange Spectacle. While Sikhs sat singing
ihyrnns, scores, of gu v. das hovered about them,
.ready to pick up a quarrel and create a row.
Bardars Amar Singh and Jaswant Singh of
, Jhabbal came to Sialkot at this stage, and
by their lectures counteracted the growing
mischief that certain interested parties were
spreading • ainong Hindus and Moslems.
Trom this time onwards the whole public was
with the reform party. Warrants under Sec-
tion 107, Qr. P. C., were issued against IJhais
Bhag' Singh, Jawahir Singh, Nanak Singh,
Ram Singh and Mahan Singh, members of the
'Sewak Jatha. The whole public was horrified
.at this, and in a big meeting held on the same
night people advised the five gentlemen not
to give -surety and expressed themselves
ready to go to jail. Sardar Kharak Singh,
who had been all along working in sympathy
with the Jatha, also supported the resolution.
;The Sikhs determined, there and then, not to
.allow the apostate to desecrate the temple
'any more1.

Next- day a body of armed police with one
Police Inspector, three Sub-Inspectors, and
one E. A. C. came to the G-urdwara, but no
Ganda Sinh. Thousands of people thronged
the court, when at 10 a, m. the five Sikhs
presented themselves before the District

Magistrate. Tfypy slated that they would
offer no defence and would give no security.
October 4 was fixed as the next day of
hearing. The District Magistrate ordered
under Section 144, Cr. P. C, that for the next
two months nobody should interfere with the
management of Mr. Ganda Sinh. The
people gathered again in the same evening
and resolved not to allow Mr. Ganda Sinh
to act as Manager. There was great sen-
sation in the community and the Sikhs began
to pour in from all sides. After a few days
they temporarily took charge of the Gurdwara
in the name of the Panth and opened the
long-neglected free kitchen.

The case that was pending in the court
was withdrawn. On 5th October the Khalsa
gathered in large numbers and in a big diwan
a committee of thirteen members was elected
for the management and control of the
Gurdwara. Next day Mr. King, the Divi-
sional Commissioner, came to Sialkot and
summoning a deputation of nine leading
Sikhs told them that the Government did
not want to interfere in the religious affairs
of the Sikhs and that the Sikhs were at
liberty to manage the affairs of their Gur-
dwaras as they pleased. As to the income
from jagir and land, he said that it would
remain with the Government as a trust,

136

until the two parties came to a settle-
ment.

In the meanwhile things had begun to
hum at the Golden Temple, and the scene of
Sikh activities, therefore, shifted to Amritsar.

CHAPTER IX.

THE GOLDEN TEMPLE,

The city of Amritsar with the Holy Tank
was founded by Guru Earn Das, the fourth
Ouru, who settled here about 1574 and ob-
tained a grant of the site with 500 bighas of
land from Akbar in 1577. It was Guru Arjan
who built the temple in 1589. Its head
priest was always appointed by the Gurus.
After Guru Gobind Singh's death, when
differences arose between the true Sikhs,
called the Tat Khalsa, and the Bandei Khalsa,
his widow appointed Bhai Mani Singh, the
most learned Sikh of the time, to take charge
of the Golden Temple in 1721. Soon after,
by order of the Lahore Nawab, soldiers were
picketted in the neighbourhood of Amritsar
and the Sikhs were not allowed to visit their
temple. " A proclamation was issued by the
Lahore Viceroy ordering a general massacre
of long-haired Singhs wherever found. They
were hunted like wild beasts, a price being
fixed on their heads ; thousands were put to
death, refusing pardon on condition of re-
nouncing their faith and cutting their hair."
lt Bands of Sikh horsemen were to be seen at
dawn riding at full gallop towards Amritsar,

138

running the gauntlet of the Mohammedan
troops." (Gordon).

Bhai Mani Singh, who was held in great
esteem by the Mohammedan Qazi of Amritsar,
felt emboldened to apply for leave to hold the
Diwali fair in Amritsar. The matter being
referred to Lahore, permission was granted
on the condition that. Bhai Mani Singh should
pay Bs. 5,000 after the fair. Bhai Mani
Singh invited the Sikhs from far and near in
1738. The governor of Lahore sent a
force to Amritsar under the pretext of keep-
ing order during the fair, but really it was
designed to fall upon the approaching Sikhs
and destroy them. After some losses thej
Sikhs were apprised of the trap and the fair
was not held. Bhai Mani Singh was arrested
for not paying the sum, which he had hoped
to pay out of the offerings of Sikhs, and was
condemned to death. He was offered th^
usual alternative of Islam. But he stoutly
refused to barter his religion. His body was
cut to pieces, limb by limb and joint by joint.

This reign of terror continued upto 17631.
Massa Banghar, the local governor, used to
hold his nautch parties inside the Temple,
and the precincts were used as stables. The
Sikhs were away from the Punjab wandering
in jungles as outlaws. A body of Sikhs in
Bikaner learnt of the desecration in 1740, and
sent Bhai Mehtab Singh of Mirankot, district

139

Amritsar, to avenge the insult. He came
with a follower, killed the governor and
cleared the precincts. He was afterwards
martyred. In 1757 and again in 1762 the
Abdali invaders demolished the Temple twice
and rilled up the sacred tank. But the Sikhs
soon came back and restored the Temple and
the tank in 1763.

When they became supreme and estab-
lished misals or confederacies, they removed
the Udasi custodians of the Temple and ap-
pointed Bhai Chanchal Singh, a baptised Sikh,
as Granthi. This man used to pare nails
before he took charge of the greatest temple
of the Sikhs. It was Maharaja Ran jit Singh
who adorned the Temple with marble and
gold plate and attached to it a jagir for its
maintenance. The Bungahs or hospices
were built by Sikh Chiefs and Sirdars for the
accommodation of the Sikh sangats from
their domains. The jagir attached to the
Guru ka Langar or kitchen has1 been appro-
priated by some former Sarbrah, and a quarry
of marble stone, which once belonged to the
Darbar Sahib, has been disposed of in some
way.

When the British Government annexed
the Punjab there was a committee of control
composed of baptised Sikhs, but the affairs of
the Temple were soon reduced to confusion.
In 1859 in order to settle the long-standing

140

♦disputes of tj^pujaris or priests about their
pay, a meeting of some Sirdars was summon-
ed at the house of Raja TejSingh in Amritsar.
Mr. Cooper, the Deputy Commissioner,
was also present. . After finishing the main
question for which the meeting had been
called, somebody put the question : "Khalsaji,
can we carry on the management of the
Darbar Sahib without the help of the Sirkar?"
There could be only one answer to the ques-
tion in those days of national paralysis,
especially when the greatest officer of the
district was present. A committee of nine
baptised Sikhs was appointed as a committee
cf trustees with a Government-appointed
president called Sarbrah or guardian. From
the proceedings published it appears that this
committee carried on its work regularly,
controlling the administration, authorising
the spending of money, and keeping the
establishment under discipline. The Sarbrah
-only carried out their instructions. About
1883, however, the committee was quietly
dropped and the whole control came to be
vested in the Sarbrah, who received his
instructions from the Deputy Commissioner.
In the beginning the whole octroi reve-
nue of the city had been dedicated to the
Darbar Sahib. But as the Sikhs are in a
hopeless minority in the city, their affairs
have never been looked after adequately by

141

the administration of the city, on which upto
very recently they had no representation.
Gradually the revenue allowed to the Darbar
Sahib was cut down, until only 6 pies in the
rupee were paid. This, too, was taken away,
and now only the lighting expenses of the
Temple and the canal charges on the water
supplied to the sacred tanks are paid out of
the municipal funds. The Sarbarah had to
handle lakhs of rupees a year, but he was
never called upon to present accounts to the
public. In fact he was responsible to nobody
.except the Deputy Commissioner. The
pujaris or priests , who used to have a very
respectable position and exercised some
check on the administration, were gradually
reduced to a very low position. Many of
them ceased to perform any duty in the
Temple. They adopted other professions such
as pleadership or shop-keeping. But they
received their share in the income of the
Darbar Sahib all the same. Some of them
sent their servants to do the service in the-
Temple. Those who attended their duties
were paid only a few pice a day and many of
them naturally turned dishonest. They
began to harass the visitors for tips, and
began- 16 steal loose coins thrown on the
carpet before the Holy Book. The ill-paid
daroga, whose duty was to keep watch over
the money, was bribed by the priests and he,

1*2

too, began to. share in the loot. The
Granthis, with the exception of the Head
Granthi who had a jagir, had no other source
of income except the presents offered to
them by generous visitors, and they tried in
various ways to increase their income.
Instead of making the Holy of Holies the
radiating centre of light and devotion, the
priests considered it as the practising ground
of robbery. The Karah Par shad or the sacred
food offered by pilgrims for distribution in
the congregation was taken away to the
houses of magistrates and police officials, or
was thrown away before horses or their
grooms. The costly scarfs, offered to serve
as wrappers for the Sacred Books in the
Golden Temple or other temples elsewhere,
were auctioned by the Sarbrah or appro-
priated by the priests for the use of their
wives and children.

The precincts began to be used by
pandits and astrologers for the propagation
of superstitious practices. Idols were openly
worshipped in the holy compound. Dirty
booklets were sold and shops of all sorts were
opened in the premises. On the Basant and
the Holi days licentious songs were sung by
musicians inside the Temple. Eogues roamed
about harassing women. Brothels were
opened in the neighbouring houses, where
unwary women visiting the Temple were

taken for immoral purposes, some sadhus
acting as agents.*

In 1905 with the general awakening in
the country, the Sikhs felt their grievances
keenly and determined to right some of the
outstanding wrongs. The idols were re-
moved, and a widespread agitation was set on
foot to nationalise the control of the Darbar
Sahib. Sardar Bahadur Arjan Singh, an
ex-Sarbrah, proposed in a meeting of the
Chief Khalsa Diwan that, in consultation with
the Panth, the constitution of the Golden
Temple called Dastur-ul-Amal should be
changed. The resolution was accepted,
but nothing came out of it. It became
difficult even to get a copy of the Dastur-ul-
Amal. Then in the summer of 1906 the
Khalsa Advocate and the Punjab of Amritsar
strongly urged that the rules governing the
Darbar Sahib and other Gurdwaras should
be so altered as to remove certain patent
evils. They emphasised that the position
of the Mahants and pujaris should not be
hereditary, as they never were intended to
be, that the appointments should depend
solely on efficiency and good behaviour of the
incumbents, that the jagirs or other property
attached to a Gurdwara should not be con-
sidered as the personal property of its

* The Punjab of October 1, 1906, also the Hag
Pasard, a con -Sikh paper, of about the same date.

14*

MahaELt, but;jBhpuld be entered -.-mi the nam^
of the Gurdwara, so that the Mahant might
not be able to sell the property and, when
found guilty of misconduct,, his ejection
might, be easy. They considered it most
objectionable that the Sarbrah of the Golden
Temple should be appointed by Government
and that the Sikhs- should have nothing to
say as to its management. They urged that
the Sarbrah should be an able and energetic
Sikh, elected by the Panth, and not an old
septagenarian appointed by Government*
and that in the meanwhile the old Committee
of 1859 which had been abolished should bq
restored. Complaints were also made about
the non-pubiication of accounts by the
Sarbrahs in charge of the administration
and of the buildings. The latter for many
years has kept engaged the artisans in,
decorating with worthless tinsel a useless
room in the upper storey of the Temple,
neglecting the buildings which are in perilous
need of repair. Even now— as the charge,
has not been taken from the ^arbrah— you
might find a man working there slowly, aef
if he lias to be there for centuries. It is
a most irresponsible kind of work.

Ma^ny boys were drowned in the Sacred
Tank . every year. The, ..JOiatsa Samacliar,
and the Punjab set up an agitation to induce
the Sarbrah" to have an iron railing erected

145

in the water all round the tank, but the
Sarbrah to this as to other complaints,
however loud, turned a deaf ear. The people
in the press and on the platform complained
against the callousness of the Sarbrah, whom
they asked to resign if he could not do hiB
duty. Under the auspices of the Sikh Young-
men's Association a public meeting of the
civil and military Sikh residents of Quetta
was held on 22nd December, 1906, and
it was resolved to ask the Government to
hand over the control of the Darbar
Sahib to the Chief Khalsa Diwan. In the
covering letter complaints were made about
the non-publication of accounts, the here-
ditary system of service and the intolerable
evils prevailing in the precincts as well as
the Bungahs bordering on the Temple*
Following the lead of the Quetta Association
similar resolutions were passed everywhere.
In May, 1907, the Punjab urged the formation
of a " Gurdwara Sambhal Committee " or
a committee for the control of Gurdwaras.
Then followed a period of moral depression
consequent upon the general unrest and the
measures taken to suppress it. About 1914
the Sikhs again raised a voice in favour of
national control, but the War came and the
Sikhs set aside all agitation to help the Govern-
ment whole-heartedly in the hour of its need.
When the War was over the question

146

of the control of Darbar Sahib was again
raised. In the Sikh League of 1919, as we
have seen, the Sikhs demanded that the
management of the Golden Temple should
be handed over to a representative committee
of Sikhs, constituted on an elective basis and
responsible to the Panth. A Sikh member
of the Punjab Council asked questions about
the management and requested the Govern-
ment to shew accounts to the public. Very
evasive replies were given, and it Was said
that the question of management would
be determined in the Reformed Council.
But the public was very much agitated
over it, and demanded some immediate
action. Wherever the Sikhs gathered in theitf
daily meetings, in the Singh Sabhas, or
at the annual meetings of their diwans,
they put forth their demand that the Darbar
Sahib, Nankana Sahib and the Khalsa College
should be handed over to the Panth. Even
the Sikhs of Basra, Baghdad and Maymyo
sent resolutions to the Government to with-
draw from the control of the Darbar' Sahib.
The Government, however, in its communique
of July 14, 1920, tried 16 answer ail the
agitation by quoting the following reply given
to a question in the Punjab Council on
13th March, 1920 :—

" The question of management of the
Golden Temple at Amritaar has been under

147

the consideration of Government, for, some
time. It has been decided to : defer the
action until the Reforms Scheme has been
brought into operation. The elected re-*
presentatives of Sikh Constituencies will
then be consulted as to any changes which
may be contemplated.

It should be explained that the action
proposed will be under the Religious Endow-
ments Act, 1863, and that it is desired to
carry out new arrangements in accordance,
so far as can be ascertained, with the general
wishes of those who are interested in the
temple. The most suitable way of ascertain-
ing these wishes is to consult the gentlemen
who will be elected for the Legislative Coun-
cil as representatives of Sikh Constituencies
in the Province, and the Government intend
to consult these gentlemen at an, early date
after the conclusion of elections. With their
assistance a Committee will be selected, iii
whose hands the appointment of .the Manager,
and scrutiny of accounts will thereafter rest.
When the Committee has been constituted,
it is the intention of Government to stand
aside from the management entirely in
future."

The Sikhs were not satisfied; with thi»
delaying process, nor with the proposed!
method of selection or the ppope ,of the*-
Committee's functions as suggested, in. the*

148

Communique. When 'the boycott of Councils
was preached and the ambiguous definition of
a Sikh was published by Government, people
despaired of getting any satisfactory com-
mittee formed.

The complaints against the eor.duct of
the priests and the Manager grew so loud
that the position became intolerable. It was
not forgotten that it was under this Manager
that the Komagata Maru Sikhs had been
condemned at the Akal Takht, and that it
was by. this Manager that in the days of
Martial Law General Dyer was presented
with a robe of honour from the Golden
Temple, where even Maharaja Eanjit Singh
had been condemned and punished for an
tin-Sikh-like act. People could not put up
with the insults offered to their religion in
the Temple. One priest openly said that he
would mix tobacco with the sacred food. The
Sikhs could not turn out the man, as the
control was in the hands of Government's
Manager. This Manager with the permission
of the Deputy Commissioner reinstated an
^ex-priest who had been expelled some years
before and had been convicted in court. One
day in August the holy congregation were
abused at the Akal Takht and refused the
morning service. They came to the Manager's
house -and ' complained. He promised ta
go himsfeif next day at :itne morning

140.

service and make the priest beg pardon. But-
.he never came. Then the people held meet-
ings of protest. The Deputy Commissioner,
instead of asking the Manager to retire, sent
policemen to forbid a meeting of Sikh^
-within the precincts of the Temple. The
people, however, held a meetiug inspite of
the police, and passed resolutions against the
Deputy Commissioner and the Manager. The
Manager was sent on leave for two months.
But the public wanted his resignation. It
was decided that the Manager's effigy should
be taken out like a regular funeral, if he did
not resign by 29th August. Thousands qi
ladies also held meetings and passed resolu-
tions. The Sikhs were holding a meeting in
the Jallianwala Bagh, when the Manager
came and with folded hands begged the
Khalsa to forgive him, announcing at the
same time that he had resigned. Thus the
old Manager left and another was appointed
in his place by Government* The people
clamoured for accounts, but who would listen
to them ? The retiring Manager was knight-
ed soon after and became Sir Arur Singh of
the Golden Temple.

The enormities of the priests could be
made impossible only if the control of the
Temple were handed over to the Sikh com-
munity. But it was not done, inspite ©f
hundreds of resolutions being passed by the

150

Sikh representative bodies all over India.
Resolutions came from Canada, Burma, and
•from Sikh military officers in Mesopotamia.

The Sikhs were tabooed in the Temple.
s A Sikh, regularly baptised from a low caste,
-would not be admitted along with other
Sikhs into the Temple, but if he became a
Christian and came with a hat on, the
priests.would run to meet him and show him
•all- over the temple. The girl students of
Bhasaur \yere not allowed to sing hymns in
•the Darbar Sahib and before the Akal Takht.
Even big Sirdars, Professors and students of
the Khalsa College could not get their prayers
offered there, merely because they had
reformed themselves. The rule among the
Sikhs, as previously shown in this book, is
that anybody in the world can become a
Sikh,* and after receiving baptism all
persons become equal in claiming religious
rights. Ever since the modern revival of
Sikhism great emphasis had been laid on the
conversion of the low-caste people, and differ-
ent bodies like the Lahore Diwan, the Chief
Khalsa Diwan and the Panch Khalsa Diwan
took lively interest in the uplifting of the

. * Guru Nanak says : There are lowest men
among the low classes. Natiak shall go wi*h them.
"What have I to do with the great ? Grd's eye of
i mercy falls on those who take care of the lowly.
< Sri Rag.

161

depressed classes.' In 1906 the Chief Khalsa
Diwan held a very big diwan at Jullundur,
the home of Kamdasias and other so-called
out-castes, and brought hundreds of these
people into the fold of Sikhism. Again in
1919 a large number of them were converted
ftt Amritsar. The Diwan also did much to
reclaim the criminal tribes entrusted to it at
Moghulpura, and converted thousands of
Meghs and Kabirpanthis in Kishtwar. , Tikka
Jaswant Singh Bcdi also converted thou-
sands of Basiths in Mirpur.

There is a religious body in Amritsar,
called the Khalsa Brotherhood, which holds
annunl diwans for the purpose of preaching
equality among men and converting men
and women of nil castes to Sikhism. On
12th October, 1920, a few low-caste men
baptised at the annual meeting of this society
were brought in a procession to the Golden
Temple. The priests refused to offer prayer
for them. The Sikhs insisted on the right
of every Sikh to- get his prayer and the
sacred fool offered at the Temple. The
Holy Book was opened and by a miraculous
chance the following words of Guru Amar
Das were read out by the Granthi, wjno him-
self was among the objectors : — " Brother,
He sends grace even to those who have no
merit, and takes from them the true Guru's
s ervice, which is most noble, as it turns our

152

hearts to the love of God. He Himself
forgives and brings us into union with Him-
self. Brother, how worthless, were we, and
yet the perfect and the true Ealightener
took us on to His society. My dear, what a
lot of sinners He has forgiven by reason of
His true Word ! How many He has ferried
across the world-ocean in the Guru's safety
bark ! By the touch of the Philosopher's
stone, that is the Guru, base metal has
become gold. Selfishness has departed and
the Name has come to live in the heart.
Our light has blended with His light and we
have become one with Htbtf"*

The words had a wonderful effect.
Hundreds of men in the audience were
visibly affected. The priests, too, were con-
vinced and they agreed to offer prayer and
accept the sacred food from the hands of the
newly-coverted Sikhs. There was no
unpleasantness in the whole proceedings and
the priests were left to carry on their work.

When the whole p.irty was coming out
successful and going towards the Akal Takht,
a temple just opposite to the Darbar Sahib,
the priests of the Takht fled from their posts,
and those who remained refused to offer
prayer or accept the offerings consisting of
money and sacred food, and then they, too,
fled away from the posteran gate.

* Sorath, III.

153

The place, founded by Guru Har Gobind
in 1609, is one of the greatest importance.
The Guru used to receive his Sikhs here and
•discuss with them important matters
connected with the welfare of the commu-
nity. It was here that he put on the sword,
symbolising a new phase in the development
-of the Sikh character. It was here that the
weak and the oppressed came from far and
near to seek help against tyranny. Once in
the days of the misals a Brahmin of Kasur
came and laid his complaint before the
assembled Khalsa that his bride had been
taken away from him by the local Naw7ab.
The Sikhs stood up and vowed under the
leadership of one Sardar Hari Singh that
they would not rest until they had restored
the Brahmin's wife to him. They went and
did it. It was also here that later on by a
resolution of the Khalsa Maharaja Ranjit
Singh, the Lion of the Punjab, was punished
for associating with an evil woman. It is
the chief Takht or Throne of Authority, from
which orders called Hukamnamas are issued
to the whole community. The weapons
used by Guru Hargobind and Guru Gobind
Singh are kept here.

It could not be left vacant. The
assembly led by Bhai Kartar Singh of
Jhabbar called for 25 volunteers to sit and
watch there temporarily without touching

154

tihe money or s property. S,ardar Sundar
Singh, the Sarbrah, was informed of it and he
agreed. The priests were called upon to
express regret for having deserted the sacred
Throne. They did not come, even when the
Sarbrah called them. . , ij <■

The next day on October 13, the Deputy
Commissioner sent for the Sarbrah and a
few representatives of the Sikhs and the
priests to his bungalow to discuss the new
turn of events in the Golden Temple. The
priests did not attend. -The- Deputy Com-
missioner formed a provisional Committee
of nine Sikhs, all reformers, including the
Sarbrah at its head, to manage the Golden
Temple until a permanent one, was formed.
The priests, chagrined at this, instigated the
Nihang Sikhs of the Budha Dal' and . tried to
bring them into collision with the j reforming
Sikhs, The Budha Dal of the historic fame
actually reached Amritsar and created some
unpleasantness. The matter reached a
crisis on the night of 15th October, when it
was feared that the Nihangs might attack
the Sikhs in possession of the Takht. Vene-
rable BabaKehar Singh of Patti, however,
amicably settled the difficulty with his usual
statesmanlike tact and skill. With his
sweet persuasiveness he made the Nihangs
agree to a resolution condemning the priests
'for their desertion of the Takht and desiring

155

that, until the general meeting of the Pantli
was held, all should wait and let the Sikhs in
possession carry on. On the night of Diwali
some Nihang Sikhs again wanted to create
a row by taking- possession of the Akal Takht.
Baba Kehar Singh argued the matter with
them for a length of time but to no avail.
Then two other gentlemen tried to dissuade
them, but they persisted. Then the leader
of the Akali Jatha in charge of the Takht
challenged the Nihangs to try their strength
with the Panth if they could. The challenge
unnerved the Nihang Sikhs and they quietly
withdrew from the Takht.

After this there was no disturbance in
the Darbar Sahib except on December 6,
1921, when encouraged by the arrests of
Sikh leaders, some mischief-makers instigat-
ed an attack on the temple. About a dozen
Sadhus dressed in a peculiar fashion attacked
the Akal Takht and demanded of the Sikhs
in charge to clear out. When the Sikhs,
who were only five or six in number, refused
to go, the Sadhus began to belabour them
with lathis, chimtas and iron bars which they
had brought with them. One or two went
away to inform the Sikhs outside, but the
remaining suffered the blows quietly until
they fell down unconscious. Another Sikh
who had come up was beaten down. His
wife, who followed, suffered equally while

156

trying to save her husband. Another lady
as well became the target of these men and
fell down after receiving heavy blows on her
head and other parts of her body. The
attack continued for about ten minutes and,
when ail the Sikhs were down, a large crowd
of people came in. Some of the Sadhus,
while being disarmed, must have received
blows from the crowd ; but when the responsi-
ble officers of the Shromani Gurdwara
Parbandhak Committee arrived on the
scene no rough-handling was allowed. As
no arrests are permitted in the sacred pre-
cincts the Sadhus were removed to a place
outside the Akal Takht, whence the police
took them away. Some time after one of
the Sadhus died. This grievous insult to the
premier Temple was preceded by an attempt
by Government to disturb the possession of
the Shromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Com-
mittee by snatching away the Keys of the
Golden Temple ; but the Sikhs, as we shall
see, vindicated their right by taking upon
themselves heavy suffering.

The affairs of the Golden Temple were
in confusion when the Shromani Committee
took its charge. No regular charge of the
treasury had been given by Sardar Arur
Singh on his retirement, and when Sardar
Sundar Singh Ramgarhia, who succeeded
him, gave charge of the things he had

157

received from his predecessor, it was found
that almost all important papers relating to
the period before him were missing and no
proper means existed of checking the exist-
ence of all the various valuable articles kept
in the treasury. The importance of a proper
scrutiny can be realised from the fact that,
while in one eye of a jewel-peacock a pearl
worth Rs. 3,500 is present, in the other
there is one worth Rs. 50 only.

At first the direct administration of the
Darbar Sahib was vested by the Shromani
Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee in a Bub-
Committee, including Sardar Sundar Singh
Ramgarhia, Sardar Dan Singh, Sardar
Jaswant Singh and Sardar Didar Singh.
Then in September, 1921, a local committee
of nine members, including Sardar Sundar
Singh Ramgarhia as Chairman, was appoint-
ed. This again was replaced by a larger
committee composed of all the members of
the Shromani Committee, resident in
Amritsar, seven outside-members nominated
by the Executive Committee, and ^Ye resi-
dents of Amritsar, who were non Members.
The Chairman, called Member-in-Charge, was
appointed by the Executive Committee from
among its members. This sub-committee
passed a rule that the whole income of the
Golden Temple and the attached Gurdwaras
should be deposited in the name of the

158

Shromani Committee, which should be asked
to advance money required for the expenses
of which a regular account should be present-
ed. The daily income from offerings is
registered and watched throughout the day
by a darogha, and is counted in the evening
by regular officers of the Committee with
some member or members in the presence
of the sangat, and then it is deposited in the
treasury, wherein a register is kept of all the
deposits. A regular account is kept in the
office. After some days the rupees and the
smaller coins are counted in the presence of a
few responsible members and office-bearers
of the Committee and given to a goldsmith
for exchange in currency notes, which are
taken to the bank for deposit in the name of
the Shromani Committee.

The office and the priestly establish-
ment cost about Es. 3000 a month. The
priests were allowed to work on the old lines
for more than a year, but it was found im-
possible to check theft and irregularity,— cor-
ruption had grown so deep-rooted in the
system. The Committee was obliged to order
that no Granthi or pujari should touch any
money of the offerings in the Temple. The
Granthis are paid regular salaries. A renowned
poet and historian has been appointed Granthi
on Ks. 120 per mensem, while the young
Granthi belonging to the old system has been

159

offered Us. 350 per mensem as salary; and a;
big sum and some houses in consideration
of the jagir and property now transferred to.
the Committee.

On 10th August, 1921, the pujarisof Baba
Atal were dismissed by the Committee for
making and encouraging attacks on the Akalis
on duty. The Holy Book was installed in
the vacant temple, and other reforms which
were overdue were affected. The Udasi
Mahant of the Akhara of Brahm Buta, which
opens on the Darbar Sahib premiges, was
persuaded to carry out the necessary re-
forms. The various shrines located in the
precincts were put in good order, and their
service was made regular. The old gloomy
building of the Jhanda Bungah has been pul-
led down and, thanks to the venerable saint
Bhai Sham Singh and the sangat, a very dur-
able and fine edifice is rising in its place.
The wall has been removed eight feet back-
wards, so that the open space for meetings
before the Akal Takht has been extended and
the complaint about the narrow passage
behind the Banners has been removed.

The sacred tank of Kaulsar has been
cleaned, its steps cemented, and its surround-
ings altogether improved. The holy tank of
the Golden Temple is also being cleaned and
the buildings repaired. For all this work of
building, repairing and cleaning, a Committee

160

is appointed. This body, called the Ear
Sarowar Committee, with its Secretary, Bhai
Jaswant Singh, B. A., is a wonderful organi-
zation. It combines in it precision, prompt-
ness and economy of the modern days with
all the fervour and love for social service that
has ever been exhibited by the Sikhs in the
past. It has got a vast colony of unpaid
workers drawn from all classes and all parts
of the country. Those who, like the Earn-
garhias, can provide skilled labour have offered
their services free, and those who are un-
skilled are also there in thousands to help in
doing any work that may be given to them.
The division of work is so well-organized that
there is absolutely no over-lapping. In one
corner a vast multitude of women is seen
breaking bricks into fine concrete. In an-
other hundreds of men and women are seen
washing sand. They are told to wash it
25 times before it is ready for use in making
tiles. In a third place ~kankar, which has
been brought from a long distance, is being
washed and burnt and then ground into lime.
The most laborious work is the slow grinding of
small pieces of marble into the finest powder
like antimony. This, mixed with the powder
of almonds, pistacia and other precious things,
makes the hardest white cement, which is
being used in plastering the causeway that
leads from the Main Gate to the inner Sane-

161

tuary. Not a pice has been spent on all the
labour employed. Men and women, whether
rich or poor, have thought it an honour to
take part in this work which the Guru has
given them after 250 years. Belays of ladies
and gentlemen are daily seen carrying baskets
of mud on their heads, chantirg Sat- Nam-
WahigurUf Sat-Nam-Wahiguru. Hindus
and Mohammedans, men and women, came to
share in this noble work. It was a beautiful
sight to see a band of 200 Mohammedans
wrorkiog in mud and then after taking their food
in the Guru's kitchen reading Nimaz in the
Guru ka Bagh, with hundreds of Sikhs look-
ing on and pouring blessings on them. Men
came with their families, not only from the
Punjab but also from Sindh, from Frontier,
from U. P., and from other parts of India,
burning with the love of service. They were
accommodated in Bungahs and other build-
ings close to Darbar Sahib. The Guru's
kitchen expenses were about Ks. 500 a day,
but, thanks to the philanthropy of people, the
Committee had no difficulty in finding the
money. Thousands of rupees came unasked,
and people vied with each other in providing
rations for the kitchen. It was proposed to
erect a brass railing round the Holy Tank in
order to prevent mortalities from drowning.
An appeal was made to ladies to donate each
4 chattaks weight of broken brass utens ils
Bagfulls of brass began to pour in and

162

hundreds of maurids were collected in a
short time.

The work done by the Kar Sarowar Com-
mittee has called forth the best forces of
sacrifice and organization, and is as important
as any thing else done by the Sikhs during
this campaign of reform. It has lifted up
the whole community from the low depths of
apathy and discord, and has provided a scope
for the display of the best spirit of the Khalsa.

With the establishment of the Panthic
Committee many of the long-standing evils
have been removed. All the shops in the
Parkarma, which used to give refuge to men
and women of evil repute, have been abolished
and the hawkers' of all sorts forbidden to
carry on their trade within the sacred com-
pound. The pure ceremony of baptism has
been restored at the Akal Takht, and
thousands have received Amrit since the
formation of the Committee.

The whole place has acquired a Sikh
look again. It is again the bee-hive of
the Sikhs as it once used to be. Holy
congregations meeting in the Darbar Sahib
where music never ceases and before the
Akal Takht where Sikhs receive the idea
of their national power, the lofty banners
flying, and the Holy Choirs moving nightly
round the Golden Temple, again bring visibly
before the Sikhs ttra glories of the Khalsa
which are recounted In the daily prayer.

CHAPTER X.

THE SHROMANI GURDWARA PARBANDHAK
COMMITTEE.

A Hukainnama was issued from the Akal
Takht summoning a general assembly of the
Sikhs to meet on 15th November,' 1920,
in the front of the Akal Takht for the purpose
of electing a representative committee of the
Panth to control the Golden Temple and all
other Gurdwaras. The conditions to be
satisfied by each delegate , from different
bodies were : (1) He must have received
Amrit or baptism, (2) must be a regular
reader of the Scriptures, (3) must possess
the five K.'s, (4) must be an early riser, and
(5) must be giving 1/10 bh of his income
rpgularly for the Panthic cause. The
representation was regulated as follows : —

1. Four Takhts 6 representatives each.

& Gurdwaras 1 representative each.

& Sikh Associations 5 representatives for

100 members each.
Managing Staff. Students.
Committee. -

4. Khalsa College, 1 k2 2

Amritsar

5. G. N. College, 1 2 1>
Gujranwala

164

Managing Staff. Students.
Committee.

6. Akal Collage, 1 2 2

Mastuana

7. High Schools 111 each

8. Middle Schools 1 1 ... „
y. Primary Schools 1 ... ... „

10. Sikh States ... 5 each.

11. Mixed Sikh Cavalries 2 each.

12. „ „ Kegiments 2 each.

13. Purely Sikh Cavalries 5 each.

14. Purely Sikh Begiments 5 each.

15. Nihang Jathas, whose special 5 each for every

duty in the past had been 100 members.

the protection of temples.
But two days before the meeting was
held the Government hastened to appoint a
Managing Committee, consisting of 36
members — all reformers — for the Golden
Temple and other temples, like that of Tarn
Taran, affiliated to it. The Sikhs of all shades
of opinion from different parts of the country,
including the Sikh States, came to the big
meeting held on 15th and 16th Novem-
ber and resolved to form a committee of 175
members to control all the temples of the
Sikhs, whether in the Punjab or elsewhere.
They wisely included the 36 members of the
Government-appointed Committee also, and
-elected them on a sub-committee formed to
manage the Golden Temple and the shrines
allied to it. As the Governor had said at
the time of the formation of the Committee

165

of 36 that they could add any number to
themselves and do anything they wanted
with their constitution, it was legitimate for
the committee of 175 to take their placed
The representation was according to districts
in the Punjab and according to provinces
outside. Members were elected also to repre-
sent the Sikh States and Sikh bodies in
Burma, Malaya, China, and America. All
parties were satisfied with the arrangements.
As long as the bigger Committee did not
come into existence, Sardar Harbans Singh
of Atari, as President of the Government-
appointed Committee, with Sardar Sundar
Singh Eamgarhia as Manager, carried on the
administration.

The inaugural meeting of the Shromani
Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee came off
at the Akal Takht on December 12, 1920.
When all had assembled, the Assistant
Secretary read out the names of the members
elected, who were taken to the upper part
of the Akal Takht and subjected to a strict
scrutiny as prescribed before. The five Viaras*i

* 1 Bhai Teja Singh, M A., J.L. B., A. M.,
(Harvard), Prircipal, Akal College, Mastuana,

2. Bhai Jodh Singh M.A , Principal, G. N.
College, Gujranwala

8. Bawa Harkishen Singh, M A., Professor,
fcbaha College.

4. Bhai Teja Singh of the Central Majha Diwanf
and

5. Sardar Balwant Singh, Reis of Kulla.

166

who:bad been elected in the last meeting
to conduct the scrutiny, asked each member
as he came up as to how far he fell short of
the standard prescribed. Those who confessed
to some shortcomings agreed to undergo
suitable religious punishments. The scrutiny
over, all the members headed by the 5 Piaras,
clad in black and carrying their kirpans on
their shoulders, came down singing Shabads
and presented themselves before the Sangat?
which had been anxiously waiting for them.
The scene was most impressive, when Bawa
Harkishen Singh, the Assistant Secretary,
read out the names of those who were
declared duly inaugurated, specifying the
respective confessions of those who were
found short in any respect. The attention
of the audience became most rapt
when the name of Sardar Bahadur Sardar
Sundar Singh Majithia was announced. The
Assistant Secretary explained in detail the
position of the Honourable Sardar. He said
that, in view of the fact that certain members
of the Panth were displeased with the Sardar
Bahadur, he had been asked to say in the
presence of the Guru, before His very Throne,
whether or not he had been prompted in all
he had done, as Secretary of the Chief Khalsa
Diwan or as representative of the Panth,
by motives which in any way aimed not at
the unalloyed welfare of his community.

167

With perfect humility and calm and
dignified serenity Sardar Sundar Singh said
that in the presence of the Guru he solemnly
affirmed that whatever he did he did to the
best of his ability and understanding in the
best interest of the community, and was not
at all actuated by any selfish or unworthy
motives that were attributed to him. Still,
however, he said, he implored the indulgence
of the forgiving Panth in the words of the
musician Kirat, whose verses are incorporated
in the Holy Granth : —

" I am full of defects and possess no
merit.

Forsaking nectar I drink the poison of
evil.

Led by false attachment and deluded by
superstition and fear,

I have been engrossed in the worldly
love of the wife and son.

But I have heard of a noble Panth and
the Guru's Sangat,

By whose contact the fear of Death
vanishes.

I, Bard Kirat, have to offer one prayer
only :

■ May Guru Earn Das be my refuge/ "

On this the five Piaras had signified
their satisfaction. When this was announced
in the meeting below, the whole audience
was moved to tears. This was the highest

/

168

consummation of the spirit of democracy
among the Sikhs. The very men, who
had been loudest in crying him down in the
past, proposed and supported his election to
the Presidentship of the Shromani Com-
mittee. Sardar Harbans Singh of Atari was
elected Vice-President and Sardar Sundar
Singh Ramgarhia Secretary. A sub-com-
mittee including the office-bearers was formed
for drafting a new constitution and Das-
tural-al-Amal of the Darbar Sahib.

The Shromani Gurdwara Parbandhak
Committee was registered on 30th April,
1921.

According to the new constitution four-
fifths of the members would be elected by
different constituencies in the Punjab and
outside, and the remaining 1/5 would be
nominated by the elected element. The differ-
ent districts were apportioned a fixed number
of seats on the Committee according to
the population and religious importance
of the Sikhs residing therein. The Sikh
States were also given representation. One-
fourth of the whole number of seats assigned
to a State were to be nominated by its Sikh
Maharaja and the remaining to be elected by
the Sikh population of the State, As the
Committee was the most important religious
assembly of the Sikhs and its business was to

169

^control temples and determine true form of
worship to be observed in them, only those
were given the right of voting who could be
called representative Sikhs. Every initiated
Sikh, who was not less than 21 years old and
who observed the elementary rules of Sikh
conduct, such as rising early in the morning,
reading the Scriptures, giving one-tenth of
the personal income, and keeping the
baptismal vows, got a vote.

When the rules were prepared and
approved, a new election of the Shromani
Committee was held in July 1921. In every
electorate voting papers were given on
application to those who satisfied the
prescribed conditions and paid a fee of four
annas. The Shromani Committee had sent
its own polling officers to different centres to
conduct the elections according to rules. The
local body would hold a diwan in some central
place, •where the voters of a particular elec-
torate assembled. After a few nominations
were voted the voters were asked to write in
their voting papers the names of those whom
they wanted to elect. The voting papers
were then collected under supervision from
each individual elector. In some places the
voting papers were collected by the polling
•officers at a gate from which individual voter
was asked to pass. Then the votes were
counted in the presence of some respectable

170

gentlemen, and the results declared in th§
open diwan.

The elected members met at the Akal
Takht on 14th August, 1921, to nominate
the remaining one-fifth provided in the rules.
They had the wisdom to nominate almost all
of them, with the exception of a few
journalists, out of the moderate party. The
nominated members included such eminent
workers as Sardar HarbanB Singh of Atari,
Professor Jodh Singh, M. A., Babas Gurdial
Singh and Partap Singh, the Namdhari
leaders, Baba Jaswant Singh Bedi, Bhai
Sangat Singh of Kamalia, Bhai Hira Singh
Eagi, Sardar Man Singh Vakil, Sardar Kahan
Singh of Nabha, and S. Bam Singh Kabuli. On
27th August the new members were subjected
to the same scrutiny as before by five Piaras.
The following office-bearers were elected : —

President : — Sardar Kharak Singh, B. A.y
L.L.B., Beis, Sialkot.

Vice-President : — Sardar Sundar Singh
Kamgarhia, Hony. Magistrate and Keis,
Amritsar.

Hony. Secretary :— Sardar Bahadur
Sardar Mehtab Singh, Bar.-at-Law, late Public
Prosecutor, Government Advocate and
Deputy President of the Punjab Legislative
Council.

A Professor from the Gujranwala College
was made a paid Assistant Secretary.

A strong Executive: Committee of
31 members was elected.

171

A few days later the Executive Com-
mittee formed a Working Committee of
7 members and Local Committees for the
Golden Temple Amritsar, Tarn Taran and
Nankana Sahib. The administration of the
different Gurdwaras with their local com-
mittees, the Kar or cleaning service of the
Sacred Tank, the missionary, the publicity
and other departments were put in charge
of different members. An Engineer on a
salary of Es. 250 per mensem was appointed
to look after the buildings of the affiliated
Gurdwaras and advise on the constructions
and repairs which were going on everywhere
on a large scale. An Inspector has been
appointed to report on the condition of
different Gurdwaras. In more important
cases sub-committees are appointed to do
this work. The expenses of the Committee
are met from the contributions of the one-
tenth part ^f every affiliated Gurdwara's
income, which according to the constitution
is due to the Shromani Committee. Owing
to financial difficulties this rule has not been
strictly enforced. The Shromani Committee
helps those Gurdwaras where the income is
scanty and the congregations cannot support
the maintenance of the priests and the
buildings. Financial help has been given to
the following Gurdwaras : —

1. Hothian, 2. Teje, 3. Chohla Sahib,

172

4. Panja Sahib, 5. Samadh Akali Phula Singh,
6. Pir Hayat, 7. Dalhousie, 8. Anandpur
Sahib, 9. Nonar, 10. Kamalia, 11. Gurdwara
Bibi Veero at Jhabal.

Some of them are not poor but owing to
circumstances help was needed.

The Managing Committees of the
following Gurdwaras, among others, are
affiliated to the Shromani Gurdwara
Parbandbak Committee : —

The Golden Temple Amritsar, Tarn
Taran, Nankana Sahib, Babe-di-Ber Sialkot,
Anandpur, Chamkaur, Akali Phula Singh's
Samadh, Khadur Sahib, Eori Sahib Gujran-
wala, Nonar Sialkot, Chohla Sahib Amritsar,
Teje, Hothian Gurdaspur, Baba Bakala
Amritsar, Guru-ka-Bagh Amritsar, Panja
Sahib Campbellpur, Khara Sauda, Bhai Joga
Singh's Gurdwara Peshawar.

There are hundreds of Gurdwara Com-
mittees affiliated to the Central Committee
and working in different localities. They are
required to report their accounts regularly.
The present office-bearers elected on July
16th, 1922, are the following : —

Pr esident — Sardar Kharak Singh,- (in
his absence in jail Sardar Mehtab Singh,
Bar.-at-Law, is to act for him).

Vice-President— Sardar Amar Singh of
Jhabal.

Secretary— Bhai Jaswant Singh, B. A.

CHAPTER XI.

GURDWARA PANJA SAHIB.

On his return from the western coun-
tries Guru Nanak came to Hasan Abdal and
stopped as usual at a little distance from the
village at the foot of a hill. He sent
Mardana, his rebeck-player, to fetch water
from a Mohammedan saint called Vali
Qandhari, whose seat was on the top of the
hill. Mardana came back disappointed, as
the saint refused to give water and out of
sulkiness threw a big boulder down the hill-
side to crush the rival saint. The stone as
it came down rolling was stopped by Guru
Nanak with his hand, and the spot where he
touched it is marked by a figure of the hand
cut into the stone. Guru Nanak struck a
vein of water-spring even at the foot of the
hill, where now a temple stands with a
beautiful tiny lake enclosed in marble* The
temple has got a jagfr worth Es. 500 a year.
There is also some land, and a few water
mills. As there are only a few houses of the
Sikhs in the village, the affairs of the temple
have never been looked after properly.

In 1906 Mahant Mitha Singh got the.
Gurdwara land transferred to his own name*

174

The Singh Sabha of Abbottabad and other
bodies protested against jbhis misappropria-
tion and called upon the Mahant to publish
an account of the income and expenditure,
but nothing was done to satisfy the public.
In 1915 it appeared from some documents
published in the Panth Seivak of Lahore that
the Mahant, emboldened by his previous
success in defying the Panth, had got
entered in his own name not only the jagir
belonging to the Gurdwara but also the
Gurdwara itself. There was a great agita-
tion about it at the Ferozepore Conference,
and on June 25, 1916, the Singh Sabha of
Rawalpindi called a meeting of the promi-
nent Sikhs of the neighbouring districts to
consider the situation and devise some
course of action. A committee was formed
to sue the Mahant in the court, but after
some time the case was dropped for want of
funds. The Mahant now began openly to
flout Sikhism and its preachers. A mission-
ary association of Lahore, called Khalsa
Dharam Parcharak Jatha, wanted to hold a
diwan at Panja Sahib, but the Mahant not
only refused accommodation for the meeting
in the holy place, but also went so far as to
press others not to give any facilities to the
organizers of the diwan. Inspite of his
opposition, however, land was secured on
hire from the local Sayyeds, and then to make

175

the meeting impossible the Mahant sent
some drummers of the village to beat their
Arums close to the place of meeting. The
police had to be called to remove the drum-
mers. In the autumn of 1920 a committee
of enquiry was formed to investigate into
the complaints that were constantly made
against the Mahant. About 60 people, a
majority of whom were Hindus and orthodox
Sikhs, brought very serious charges against
the Mahant and his management. It was
proved beyond doubt, among other things,
that the Mahant was of loose character, that
he encouraged badmashes to drink and sing
lewd songs while sitting over the streams
flowing by the temple, and that the sacred
food, after being offered at the temple, was
Bold back to the shopkeepers.

When the active reform of temples
began the Mahant began to collect firearms
and terrify the congregations with his power.
One day the Mahant's brother, named Sant
Singh, took out a pistol, when a pilgrim
objected to the sacred food being prepared by
a smoker and a shop of tobacco being opened
on the Gurdwara land. The pilgrim was
shot in the thigh, and the incident created a
great sensation among the Sikhs.

When Mahant Mitha Singh died in
November, the Sikhs assembled at Arnritsar
decided to make some suitable arrangement

176

with the new incumbent before he was made
Mahant. A Jatha of about 25 men started
from Amritsar under the leadership of Bhai
Kartar Singh of Jhabbar, and Sardar Amaf
Singh Reis of Jhabbal and reached Panja
Sahib on the morning of 18th November,
1920. The police arrived a few hours later.
Sant Singh gave rations to the Jatha and
also some utensils for cooking food. Next
day the Jatha performed kirtan (sacred
music) in the temple, after which a partisan
of the Mahant stood up and, without any
mention having been made so far as to the
reform of management, declared in an
excited speech that the Sikhs had got no
concern whatever with the temple. The
situation grew critical, and Sardar Amat
Singh came away to inform the outside
public. Certain leaders from Rawalpindi,
Abbottabad and other places came in the
meanwhile with men and money, and then
negotiations began with the widow and the
brother of the late Mahant. They were told
that if they agreed to work under a com-
mittee affiliated to the Sbromani Committee,
the Mahant's widow and Sant Singh would
be given sufficient pay to maintain them-
selves and their family, and the late Mahant's
son would be educated up to B. A. at the
expense of the Committee. Sant Singh
consented and an agreement embodying

177

these -terrns was drawn up in the .presence of
five respectable Hindu residents of the place
one of whom was President of the local Arya
Samaj. Sant Singh was going , to sign the
document, when a Brahmin who used to get
something out of the Gurdwara income under
the old system, called him out. When he
came back after a few minutes, he was: quite
a changed man. He refused tp, sign the
paper. The assembled sangat charged him
with breaking his solemn word given | in the
sacred presence and refused to let him enter
the Gurdwara as a tankhahia? unless he
begged pardon for his fault and got the
tanJchah removed. At night the villagers
met and resolved to eject the $ikhs, as
according to them the Gurdwara [ did not
belong to the Sikhs. Next day they came in
large numbers with lathis to attack the
Gurdwara, where the Mohammedan D. S. P.,
who had arrived on that day, was standing to
watch the proceedings. The j) D. S. P.
whistled to the police, who came and pre-
vented the people from attacking the Sikhs.
He also asked the police to clear the Gur-
dwara of those assembled in it. Bhai Kartar
Singh Jathadar ordered the SikW :not to
leave the Gurdwara. Then the police v officer
, said, " Drive out the others, who pre not
Sikhs." This was done. A police guard was
posted and the crowding of village people was

178

forbidden in the temple. Then the mis-
chievous people sent some bold women, who
surrounded the temple, harassed the Sikhs,
and would not go even up to very late in the
night. Their husbands, however, came and
took them away. The Khilafatists of Pindi
came personally to call oif the hostility of
the Mohammedan villagers, who behaved
admirably ever afterwards.

Next day the Deputy Commissioner
came to the place and enquired from the
Jatha as to who had sent them. Bhai
Kartar Singh was able to show two telegrams,
which he had received just then from Sardar
Harbans Singh of Atari and Sardar Sundar
Singh Ramgarhia, promising support in the
undertaking. The Deputy Commissioner
proposed a committee of three, of which the
Mahant and Chaudhri Ram Singh of Rawal-
pindi were to be members and over which
the Deputy Commissioner himself was to
preside. The Sikhs rejected this on the
ground that no official could be accepted as
President and the Mahant could not be taken
as a member as long as he was a tankhahia
or under a religious ban. The Sikhs insisted
on a committee of five, which was not
accepted by Sant Singh. On tlis the Deputy
Commissioner ordered Sant Singh not to go
%o the temple and asked him to go to court
if he had got any complaint.

179

On Guru Nanak's birthday a big meeting
was held at Panja Sahib, to which came
representatives from the neighbouring dis-
tricts, of Peshawar, Campbellpur, Hazara,
Rawalpindi and Jheluni. A committee of
management, including such leading men as
Chaudhri Ram Singh, President, S. Sohan
Singh Reis, S. Teja Singh Vakil, Malik Dewa
Singh, etc., was appointed. Sant Singh, who
had never been made Mahant, filed a suit
under Section 145 Cr. P. C. against Chaudhri
Ram Singh, Secretary, Singh Sabha, Rawal-
pindi, B. Kartar Singh Jhabbar, Malik Dewa
Singh of Abbottabad, S. Sohan Singh Reis of
Rawalpindi, and others who had taken part
in the reform. The new Deputy Commis-
sioner, Mr. Miles Irving, dismissed the suit
on 29th December, 1920.

Under the Panthic Committee the Gur-
dwara has improved a great deal. The jagir
belonging to the temple is not paid to the
Committee, which has to meet, in addition to
the normal requirements, great expenses in
maintaining the free kitchen, which was
never kept before, and in erecting new
buildings and carrying out other improve-
ments, which have vastly increased the
comfort of visitors.

CHAPTER XII.

SOME MORE CASES.

Chomala Sahib.

In August, Ui 0, there was some agitation
about the 6th Guru's Gurdwara called
Chomala Sahib in the Bhati gate, Lahore,
The income of the Gurdwara was very poor.
The Granthi Hari Singh did not allow
accommodation to pilgrims in the building,
which had been built at the public expense
and which he was letting out on hire to meat-
sellers and cowherds. He did not know how
to perform the duties of a priest. In fact
he did not know how to recite even Japji
and Rahras, the morning and evening
services. The Gurdwara was full of dung
and dirt. The Sikhs decided to put an end
to this state of affairs. The Khalsa Parcharak
Jatha held diwans in the Gurdwara, but the
Granthi sent his women to attack the singing
parties and lodged a complaint in court. The
Sikhs suspended the Granthi on September 27
and assured him that, if he improved
himself he would be reinstated. They
appointed a Managing Committee of
12 leading Sikhs including S. Sohan Singh

182

Secretary, Sri Guru Singh Sabha, Lahore ;
Sardar Amar Singh, editor of the L(>yal
Gazette ; Sardar Mehtab Singh, Bar-at-Law ;
S. Sohan Singh, editor of the Sikh ; Sardar
Sardul Singh Caveessieur ; Sardar Sundar
Singh Keis ; Master Sundar Singh Lyall-
puri; Sirdar Sant Singh, President, and
Sardar Sadhu Singh, Secretary of the Khalsa
Parcharak Jatha ; Mahant Teja Singh of
Gurdwara Dera Sahib of Guru Arjan ; Sardar
Gurdit Singh and S. Gurbakhsh Singh. This
Committee appointed 14 men, including S.
Sant Singh, President, and Sardar Sadhu
Singh, Secretary, of the Parcharak Jatha, to
take charge of the Gurdwara. The Granthi
brought another complaint under Section 107,
Cr. P. C, and then on November 4 he filed
& civil suit for permanent injunction against
the Sikhs, in which he obtained an exparte
degree in his favour on January 6, 1921.
He had also filed a complaint under Section
145, Cr. P. C, in the court of the Deputy
Commissioner, but it was dismissed. The
Sikhs in the meanwhile carried on the
administration of the Gurdwara and were
not ousted from their position.

Tham Sahib.

The affairs of Gurdwara Tham Sahib in
the village Jhambar Kalan of the Lahore
District were falling into disrepute. The

183

Ourdwara was sacred to the 5th and 6th
Gurus, and had always been under the control
of the village sangat. It had got 136 Killas
of land endowed by Maharaja Ran jit Singh.
The Mahant, named Prem Singh, was wasting
the income and encumbering the Gurdwara
with debt. In order to check the evil,
the Sikhs of the village held a meeting and
formed a committee to control the income
and expenditure of the Guidwara and the
lands attached to it. After the Mahant had
reported to the Police and seen nothing good
coming out of it, he agreed to work under the
committee. But when the rules and regu-
lations were made for the conduct of
management, the Mahant changed his front.
Originally there was no intention of ejecting
the Mahant, but when it was found that the
reform of the Mahant was impossible, the
sangat dismissed him and appointed Baba
Bela Singh Nihang in his place. A regular
panchayat-nama signed by the leading men
and the lambardars was given to the
new Mahant. Prem Singh filed a criminal
suit under Section 448, I. P. C, against Baba
Bela Singh on December 3, 1920, which was
dismissed on February 15, 1921, by the
Sub-Divisional Officer of Kasur. The five
arbitrators, to whom the complaint of Prem
Singh had been referred,. ..-ftfeo decided in
favour of the sangat. teiow

184

Khara Sauda.

This is the place where Guru Nanak had
made ttis Khara Sauda or Good Bargain.
When he was still young his father had sent
him with a few rupees to make a good
bargain. He went and spent the money in
providing food and clothing to a few needy
men he met in the jungle. In the Sikh days
one Baba Raya erected a platform round the
Van tree under which the Guru had sat, and
watched over the sanctity of the pond lying
close to it. A Sikh of Chuharkana is said
to have come, to harm for desecrating the
pond by bathing his horse in it. From that
time the fame of the place increased, and
the Sikhs raised a Gurdwara over the
platform. The Sikh Government endowed
a jagir to the place, and in the course of
time some land was also attached to it.
The Mahant was always appointed by the
Sikh villagers, and the turban of Mahantship
was tied by a representative of Baba Raya's
family.

In 1917 complaints were made through
public notices and in the press against the
conduct of the Udasi Mahant named Narain .
Das. It was also observed that he kepfc in
one of the side-rooms of the temple paper
images of Gurti? Nanak and his two com-
panions, and worshipped them. A Namdhari

185

Sikh, Narain Singh, who objected to image-
worship, was beaten by the Mahant. One day
a few students of the local Khalsa School
went to the temple and one of them, named
Thakar Singh, refused to take the sacred
food which had been first offered to the idols.
Other students did likewise. The Mahant
flew into rage and after abusing the students
drove them away. The students complained
to Bhai Kartar Singh of Jhabbar, Manager
of their school, who resolved not to go to the
Gurdwara until it was reformed.

On December 24, 1920, Lai Das, chela
of Narain Dass, informed Bhai Kartar Singh
that the Mahant was dismantling the
Gurdwara and had already taken away two
cartloads of Gurdwara property to his village
Kaloke. Akali Jathas were beginning to be
formed in those days. One of them led by
Bhai Kartar Singh reached Khara Sauda on
the morning of December 27. The Mahant,
when openly charged with living with another's
woman, admitted his fault. Another Sadhu,
who was a gurbhai* of the Mahant, also
confessed to have attacked the chastity of
a stranger woman, who had come about three
months before to visit the temple. The
Sikhs announced to the Mahant and his
gurbhai that they were tanlchahias and, as

* A fellow -disciple of the same Guru. ■

186

long as they did not exonerate themselves
before the general assembly of the neigh-
bouring sangat which was summoned on
30th December, they were debarred from
the performance of service in the Gurdwara.
The offerings, cattle and other property of
the Gurdwara were, of course, not disturbed.
The Mahant in anger went to the thana and
informed the police. But he himself never
came back. On 30th December a big sangat
collected from the neighbouring villages and
heard the whole story of the Mahant's
misconduct. The woman, whom the Mahant
had left behind, was sent away safely. The
sangat elected a committee of 15 members
to carry on the management of the Gurdwara.
The report of the proceedings was sent every
day to the Shromani Gurdwara Parbandhak
Committee, Amritsar.

In January there was an unpleasant scene
created by the orthodox Hindus of Gojra.
A Sikh baptised from Ramdasias was sitting
in the local Gurdwara at the morning
diwan. Some Hindus rushed with lathies
to force the Sikhs not to distribute
the sacred food when the Ramdasia was
present. In the same month the Gurdwara of
Rori Sahib in Eminabad, where Guru Nanak
had stayed to meditate on God, was
reformed.

187

GuRDWAltA CllOULA SAHIB.

Guru Arjan once came to this village,
which in those days was called Bhaini. A
Sikh woman found the Guru hungry, and see-
ing that he could not wait for a full dinner,
she prepared for him a difm called chhla or
broken bread mixed with butter and sugar.
He was very much pleased with the sweet
crumbs and wanted to remember the hospi-
tality. He enquired the name of the village,
and was told that it was Bhaini. The Guru
said : " The name of this place should be
Chohla." He also sang a hymn of thankful-
ness in the Dhanasri measure. There is
jagir attached to the Gurdwara. Beside this
there is also an income of about 600 rupees
a month.

The Sikhs on January 13, 1921, came to
an understanding with the Mahant named
Karan Dass, who agreed to serve under a
committee in consideration of a regular salary
for himself and his son and some property
being granted to him. Inspite of the fact that
for a long time, on account of extreme busi-
ness elsewhere, the Shromani Gurdwara
Parbandhak Committee could not turn its
attention to the registration of a formal deed
and the election of a regular committee of
management, the Mahant continued loyal to
the first agreement. He wrote to the Collector
of Amritsar that the jagir money, which

188

since January last had been kept in deposit
in Government Treasury should be paid to
the Shromani Committee, to which he had
handed over the Ghirdwara. He also tried
several times to get the deed registered, but
the District authorities have not complied
with his request.

The Shromani Committee paid off the
debt of the Mahant, which amounted to about
Es. 14,000, and also spent about Es. 2,440 in
providing a new house for him as Manager.
The following are the terms of settlement
finally agreed upon between the Shromani
Committee and the Mahant : —

(1) Mahant Karan Das is appointed
Manager ; of Gurdwara Chohla Sahib on
Es. 175 per mensem.

(2) For the management of the Gurdwara
there shall be a committee consisting of nine
members, four from the village, three from
the neighbourhood, one representing the Gur-
dwara Committee, and one Mahant himself.

(3) As Mahant Karan Das has borne good
conduct and has behaved well with the public;
as inspite of instigations to mislead him, he
has maintained a proper attitude towards the
Panth; and. as his financial condition is weak
on account of his honesty in the past, the Com-
mittee grants him a sum of Es. 10,000 to
improve his position, Es. 5,000 being given at
once and the remaining Es. 5,000 to be given

189

within next three years. He is also given
a house in Ainritsar, so that if at any time he
ceases to be Manager of the Gurdwara, he
may find a house for himself.

(4). All immoveable property belonging
to the Gurdwara should be entered in the
name of the Gurdwara under the management
of the Shromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Com-
mittee.

(5) The Mahant shall be responsible for
the income and expenditure of the Gurdwara
and its property.

(6) The ritual and ceremony observed in
the Gurdwara shall be according to the rules
of Sikh religion.

(7) In case of misconduct or corruption,
the Mahant can be removed by the Shromani
Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, but his
dismissal shall have no effect on the pay-
ment of Es. 10,000 granted to him.

After this occurred the Tarn Taran
Tragedy, which will be described in a separate
chapter. Mahant Eaghbir Singh of Gurdwara
Earn Dass, in District Amritsar, where Baba
Budha was born, agreed in writing to hand
over control of the Gurdwara and its lands
to the Shromani Committee in return for a
subsistence allowance of Es. 300 a month.
But he changed his mind afterwards. The
\ Udasi Mahant of the Gurdwara of Guru ka
Bagh, in Amritsar District, also came to terms

190'

with the Shrom&ni Committee. The place is
sacred to the memory of Guru Arjan and Guru
Teg Bahadur. The Sikhs of the neighbourhood
had been complaining for a long time about the
character of the Mahant. On 31st January
a Jatha of Akalis under the leadership of
Sardar Dan Singh proceeded to the spot and
after some talk was able to bring round the
Mahant. An agreement was signed by the
Mahan t to the effect that he would put away
his mistresses and marry one of them, and
also that he would serve under a committee
of eleven. A great trouble rose later on
which will be described towards the end of
this book.

In the same month the Mahant of the
Gurdwara of Batala in Gurdaspur District,
famous as the place where Guru Nanak's
marriage had been celebrated, came to terms
with the reforming party and agreed to work
under the control of the Shromani Gurdwara
Parbandhak Committee.

Ker Sahib.

Nanak Saran, the Udhasi Mahant of this
place which is near Khara Sauda, was living
with a widow and there were general com-
plaints against his character. He kept no
free kitchen, although a dozen squares of land
were attached to the Gurdwara for the very
purpose. On about 8th February, 1921, a big

191

annual meeting was held at Khara Sauda to
coinmemorate the day of Guru Nanak's Good
Bargain. The sangat went from Khara Sauda
to pay their respects to Ker Sahib, but they
found that the Mahant had fled awTay. A
committee of management was formed, and
in the place of Nanak Saran, his Gurbhai
Dev Datt was appointed Mahant. After the
Nankana Sahib Tragedy, when the policy of
the Government changed and Sikh leaders
began to be arrested, this new Mahant began
to scheme against the reform party. Find-
ing him incurable the Sikhs ousted him too.

Machhike.

This Gurdwara was erected in honour of
Bhai Guria, one of the needy men wiiom
Guru Nanak had fed at Khara Sauda. Maha-
raja Baiijit Singh gave the whole village as
jagir to the temple. The evils of the Udasi
Mahant, named Gulab Dass, were crying for
reform. The whole sangat of the place, sup-
ported by his two nephews, one of whom was
his chela, petitioned the Jatha of Khara
Sauda against the enormities of the Mahant.
On 9th February, 1921, Bhai Kartar Singh of
Jhabbar went with the sangat of the neigh-
bourhood to Machhike, where in an open
diwan a nephew of the Mahant complained

192

i about the latter's character. It was clear
from the evidence of the villagers that the
Mahant was keeping a Mahommedan weaver
/woman, was in the habit of drinking wine
with the villagers, and was wasting the
income of the Gurdwara on useless litigation.
Next day when the Mahant came, he was told
by the sangat that if he removed his defects
and promised to live in future a better life
under a committee, he would be allowed to
remain. On his refusal his chela and nephew,
Dhian Dass, who agreed to these conditions,
was appointed Mahant.

GlJRDWARA ShEKHUPURA.

When Maharani Nakain, mother of
Maharaja Kharak Singh, came to reside in
Shekhupura fort, she made arrangements for
the people within the fort to live outside.
She built a mosque for Mahommedans, a
temple ' for Hindus and a Dharamsala for
Sikhs. To the Dharamsala she assigned a
jagir consisting of four villages, three of which,
on account of the keepers' negligence, have
been confiscated and only one remained.
Many complaints were made against the
character of the late Mahant. When at last
he married, he began to live on mere official
recognition and did not allow free access to
people in the Dharmsala, which was the only
place of worship for the Sikhs in the whole
village.

193

The Jatha of Khara Sauda came from
Machhike on 11th February and reminded the
Mahant of the promise he had made to accept
the rules laid down by the Shromani Gurdwara
Parbandhak Committee. He willingly signed
an agreement to work under a committee,
affiliated to the Shromani Committee, and
helped in making a list of property which he
signed. After the committee was appointed
the Jatha went away.

At the Nankana Sahib Massacre,
however, the Mahant expressed great jubila-
tion and, when the Sikh Leaders were
arrested and the Sikh cause seemed to be
humiliated, he went back to his old ways and
refused free access to the Sikh worshippers.
Bhai Kartar Singh Jhabar on his release
approached the Deputy Commissioner and
snowed him the papers connected with
the Gurdwara. The Deputy Commissioner
called the Mahant and asked him to abide
by his written promise. The Mahant him-
self nominated Sardar Kharak Singh and
Sardar Mehtab Singh of the Shromani Com-
mittee, as arbitrators, to decide upon his
maintenance. But when he was summoned
by these two Sardars he refused to accept any
agreement. The Sikhs kept the possession
of the Gurdwara, which they had got with the
aid of the Deputy Commissioner, and have
continued to manage the Gurdwara up to this

194

day. Free food and comfortable accommoda-
tion is provided to all visiters.

Khadub Sahib.

This is the place in Amritsar District,
where Guru Angad lived. Maharaja Eanjit
Singh granted the revenue of the village for
the maintenance of the Gurdwara. Seeing the
Eeforms coming, the custodians of the temple
put up a managing committee for themselves
in December, 1920. When the Sikhs were
reforming Chohla Sahib the priests of Khadur
Sahib came to them and offered to abide by
the rules of the Shromani Committee. A
sub-committee was appointed to make a
settlement with the priests, who came to
Sardar Harbans Singh of Atari and Baba
Khem Singh, Secretary of the Shromani
Committee, on 12th February, but refused to
sign an agreement to affiliate their Com-
mittee to the Shromani Committee. On the
same day a Jatha went to Khadur Sahib and
tried to effect an understanding. But the
priests were truculent and did not care even
to talk to the Jatha. Temporary possession
was taken next day. After this the tahsildar
began to harass the Sikhs and threatened
to impose a police chouki on the village.
But the Pujaries were brought round, especi-
ally by Baba Parduman Singh, Vakil of
Multan, to get their Committee affiliated to

195

the Shromani Committee, and bo on 17th
March, 1921, the charge of the Gurdwara was
given back to the old party. The relations
of the Local Committee with the Shromani
Committee are not what they should be, but
an early reconciliation is expected.

Onl5th February, 1921, MahantHari Singh
of Babek Sar in Amritsar willingly placed the
Gurdwara under the control of the Shromani
Committee and, when later on complaints
were made against him, he again agreed in
writing on 13th August, 1922, to abstain from
alienating any property of the Gurdwara.
Naueangabad.

It is a famous Gurdwara connected with
the name of Baba Bir Singh, a great Saint of
Sikh days. When Prince Dalip Singh became
Maharaja the two parties at the Court, trying
to put up their own candidates, became openly
factious in 1844, and Bhai Bir Singh would
not let the Princes Kashmira Singh and
Peshaura Singh, who had taken refuge
with him, be attacked. He tried to
stem the tide by calling upon both the
parties not to fight, as they were Sikhs.
Brothers ! Do not attack brothers", he said.
But nobody would listen to his words of peace.
S. Attar Singh and Prince Kashmira Singh
were slain and Bhai Bir Singh was also killed
by a cannon shot striking his thigh. ^

There were many complaints against the
Mahant of this place. One of them was that

196

he kept a mistress. In February 1921 he was
persuaded to put away the woman and work
according to the wishes of the Shromani
Committe. After the Nankana Tragedy,
when the new policy of the Government led
to the wholesale arrests of Sikhs, this
Mahant, like others, fell back to his old ways
and called back his mistress- A few Akalis
from Tarn Taran went to remonstrate with
the Mahant on April 30th, 1921, but the
Mahant had collected a large body of men
from the neighbourhood, and there was a
danger of serious developments. A body of
Police had also arrived on the scene. A few
members of the Shromani Committee, includ-
ing Baba Kehr Singh, who were at Tarn
Taran, hurried to the spot and called off the
Akalis, as they had gone there without any
authority.

CHAPTER XIII.

TARN TARAN TRAGEDY.

The city and the temple of Tarn Taran
were founded by Guru Arjan in 1590. Beside
being a place of worship and devotion, it was a
great refuge for lepers, who came in thousands
to get cured at the hands of the Guru. A big
jagir was attached to the Gurdwara, and there
was some land reserved for the maintenance
and support of the lepers. A large
sum had been granted by the Sikh Govern-
ment for raising four tall towers at the
corners of the sacred tank, but after one
tower was built the money was embezzled and
was never spent for the intended purpose.
The land assigned for the upkeep of lepers
also went out of the Sikh control and is at
present under the custody of a Christian
mission !

The Gurdwara was under the same manage-
ment as the Darbar Sahib of Amritsar, but the
control of the Sarbrah, exercised from
Amritsar, was lax and the priests were more
independent. They divided the whole income
among themselves, while most of them were
following other professions fn the city.
Nothing was spared for the daily musical
service and the lighting of the Parkarma.

198

The condition of the Gurdwara was as bad as
that of the Golden Temple at Amritsar, and
the morals of some of the priests were most
shocking. Sometimes the priests came drunk
to the temple. Some of them were seen
sitting before the Holy Book with quails in
their hands. They openly called the temple
their shop. Theft was most common among
them. No woman's honour was safe in the
temple.

The educated and reformed Sikhs were
interdicted here as at Amritsar. When
towards the end of 1920 Sardar Lachhman
Singh, who was afterwards martyred at
Nankana Sahib, came with the girls of his
school to pay his respects at Tarn Taran,
the priests prevented the girls from singing
hymns in the temple, and drove them out as
belonging to Singh Sabha. Other bodies in
favour of Reform were similarly treated. On
January 11th, 1921, the Sewak Jatha of Tarn
Taran was forbidden to perform kirtan in the
temple. Since the issue of Commissioner
King's letter* calling the priests' interests
in the religious endowments as their
established rights, the priests of Tarn Taran

* Even Sir Valentine* Chirol declared about this
letter 'that in the circumstances it would have been
wise to add sn admonition to the effect that legal
rights also involved duties and responsibilities which
must be prcperly discharged."

199

had assumed a very truculent attitude
towards the Panth and had felt encouraged
to resist all attempts at reform. Rumours
were afloat that, seeing the fate of other
Gurdwaras, the priests of Tarn Taran had
approached Mr. King, the Commissioner of
Lahore, who " inspite of his long experience
of this district and probable knowledge of the
doings of these pujaris, instead of telling them
to realise the true significance of this move-
ment of reform, is said to have told them
that if need be they might apply to the
Almighty Sarkar for support. Sardar Mohan
Singh, a highly respectable leader of the town,
wrote to Mr. King on 3rd January and asked
him to publicly contradict these rumours,
which were detrimental to public tranquility.
No reply was ever vouchsafed to Sardar
Mohan Singh, not even an acknowledgment."*
On 24th January before a general meet-
ing of the Sikhs at Akal Takht a woman
stood up to relate the sufferings her family
had undergone at the hands of the priests of
Tarn Taran. Her son had been thrown, she
said, into the sacred tank with stones tied
round his neck. Her daughter had been
harassed in the temple. She also described
how a Hindu girl had been kissed within the

* Report of the Tarn Taran tragedy by Dr.
Kichlew, Lala Bhola Nath and Lala Girdhari Lai of
Amritsar.

f200

Holy of Holies. Her speech created a great
sensation in the audience, and Akalis, then
and there addressed a prayer to God, asking
for guidance as how to reform the temple.

About 40 of them under the leadership
of Bhai Teja Singh of Bhuchar proceeded to
Tarn Taran by the morning train and reached
the temple there at about 8 a.m., when the
morning service was going on. For two
hours they listened to the sacred music, and
then the leader of the Jatha, seeing some
excitement among the priests, tried to allay
their fears by telling them that the Jafcha had
come not to disturb their possession but to
induce them amicably to remove the public
grievances. The youthful among the priests,
whose number was about 70 at the time,
tried to provoke a fight by abusing and
attacking the Akalis. But the latter kept
quiet. The older priests spoke calmly, wel-
coming the object of the Akalis ' visit, and
promised to do their best to bring about a
peaceful settlement. It was mutually agreed
to meet in a small conference at 4 p.m.
The pujaris named as their representatives:
Bhais Nihal Singh, Gurbakhsh Singh, Gufdit
Singh, Sewa Singh, Sundar Singh and Teja
Singh. The Akali Jatha nominated Bhai
Teja Singh Jathadar, Sardar Balwant Singh
of Kulla, Sardar Dan Singh, Bhai Kartar
Singh Jhabar and Hakim Bahadur Sing h.

201

The following leading citizens of Tarn
Taran and its neighbourhood were also asked
to participate in the conference : — Bhais
Mohan Singh Vaid, Sant Singh, M eh tab Singh
Headmaster, Sundar Singh, Bishan Singh
Lambardar, Gian Singh and. Dharin Singh,
Eeis of Usina.

The Sikh residents brought articles of
food for the Jatha people, who dispersed to
different bungahs and other places in the
vicinity to cook their food and take rest. The
pujaris in the meanwhile sent their men to
the neighbouring villages to bring up their
supporters, and began themselves to make
secret arrangements for attacking the Akalis.
It appears from the evidence of Pujari Surjan
Singh and a manufacturer of fireworks that
even at 9 a. m. certain pujaris had ordered
some explosive balls to be bought for them.
But when their leaders appeared before the
Jatha people, they were all sweetness and
humility, as if butter would not melt in their
mouths.

The representatives of both parties met
in Bungah Dhotian at 4 p.m., and the
following five conditions were laid before the
priests for acceptance : —

(1) That the management of the
Gurdwara Tarn Taran be carried on according
to the rules laid down by the Shromani
Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee ;

202

(2) that a small local committee affiliat-
ed to the Shromani Committee be formed to
supervise the management ;

(3) that all the existing defects be
removed and in future no chance of any
complaint be given to the Panth ;

(5) that all those among the priests who
have broken the religious law to accept any
punishment imposed by the sangat ; and

(4) that only those be appointed
Granthis who conform strictly to the rules of
baptism.

By 5-30 p. M-, the representatives of the
priests agreed to these demands, but they
wanted time to consult their friends. They
went into the temple where the rest of them
were gathering in large numbers, and the
Jatha people came to join the diwan which
was being held in front of the temple.
While Bhai Kartar Singh was exhorting the
people to give time to the priests, Sardar
Dan Singh pointed out to the audience that
certain rough men were collecting in Gurdit
Singh Pujari's building adjoining the Jhanda
Bungah on the left of the main entrance,
and two women were going up and down
repeatedly with a lamp and seemed to be
storing something in the upper storey. The
gas lamp in front of the temple also began to
grow dim for want of oil. The Jathadar
gave instructions to all the Sikhs present to

203

remain firm and not to retaliate under any
circumstances.

At about 8-30 r. U. two pujaris cam
from inside to the meeting and announced
that all had agreed to accept the terms of
reform, and asked the Sikh leaders to bring
-a fair copy of the document to be signed by
the pujaris who were sitting in the temple.
Sardar Dan Singh said that the appearances
were suspicious and that they should come
out. But the representatives laughed at the
suspicion as groundless, and said that as all
the priests were collected inside their signa-
tures could be taken at once. Bhai Mohan
Singh Vaid was sent out to copy out the
terms of agreement ; and he informed of it
the Tehsildar, the Circle Inspector -and other
Government officials who were present out-
side the main gate of the temple.

In the meanwhile the representatives
of the pujaris had agreed that the priest who
performed the work of Granthi was by charac-
ter unfit for the post, and that, until a better
man was appointed in his place, Bhai Saran
Singh of the Jatha should be allowed to
officiate. Some members of the Jatha,
including Sardar Balwant Singh of Kulla,
accompanied Bhai Saran Singh into the
temple, which was full of pujaris and their
hired men. A moment later, as Bhai
Bahadur Singh Hakim was addressing the

204

diwan outside, an explosive ball burst near
him. Then four or five more balls fell and
burst in different places among the audience,
wounding several with the small pieces of
iron and nails. These balls and bricks fell
from the roofs of Gurdit Singh Pujari's house
and other bungahs close to it. They were a
signal for the beginning of an attack on the
Akalis who had gone inside.

Sardar Balwant Singh was bowing his
head before the Holy Book, when a blow fell
upon him and his arm was almost severed
from his shoulder. Bbai Hazara Singh of
Aldinpur, who bowed next, received a mortal
wound in the belly and fell prostrate on the
ground. As he was receiving blow after blow
he was heard to say : " Brothers, you may
kill me ; I will not attack a brother"*
Hukam Singh got four chhavi blows on his
head. Others who got badly hurt were
Bhais Gurbakhsh Singh, Labh Singh, Bela
Singh and Ishar Singh. The whole attack
lasted only for a few minutes, and in all
about 17 Jatha men were wounded. The
pujaris had thrown down the door screens
and had blown out the lamp. In the confu-
sion caused by the explosions outside nothing

* The words used by Bhai Bir Singh, a great
Sikh martyr of Naurangabad, who was killed in
1844, while giving shelter to the Princes Kashmira
Singh and Pashaura Singh.

205

was known to the people in the diwan ahout
the tragedy, until the wounded Sikhs stag-
gered out and hastily told the tale of woe.
The Jathadar ordered all the outlets to be
guarded at once. When the horrified Sikhs
entered the temple, they found the sacred
place full of blood and two of their men lying
on the ground. The priests were drunk
and looked wild. Many of them had already
fled, some swimming away across the tank.
The remaining were secured and bound down
with their own scarfs or turbans. After a
few minutes it was considered wiser to let
them off and they went away on their own
legs without showing any signs of injury.
The wounded were carried by school boys and
others to the hospital, where they were attend-
ed by Dr. Sundar Singh and Dr.Harnam Singh.
The Tehsildar and the Police Inspector
came at about 10 P. M., and went in to see
what had happened. The Naib-Tehsildar
and a Sub-Inspector went to the houses of
the pujaris to see if any belonging to their
party had been wounded. But nobody com-
plained of any injuries received. At about
12 in the night a priest in a drunken state
was brought on a charpai to the officers. He
said that he had on him many serious wounds
made by an axe ; but the officers laughed at

* An empty bottle of wine was found 1} ing on
the floor.

206

him and told him, like the famous prophet,
to take up his stick and walk off. And he
did so. It was next day that on the advice
of the police the priests brought 13 men on
charpais as wounded to the hospital. Most
of them had blue marks, which could have
been got by tying wet cloth round the spots.

Next day the Sikhs washed and cleaned
the blood-stained temple, and held the usual
morning service. How many tears must
have mixed with the water used to remove
the blood ! It was the first blood shed in
the cause of Gurdwara Eeform, and fitly in
the temple of Guru Arjan who was the first
martyr in the Sikh history.

The District Magistrate and the Super-
intendent of Police came from Amritsar and
interviewed the leaders of both parties. They
expressed sympathy with the A kalis for their
suffering and asked them to sue the pujaris
in court for attacking and wounding them.
But the Akali leaders replied, " We have yet
to reform many Gurdwaras and might suffer
the same fate everywhere. Instead of
taking cases from us, give us our temples. "
The District Magistrate next asked if there
was any danger of further attack to them in
the temple. The Akalis, who had been
attacked again at night with brickbats, said
that there was danger. The pujaris were
told that if they came to harm it would be

207

for their own foolish high-handedness. They
were pnt on security not to enter the pre-
cincts of the temple, " until the matter wag
finally decided by the Parbandhak Gurdwara
Committee."* Those of them living in
houses bordering on the Parkarma were also
bound down to prevent the throwing of
stones, etc.

On the same day the pujaris came of their
own accord to Dr. Kitchlew and Lala Girdhar j
Lai (who had come to make enquiries), and
publicly confessed their serious crime. Later
on they handed over a written apology and
placed themselves at the mercy of the Panth.
The Sikhs forgave them and, at their request,
promised not to sue them in court. The
pujaris, too, admitted that they were so
much in the wrong that their going to court
was unthinkable.

Bhai Hazara Singh, who had been
wounded overnight, died in the afternoon, and
his funeral, which took place on the 28th,
was attended by thousands from far and near.
Almost all the villagers of Aldinpur came
with the martyr's mother, who felt proud of
her son and blessed him. The people, too,
who formed a long procession, showed a
remarkably calm and orderly spirit. They
walked in regular rows, which the Govern-

* Government communique, dated 9th February
1921-

208

inent calls • military formation/ and chanted
hymns of praise and thanksgiving. There
was not a curse, not even a bitter word
uttered at the insensate cruelty of the
priests. In a truly prayerful mood the loss
was taken as a pure sacrifice. Bhai Hazara
Singh in freeing the Tarn Taran temple
proved worthy of his ancestor Baghel Singh,
who had used all his power in freeing the
sacred places of Delhi. Another Akali, named
Bhai Hukam Singh, succumbed to his injuries
on 4th February.

A provisional managing committee, con-
sisting of the following prominent Sikhs, was
formed to control and manage the Gurdwara,
until the Shromani Committee made another
arrangement : —

1. S. Balwant Singh Subedar of Kulla,
President.

2. S. Dharm Singh, Reis of Usma,
Vice-President.

3. S. Mohan Singh, Vaid, Municipal
CommissioDer, of Tarn Taran.

4. S. Mehtab Singh, Headmaster,
Khalsa High School, Tarn Taran.

5. S. Bishan Singh, Lambardar.

6. S. Sundar Singh, Manager of a factory.

7. S. Sant Singh, Secretary, Singh
Sabha, Tarn Taran.

8. S. Amar Singh, Reis of Jhabal.

9. S. Teja Singh, Jathadar, Akali Dal

209

10. S. Kishen Singh of Bhuchar.

11. S. Hazara Singh of Jamarai.

12. S. Harnam Singh of Nowshera.

13. S. Teja Singh of Pandori.

14. Baba Kehar Singh of Patti.

15. S. Teja Singh Burjanwala.

A free kitchen was opened to provide
food to all visitors belonging to any caste
or creed.

The District Magistrate ordered a
case to be started and the police took up
the investigation. Ultimately there came
up three cases in the Court of Mr. F. A.
Connor, Additional District Magistrate of
Amritsar : The first was under Sections 148,
149 and 304, Indian Penal Code,* in which
the pujaris were held accused, and the
second under Section 148, 1. P. C, against
the Akalis, in which the pujaris were said
to have been attacked and wounded. There
was a third case due to an application by
the pujaris under Section 145, Cr. P. C, for
having been deprived of possession of their

* It was evidently a murder ease, but the usual
official theory prevailed. The District Magistrate
is alleged to have admitted to a Sikh editor 'that
no doubt it wss a dear case of 302, I. P. C., but as
tbe Akalis refused to co-operate with tbe autborities
ard give their statements furnishing proper evidence
or a case under Section 302, I. P. C , tbe case was
challaned under Sections 148, 149 and 304, I. P. C
Khalsa Advocate, 14th October, 1921.

210

temple and apprehending a likelihood of a
breach of the peace. The pujaris in this
case stated that their ancestors had founded
the Gurdwara of Tarn Taran to commemo-
rate Guru Arjan and that the offerings
belonged to them as of hereditary right.
The Akalis on the other hand emphasised
that the Gurdwara was the property of the
Sikh community, and that the pujaris had
themselves handed over a written apology
to the Shromani Gurdwara Parbandhak
Committee, in which they had agreed to
submit to the authority of the Committee.
The judge fearing no breach of the peace
rejected the petition of the pujaris on July 9,
1921.

The other cases in the meanwhile had
dragged on for many months, until on 4th
July, 1921, about a dozen leading Sikh
citizens of Tarn Taran and other places were
also added to the list of Akalis who were
being prosecuted. That was the time when
indiscriminate arrests of Sikhs in connection
with Gurdwaras aud Kirparrs were going on"
in several other places and the Akali move-
ment was supposed to be on the wane. The
only part that these leaders of Tarn Taran
newly prosecuted had taken in the temple
affair was that on the day of the occurrence
they had been trying their utmost to main-
tain peace. It was mere harassment,

211

calculated to terrify respectable men away
from the popular movement. Among the
Akalis, too, only those men were included
who had been wounded in the temple and
had the misfortune to go to the hospital.
Others who had been hurt by the stones and
brickbats, thrown from the bungahs, were not
touched.

After a lull of several mouths, in
October, 1921, charges were framed against
16 pujaris and 17 Akalis, and on 9th January,
1922, 15 pujaris were sentenced each to
3 years' rigorous imprisonment and one of
them was fined Es. 50. Out of the
Akalis ten, including Bhai Mohan Singh
Yaid and Bhai Mehtab Singh Head Master,
were acquitted, while the rest were sentenced
each to one year's rigorous imprisonment
with a fine of Es. 50. The Sessions Judge
on 20th February reduced the sentences of
the pujaris to nine months each, and of the
Akalis to six months each with a fine of
Es. 50. The High Court rejected the appeals
of both parties. Sardar Balwant Singh
Kulla's sentence was remitted by the
Governor.

CHAPTER XIV.

NANKANA SAHIB TRAGEDY.

Nankana Sahib, originally called Tal-
wandi, is the birth place of Guru Nanak,
the Apostle of Peace and Goodwill. Beside
Janara Asthan, the house of Baba Kalu
where Guru Nanak was born, there are
several other places in the town associated
with the different events of Guru Nanak's
boyhood. There is one place, called Bal Lila,
where Guru Nanak used to play with children.
There is another place, called Kiara Sahib,
where the Guru had made up the loss of a
farmer who complained that the Guru's
buffaloes had broken into his field and spoilt
the green crop. The third place is called
Mai Sahib, where a snake is said to have
innocently spread its hood to shade the
lamb-like Guru. The fourth place is connected
with the Good Bargain made by Guru Nanak
and is called Tamboo Sahib. When the Guru
returned after feeding poor men with
the money he had been given for making
some profitable business, he was afraid of hi&
father and took shelter within a tree, which
even now covers the ground like a tent.
There is also a place sacred to Guru Har

213

Gobind, who had come and tied his horse to
a tree which is still preserved. There is a
place called Patti Sahib or Attari, where Guru
Nanak is said to have conned his lessons
over a patti or a wooden tablet.

The most important place, however, is
Janam Asthan. Even towards the end of
Guru Nanak's life the house had been given
up by his family. The Guru had two sons.
One of them, named Sri Ghand, against the
injunctions of his father, turned an ascetic.
He went away from home and lived in
Barath, district Gurdaspur, and in Chamba.
The second son, Lakhmi Das, was a house-
holder, but he lived at Kartarpur in the
Gurdaspur district, and after him his son,
Dharam Chand, founded Dera Baba Nanak,
where he and his descendants lived.

Sri Ghand lived for a long time quite
estranged from the successors of Guru Nanak,
but he founded no sect and made no disciple.
After some time he forgot his imaginary
grievances and was gradually drawn more
and more closely towards the Gurus, until
he came round to their views completely,
and before dying in 1629 he bestowed his
mitre and necklace on Baba Gurditta, the
eldest son of Guru Hargobind. The words
of Sri Ghand addressed to Guru Hargobind at
the time of this adoption were: "The Guruship
was already with you, I had only the fakir's

214

mitre, and now that, too, is given over to
your family." Baba Gurditta was a married
man, but he was a hermit too. He wore the
same kind of dress as was worn by Guru
Nanak during his udasis or preaching Sours*
In 1636 he was asked by his father to appoint
four masands or preachers, whom he invested
with the same peculiar dress. Their names
were : Almast, Phul, Gonda and Bal
Hasna, the last being named Hasna as he
had laughed out when he was given the queer
dress to wear. They founded what are called
Dhuans or hearths, and were very zealous
preachers of Sikhism. As the masands or
missionaries appointed by the earlier Gurus
grew more and more corrupt, this new order
of preachers grew more prominent and was
especially useful in spreading Sikhism in far
and difficult places. Beside the four Dhuans,
there grew up in the course of time many
other similar centres of missionary work,
called Bakhshishes. Dharam Chand, the
grandson of Guru Nanak, converted Bhagat
Gir, a Bairagi monk, into a Sikh and,
renaming him Bhagat Bhagwan, appointed
him to preach Sikhism in the east, where
he established 360 gaddis, most of which are
still intact. Another Bakhshish, called
Sangat Sahib, is after the name of Bhai
Pheru, who was a devoted Sikh of Guru Har
Rai. The Guru, after training him as a

215

preacher, made bim masand. When Guru
Gobind Singh was punishing the masands
who had grown corrupt, Bhai Pheru was also
summoned. He came in extreme humility,
holding his beard in his hands, and the Guru,
being charmed with his demotion, was pleased
to bestow upon him one-half of his own
turban and the title of Sangat Sahib or the
Guru's companion. He was also called the
Truebeard. He was given the charge of
preaching in the Nakka district between the
rivers Eavi and Beas. There was a third
Bakhshish, called Eamdaske, granted by
Guru Tegh Bahadur to Baba Gurditta, a
great-grandson of Baba Budha. The succes-
sors of this preacher are found at Ramdas,
Muradabad, Nainakot, Teje, etc. The fourth
Bakhshish was named after Bakht Mai, a
masand in the time of Guru Gobind Singh.
Seeing that other masands were being
punished for their sins, he put on female
clothes with bangles and a nose-ring, and
took refuge with the ladies of the Guru's
house. He was spared on their recommend-
ation. His successors still wear female
bangles in memory of the event, and are
found at Chak in the district of Jullundur.
The fifth Bakhshish was of Mihan Sahib,
who was so named for supplying water in
rainlike abundance to the congregations of
the ninth Guru. Guru Tegh Bahadur

216

appointed him to the Bakhshish at Dhamtan
in Patiala. Aitei some time Mihan Sahib
appeared before Guru Gobind Singh with a
kettledrum and was rewarded for his devotion
with a flag and one-half of the Guru's turban.
There were two other Bakhshishes, one
named after Ajit Mai who was a masand of
Guru Gobind Singh at Fatehpur in the South,
and the other after Dakhni Eai, a Sodhi of
Gharacho in Patiala.

These preachers were called Udasis, a
name which had already been used for Guru
Nanak's preaching tours. They were no
sect, but a class of missionaries, like the
masands, sent out by the Gurus for the spread
of Sikhism. . They believed in the same
Holy Granth as other Sikhs and offered the
same prayer in which the same Gurus from
Guru Nanak onwards were invoked. They
remained in constant communion with the
Gurus and even fought for Guru Gobind
Singh loyally like other Sikhs. When in 1699
the last Guru instituted the initiation by
baptism, most of these people took the new
ceremony and joined the Khalsa. But some
of them remained without it, being engaged in
distant places, where it was hard to get five
Piaras for initiation. In the hard struggle
that followed the death of' Guru Gobind
Singh and Baba Banda, when to be a Khalsa
was considered a crime, their separatism was

217

a protection against danger, and so they
were confirmed in their distinction.* They,
however, worked very zealously for Sikhism
and like other Sahjdharis did not call them-
selves a sect, but only Sikhs who culd not
afford to put on the baptismal forms. In
all other respects they believed and practised
the same things as other Sikhs. Else how
could they have found support and encourage-
ment from the Khalsa ? One sect does not
support the preaching of another sect.

Janam Asthan remained deserted for
several generations, during which time it was
occasionally visited by some one from the
town, who would come to light a lamp to
ward off distress or beg for some gift. It
was Guru Har Gobind, who marked out the
sites of Janam Asthan, Bal Lila, Malji Sahib
and Kiara Sahib for preservation, and en-
joined upon the Sikhs in the city to take care

* Some of them, like Pritam Das and Santokh
Das, wbo went in 1753 to the east, found that their
simple dress did not bring so much respect and in-
fluence fis the complicated garb and symbols of the
Bairagis. So about 1765 they were led to adopt the
iratted hnir and waist chain, etc. of the Vankhandias.
After some time they also began to carry an ash-
ball before their processions. They are now
represented by some Udasis in Nepal and those living
In the Sangalwala Akhara at Amritsar. In 1783
they dug the Hansli to supply water from the Ravi
to the sacred tanks of Amritsar.

218

of the places. Long after this a visit was
paid to the city by Diwan Kaura Mai, a
staunch friend of the Sikhs in their days of
persecution. He came from Multan and
stopped at Bal Lila. Finding the place
neglected he raised a temple over it and
built two sides of the tank. He also left
thirteen of his Sikh horsemen to take care of
the sacred places. The present Pattidars of
Bal Lila and Kiara Sahib are descended from
those thirteen Sikh sowars.

After Diwan Kaura Mai Maharaja Kanjit
Singh paid a visit to Nankana Sahib. He
had with him Baba Sahib Singh Bedi, a great
descendant of Guru Nanak, who drew the
attention of the Maharaja to the neglected
state of the Gurdwara. The Maharaja told
the Baba Sahib to go next morning on
horseback into the adjoining lands, and
promised to give over to the Gurdwaras the
whole land that he was able to go round with
his horse before the time of dinner. Baba
Sahib Singh eagerly ran his horse to the
north and to the east, and a great deal of
land was taken in, but when he turned towards
the south, he thought that the time of meals
had arrived, and that he should return, lest
the Maharaja should think that he was too
greedy. He came back and found that he had
come an hour earlier. The Maharaja gave the
whole land as jagir to the Gurdwaras and

219

ordered that a beautiful temple be raised
over the Janam Asthan. A big kitchen was
also built for free distribution of food to the
visitors of all castes and creeds. The well
which is situated in the compound was also
planned at that time. The Maharaja ap-
pointed certain Udasi Sikhs to look after the
place and conduct religious service in the
temple.

As long as the income of the Gurdwara
was small the Mahants consulted the wishes
of the Sikhs, who paid a yearly visit to
Nankana Sahib. But when with the open-
ing of the canal the value of the land
increased enormously, the Mahants grew
corrupt and began to look more to the friend-
ship of revenue and other officers than to the
restraining influence of the public. What can
we expect from a professed ascetic, who has
to administer and enjoy an income of two or
three lakhs a year without feeling any check
or control from public ?

In the time of Mahant Sadhu Earn the
affairs of the temple fell into disrepute. The
Sikhs, as we have seen, tried to exercise some
check, but the influence of the local officials
was too much for them. The Mahant was a
notorious drunkard and adulterer. He had
contracted a dirty venereal disease, which
did not allow him even to walk steadily.
Kishan Das, who succeeded him, was no better.

220

He produced a great scandal by living with the
rich widow of a well-known Sardar and having
a son by her. He invited dancing girls on
his nephew's marriage, and a nautch party
was held even in the Janam Asthan.
The marriage party, including the Mahant,
for drinking were given a shoe-beating
by the people of the bride's village. This
Mahant was carried away by the same
venereal disease which had killed his pre-
decessor. When Kishan Das was dying at
Lahore, Narain Das, who was one of his
disciples, took the temple keys out of his
pocket and, coming hurriedly to Nankana
Sahib, took possession of the treasure. The
money paved his way to Mahantship.

At the time of his appointment, however,
he declared to the convened sangat, in the
presence of a Magistrate, that the conduct
of his predecessor had gone with him in his
pyre and that he, the new Mahant, would
never tread in his footsteps. He also declar-
ed in writing that, if any fault were proved
against him, he would abdicate at the bidding
of the sangat.

He, however, falsified all his promises
and be*gan to live as loosely as any of his
predecessars had done before. He kept a
low-class Mohammedan drummer's woman,
who had already lived with some priests and
other men. He had by her two boys and two

221

girls, for whom he built two houses, one at
Nankana Sahib and another in Ram Gali at
Lahore. In August, 1917, the whole Sikh
community was scandalized to learn that
dancing girls were invited to Nankana Sahib,
and their dancing and singing was permitted
even in the Janam Asthan. There was great
agitation in the press, and resolutions were
passed in Singh Sabhas, expressing indigna-
tion at the sacrilege and asking Government
to take some steps to prevent such actions on
the part of the keepers of Janam Asthan.
The people felt so helpless that in some
quarters it was suggested that, while asking
for reforms from Government, the Sikhs
should also demand the control and manage-
ment of their much-corrupted Church. In
1918 a retired E. A. C. of Sindh came to
visit the Gurdwaras in the Punjab. First he
came to Nankana Sahib, and was accom-
modated at the Janam ■ Asthan. In the
evening, when the Rahras service was going
on, his daughter of 13 years was raped by a
priest, but the Mahant refused to take any
action. In 1918 six women of the Jaranwala
ilaqa came to make an offering on the Full-
moon day at the Janam Asthan and put up
at the temple. All of these women were
raped at night. These are only a few out of
many instances of sin and sacrilege which
were going on in the place, where Guru

222

Nanak was born to eradicate sin from the
world.

About the beginning of October, 1920, a
great diwan was held at Dharowal and the
deplorable condition of the Nankana Sahib
temple was discussed. A resolution was
passed, calling upon the Mahant to reform
his ways and the administration of the
temple. But the Mahant, instead of doing
anything to remove the grievances of the
public, began to make preparations for
violence. He collected about 400 desperate
men daily from the Kots to guard the Gur-
dwara, and engaged several notorious
cut-throats like Ranjha, Rehana, etc. In
consultation with Baba Kartar Singh and
other friends he decided to hold a meeting
of Sadhus and Mahants at Nankana Sahib.
In the meeting which was attended by aboufc
60 men, including Baba Kartar Singh, it
was decided that -the Mahants should not
recognise the Sikh Committee, but should
have one of their own. A committee was
actually constituted with Mahant Narain Das
as President, and Mahant Basant Das of
Manak as Secretary. About Rs. 60,000 were
collected for expenses, and a paper called Sant
Sewak was started at Lahore for propaganda
work.

Four or five days before Ghiru Nanak's
birthday fair in November the Mahant

223

collected about 400 ■ good fighters ' and
armed them with chhavis and tahwas to
give a suitable reception to any Sikhs
who might dare to come on the day of their
Guru. He had also ordered that no Sikh
with a Kirpan should be allowed to enter.
Bhai Lachman Singh, a tall and handsome
Sardar of Dharowal, came with a few people
of his village to pay his respects at the
-temple. As soon as he entered the precincts
a body of desperadoes sprang out of a side-
room and were ready to attack the Bhai
Sahib, but the day of martyrdom was not
yet, and the intervention of the Deputy
Commissioner and the C. I. D. Superintend-
ent ' averted what might have been even
a worse tragedy than what actually happened
on the 20th February'.* Most of the
hired men were sent away after the fair,
but some of them, like Eanjha, Shamu,
Kahna, etc., who were servants, remained
with the Mahant.

After that the Mahant approached
H. H. the Maharaja of Patiala who was at
Lahore, but he was told that the best thing
for him was to form a representative com-
mittee of genuine Sikhs to control the
Gurdwara. He also sought help from
Government, but the Commissioner told

* Mr. King's statement in the Legislative
Council on 15th March, 1921.

224

him that the matter being religious, the
Government did not want to interfere. He
was, however, shown the letter which Mr.
King had issued some time before and in
which he had told the Mahants that, if they
apprehended attacks on their shrines, they
could apply for police protection for which
they would have to pay. He wanted a force
of police which should be armed with rifles
and authorised to fire, but the Government
refused. Seeing that no help was forth-
coming to support him in his defiance of
the Panth, he fell back upon the main force,
which could be easily bought for money.
The C. I. D. report cited in the Nankana
Sahib case admits that the Mahant collected
number of ' supporters/ and the Commis-
sioner in his explanatory speech in the
Punjab Council on 15th March, 1921, referred
to certain rumours to the effect that ever
since October, 1920, the Mahant had been
secretly collecting weapons. He was so
impressed with the gravity of the
situation on his visit to Nankana Sahib
towards the end of January that he ' at once
wrote to the police authorities asking that
a police station should be established at
Nankana as soon as possible. ' But the
police being too busy with the preparations
for the Duke of Connaught, the establish-
ment of a choukie at Nankana Sahib could

225

not be carried out.*

The Sikhs knew of the Mahant's pre-
parations and referred to them in their
meetings and the press,t but they did not
want to fight. They adopted the only
possible non-violent method of effecting
their purpose. On 24th January, 1921, they
passed a resolution in the Shromani
Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee that the
whole Panth should gather in a diwan at
Nankana Sahib on March 4, 5 and 6, and
call upon the Mahant to reform himself.
A printed notice was also circulated asking
the Punjab Government, the Sikh Princes,
the Sikh public and all others interested in
the matter to exert their influence to secure
the Panthic control of the Gurdwara. On
February 6, a committee of Bhais Lachhman
Singh of Dharowal, Dalip Singh of Sangla,
Teja Singh of Samundri, Kartar Singh of
Jhabar and Bakhshish Singh, was appointed
to make feeding arrangements for the lakhs
of people who were going to gather at
Nankana Sahib.

Now the Mahant saw that he would
have to do something. He began to make
military preparations, but at the same time
he tried to negotiate with the Sikhs. He

* See the statement of Mr. King in his libel
case against the Akali,

t See the Akali of Lahore, October 8, 192G.

226

met Bhai Kartar Singh of Jhabar at Lahore
and proposed that he would agree to a
committee, if (*) he were not ousted, {%%) if
he were made a member of the committee
^and (iii) if instead of pay he were given a
share in the income of the Grurdwara. He
was assured that if he promised to reform
himself, his first and third conditions would
be accepted, and about the second he was
told that the matter lay with the Shromani
Committee, which would be consulted. Bhai
Kartar Singh related the result of his
negotiations to the Shromani Committee.
A sub-committee was appointed to talk to
the Mahant, and he was called to an inter-
view at the Khara Sauda diwan.

The Mahant, instead of meeting the
Sikhs, engaged 28 Pathans on Es. 20 a
month each, with rations, and armed them
with lathis. His nephews also brought a
large number of stout men from Manjha.
Several desperadoes from Bhai Pheru also
came to help fche Mahant. The old wooden
gate of fche temple was replaced by a strong
one made of iron with holes to fire through.
The walls of the rooms surrounding the
shrine were also pierced to admit of shoot-
ing through them. When the whole thing
was ready, the Mahant's paper, Sant Sewah,
-openly threatened that if the Sikhs came to
Nankana Sahib they would be well-peppered.

227

, About February 7, the Mahant summoned a
meeting, in the Janam Asthan, of his
supporters, including the Bhatti Mussalmang
who live in the neighbourhood of Nankana
Sahib, and took solemn oaths from them to
, aid him in fighting the Akalis. Hari Nat]?,
one of the murderers who made a very import-
ant confession, said that a Bawa Bedi and
Mangal Singh Kuka also spoke on this
occasion.

Sundar Das, Hari Das and others came
to Khara Sauda on behalf of the Mahant and
informed the Sikhs gathered there that the
Mahant would not come to Khara Sauda
that day, but that he would present himself
at Sheikhupura on February 15. "When
Bhai Kartar Singh Jhabar reached Sheikhu-
pura on the night of February 14, he found
that Mahant Narain Das had not come, but
Mahant Jiwan Das was there to inform him
. thet the Mahant would like to meet him
and Sardar Buta Singh at Lahore. These two
gentlemen went to Lahore by the morning
train, and 10 A. m. was fixed as the time of
, meeting at the house of Sardar Amar Singh,
editor of the Loyal Gazette. The Mahant did
not come. A reliable Sikh, who had been
appointed to watch the movements of the
Mahant, came to inform that on the evening
of the 14th a meeting had been held, where
it was resolved that, when on ; March 5 the

228

whole Panth would collect at Nankana Sahib,
the Sikh leaders would be invited for settle-
ment into the Janam Asthan, where all of
them would be murdered by the hired
ruffians.

These news staggered Bhai Kartar Singh.
He came to Khara Sauda and informed his
Jatha, who hastily resolved to prevent the
Mahant from executing his horrible purpose
on the leaders by going to Nankana Sahib
before the date fixed. Bhai Lachhman Singh
of Dharowal and Bhai Buta Singh of Lyailpur
were sent for. They came on the 17th. It
was arranged that Bhai Buta Singh should
go to Nankana Sahib on the morning of the
19th, and on the same night Bhai Lachhman
Singh with his jatha should reach Chandarkot,
a few miles from Nankana Sahib, where he
would be joined by Bhai Kartar Singh with
his jatha.

Bhai Buta Singh went to Lyailpur and
consulting a few friends went to Nankana
Sahib as bidden. When Sardar Harchand
Singh, Sardar Teja Singh of Samundri and
Master Tara Singh, B.A., came to know of it,
they disapproved of the idea and at once pro-
ceeded to Lahore, where they reached on the
morning of the 19th. In a meeting conven-
ed at the Ahali Office, where they were
joined by Sardar Sardul Singh Caveessieur,
Master Sundar Singh, Sardar Jaswant Singh

229

of Jhabbal and Bhai Dalip Singh of Sangla,
it was decided that no Jatha should go to
Nankana Sahib before the fixed date. Bhai
Dalip Singh and Sardar Jaswant Singh were
sent to dissuade Bhai Kartar Singh from going
to Nankana Sahib. They reached Khara
Sauda on the same day at 1 p. M. and
by 8 p. M. were able to persuade Bhai Kartar
Singh to abide by the decision of the sangat.
Then Bhai Dalip Singh undertook to go and
prevent Bhai Lachhman Singh from enter-
ing Nankana Sahib. With three horsemen
from the Jatha of Bhai Kartar Singh he went
to Chandarkot, but not finding Bhai
Lachhman Singh there, he returned to the
factory of Sardar Uttam Singh, which is
about half a mile from the Janam As than.
After meeting at the A'kalis Office Master
Tara Singh and S. Teja Singh of Samundri
came to attend a meeting of the Shromani
Committee on the same day. It was in-
formally decided that Master Tara Singh
and others should go as soon as possible and
prevent people from going to Nankana
Sahib.

Bhai Lachhman Singh in the meanwhile
had started late in the evening of the 19th
with six men from his village. He had also
got two women with him. One was his own
wife and the other a school mistress. An-
other woman is said to have joined them

230

on the way. About 19 men came from
Devasinghwala, 11 from Dhannuwal, 7 or 8
from Chelawala, 6 from Thothian, 5 from
Mulasinghwala, and others from different
villages in the canal region, until a jatha of
about 150 was made up. A little before
6a. m. they came to the kilns situated
to the north of Janam Asthan and were
met by a messenger of Bhai Dalip Singh.
He gave a letter written by Dalip Singh
to Bhai Lachhman Singh, asking the latter
to go away and not to set his foot in
Nankana Sahib. Bhai Lachhman Singh,
who greatly revered Bhai Dalip Singhr
obeyed the orders and turned back. But he
was persuaded by Bhai Tahl Singh, one of
the jatha, to go at least for darshan. He
was told that it was the day of Guru Har
Eai, who had kept armies and wore arms,
but inspite of provocations had never used
them. The Mahant at the worst would kill
them. But it did not matter at all, when
they were resolved not to provoke or
retaliate. They decided to pay their respects
at the temple and then come away peacefully.
The women went to the Gurdwara of Tamboo
Sahib, whence they returned home later, and
the men went to bathe at the tank outside
the Janam Asthan. At 6 a. m. they entered
the temple.

231

; Five or six days before the occurrence
the Mahant had removed his family and
property to Lahore. According to Hari
Nath he had also sent his men to a police
officer at Kasur to make his own position
secure by reporting that Rihana, Amli,
Kandi, Vaisakha, and other notorious men
were with him and asking that their presence
should be connived at.

Narain Das had to attend the Mahants '
Conference at Lahore which was fixed for
the 19th and 20th, but he came every day to
Nankana Sahib. He had sent Amli, Gomi,
and others to bring more men from Majha
and elsewhere. When they were brought
he took them to Nankana Sahib on the
morning of the 19th. At 3-44 p. m. he got
into the train for Lahore, but he got out at
once when a Mohammedan woman told him
that a jatha had arrived at Buchiana. He
came back and distributed a large number of
battle-axes and iron-shod sticks to his men.
He stored a great quantity of wood and
kerosine oil in the outer rooms. He had
got three breech-loading guns and one
muzzle-loader.* A lot of cartridges were
especially bought from Lahore and sufficient
lead was provided to Rihana to manufacture

* A six -chambered revolver, presumably belong-
ing to the Mabant, was recovered from the Janam
Asthan tank on July 24, 1922.

W2

bullets. Several heaps of brick-bats were
piled on the roofs in different places. He
supplied wine to his men. Sardar Uttam
Singh, factory owner, who had seen the
Mahant distributing axes and heard him
threatening to kill the Sikhs with them, sent
a letter about it to the Deputy Commissioner
on the morning of the 20fch, bub it was too
late.

The temple is a small four-doored room
built on a platform, with a verandah on the
front. There is a low path running round
the platform, and the whole open space is
bordered with rooms, with only two outlets
beside the main gate facing east, which is
called the Darshani door. The southern
gate faces the bazar and is called the Bazar
door.

The Mahant had placed his Majha men
in his baithalc or the sitting room, which lies
close to the west. The men from the Kots
were posted, some in the verandah in front
of the Bazar gate and some inside the
Gurdwara in a verandah near the Darshani
gate. The Pathans guarded the two main
gates from outside.

When the Sikhs entered the Darshani
gate, they raised the usual religious shout of
Sat Sri Akal, which means Grod the deathless
is true. They repeated the shout on reach-
ing the front of the temple. The men who

233

were posted at the gate went out and the
doors were shut. The few priests, who were
sitting inside, also went away one by one.
Bhai Laclilnnnn Singh sat before Guru
Granth Sahib and the jatha began to sing
the morning hymns. In a few minutes
about 25 men were seen on the roofs of the
verandah towards the southern gate. Four
of them, including Ranjah and Kihana, began
to fire at the Sikhs with guns, while a
Mohammedan supplied ammunition. The rest
of the men, sadhus and all, began to throw
bricks at the Sikhs, some of whom ran to
take shelter in the side room or the Darshani
porch. Some who went to the north of the
sanctuary were shot at from the western
wall. Those who stayed calmly suffered
themselves to be shot, and thus about 25
were killed in the compound. Even the
Holy Book was riddled through in several
places. The rest of the Sikhs, about 60, went
into the sanctuary, called Chaukhandi, and
shut the doors from inside. Then the
Mahant's men came to the roof of the
Darshani porch and began to fire at the
Sikhs below. After killing and wounding
several with shots and bricks the Mahant's
men came down the two stair-cases. The
Darshani and the Bazar gates were opened
and many Pathans and other men of the
Mahant came in from outside.

234

About 5 or 6 Sikhs were found taking
refuge in the enclosed verandah of the
Darshani porch. A few shots were fired at
them, and then the wounded were finished off
with chhavis and takwas. Afterwards a
great quantity of minced flesh was found at
this place. The side-rooms were also searched,
and about 25 Sikhs who were found there
were despatched.

Some more Sikhs had arrived outside by
this time, and hearing their shouts of Sat
Sri Akal the Mahant's men rushed out of the
Darshani and the Bazar gates. Some also got
themselves upon the roofs. It was here that
some wounded Sikhs got out and escaped.
Two Akalis, who had gone up the stair by the
southern gate, were attacked with chhavis,
and after being wounded were thrown down
outside the wall. The Mahant had a chaddar
wrapped round his face and was riding a
horse. He was urging his men to spare no
long-haired Sikh in the whole vicinity. The
newly arrived Sikhs came from the north to
the road leading from the Bazar gate to the
potters' kilns. The Mahant called out, " Kill
them." He himself fired his pistol and killed
one man. Eihana aimed his gun at another,
but a Sikh hit him on the arm and the gun
fell down. About 6 Sikhs were killed here.
The remaining were pursued by Eanjha and
some Sadhus to the railway line, where

235

an old man and two others were killed and!
burnt. One or two were killed in the fields.

Then somebody shouted that the Chau-
khandi doors were shut and that there were
many Sikhs inside. A host came in for a
fresh attack. Two of them had guns and
others had chhavis. A Sikh who was hiding
in a tomb was shot and killed. One man
started to fire through the silver-plated door
on the west of the Chaukhandi. Others,
cutting away the fence in front of the northern
door, pulled it down with chhavis. Eanjha
and one other man began to fire through
this door.* A Pa than made a hole in the
western door with his axe for two men to
fire through. A Sikh from inside called out,
1 let me oub.' A Mahant's man replied, ' we
shall do so.' The Sikh came out, but was
shot dead. When all were wounded or killed
inside, the Pathans and others entered and
dragged out the bodies. All, about 60, were
despatched. Only a boy of 12 who had taken
refuge under Guru Granth Sahib was spared.

The Mahant came in and said that all
the bodies lying in the compound, except
four, should be collected and burnt. He
carefully ordered his men not to burn the

After the event several hundred marks
of bullets were counted on the walls, and pieces of
marble had come off from a niche.

236

ncdies of three Sikhs* and one sadhu who
had been admittedly shot by mistake by
some one of the Mahant's party. From this
he wanted to make out that men had been
killed on both sides. Wood and oil was
brought from a side room and fire was lighted
in the open space to the north-west of the
Chaukhandi. Before the bodies were put on
iire, tbey were searched by Pathans, who took
awray whatever valuable was found on them,
e.g., money, kirpans,. blankets, etc. Wood
and oil proving insufficient a great quantity
was brought on carfcs from the bazar. It
appears from the confessions of the culprits
that some Sikhs got up alive from the burn-
ing heaps, but were beaten down with sticks
and chhavis. There is also some evidence to
prove that some Sikhs were burnt alive. At
least one seems to have been tied to a tree
and burnt. Those who were killed outside
the Gurdwera were thrown into a potter's
kiln and burnt there.

The story of Bhai Dalip Singh's martyr-
dom is very pathetic. Hearing that, inspite
of all his attempts to prevent him, Bhai

* These were of Hazara Singh, Mangal Singh
and Atma Singh. Mangal Singh, an ex soldier, had
suffered imprisonment for wearing kirpan and was
therefore given the title of Kirpan Bahadur. He
had been a Mazhabi before receiving baptism and was
adopted by Bhai Lachhman Singh as his dearest son.

237

Lachhman Singh had gone with his jatha to
the Janam Asthan, Bhai Dalip Singh decided
to go himself to save the Sikhs or die in the
attempt. He was told that the firing had
begun and that the Sikhs were being mur-
dered. But he would not desist. He thought
that the Mahant, who knew and respected him,
would give up the massacre when he would
make a personal appeal to him. He took
with him Bhai Waryam Singh, a man of
romantic antecedents, who had joined the
movement out of pure love for sacrifice.
They came to the Darshani gate, when an
attack was going on against the newly-arrived
Sikhs and the Mahant on horseback was urg-
ing his men not to spare a Jceshadhari Sikh.
With folded hands Bhai Dalip Singh implored
the Mahant to desist : " Cease ! 0 cease ! Let
this carnage cease ! Even now I shall get
you pardon from the Panth." The Mahant,
who was drunk with the murder of innocents,
replied: "Are you not a Sikh?" Bang
went his pistol and the saintly Sikh fell dead
on the ground. The same fate was met by
Bhai Waryam Singh at somebody else's
hands.

After finishing the work of the day, the
Mahant and his men went to their places and
tried to drown their fears in drink. The whole
city was deserted.

238

When the sound of firing was heard and
It was ascertained that murder was going on
in the Janam Asthan, other Sikhs living in
the vicinity began to fear for their lives. At
8-15 A. M. Mr. N. S. Sandhu, District En-
gineer, sent a mounted messenger to the
Deputy Commissioner, who was in camp at
Mangtanwala, 12 miles ofi. At 9-12 a. m.
Sardar Uttam Singh wired the terrible news
to the Governor, the Commissioner, the
Deputy Commissioner, the Superintendent of
Police, and the different Sikh centres. The
Patwari and the Sikh Station-master also
sent wires in all directions. Although Lahore
is only about 40 miles from Nankana Sahib,
no prompt action was taken by Government.
The Deputy Commissioner arrived at
12-30 p.m. and went into the temple with the
Mahant, but without police he could not do
anything. He wired for troops. A Sub-In-
spector of Police came at 2 p. M. and was
ordered to extinguish the fire and record the
injuries of the dead and the wounded. The
booking of tickets for all stations within 20
miles of Naukana Sahib was stopped. Even
roads, bridges and ferries near the locality
were guarded, and no man was allowed to
proceed to Nankana Sahib.. The Commis-
sioner and the Deputy Inspector-General of
Police with 100 British and 100 Indian sol-
diers arrived from Lahore by a special train,

2S9

at 9-15 in the night, and Mahant Narain DaB,
with two of his henchmen and 26 Pathans, was
arrested and sent to Lahore. He had a gun
with him when he was arrested. Two more
guns and a pistol were recovered from his
house. The Gurdwara was attached and
placed under a military guard.

The sensational news spread a thrill of
horror and indignation all over the country,
and resolutions of sympathy were passed by
all communities. Wherever the Sikhs heard
of it they were struck with grief and reverence
for the martyrs. Thousands proceeded at
once to Nankana Sahib. They came as far
as they could by rail and then on foot, but
none were allowed to go near the Gurdwara.
People, who were thirsting for information,
got conflicting news from different sources.
Some telegrams sent by Sikhs described the
occurrence as a cold-blooded massacre and
put the number of the killed at above 150,
while certain Anglo-Indian papers started the
campaign of misrepresentation by calling the
heinous crime as a * fight', a ' riot', an 'affray*
and ' a disturbance of a sectarian character',
and tried to belittle the number of the killed.
The Deputy Commissioner of Amritsar tele-
phoned to the Khalsa College on the 21st that
only 20 men had been killed at Nankana Sahib.
Later it was given out in a Government com-
munique that- the number was not less than 67,

240

and then a week later it was admitted to be
130. The Government claimed to have
secured order, at the shrine by a show of
military force !

Six Sikh leaders from Lahore, including
Sardar Bahadur Mehtab Singh, Public Prosecu-
tor, had already reached Nankana Sahib in the
troop train on the 20th, and about 9 more
leaders from Amritsar, including Sardar
Harbans Singh and Sardar Sundar Singh
Eamgarhia with three doctors and others,
arrived on the morning of the 21st by motor.
Then the temple was entered at 8 A.M. and the
investigation began. The Gurdwara presented
a terrible scene of carnage. The whole place
looked like a vast cremation ground. The
greater portion of the flooring was covered
with blood and the traces of bodies having
been dragged on the ground. Long hair and
combs were found scattered here and there.
There were four dead men lying near
the sanctuary and five big heaps of
charred bodies to the north-west. Without
disturbing them 56 distinct skulls were
counted. Outside in the kiln six iron
bracelets were found in the ashes, to which
the martyred Sikhs had been reduced. On
the roofs of the side-rooms 24 heaps of brick-
bats were found. The police also recovered
from the roof eight empty boxes of cartridges,
each of which was marked to contain 25 cart-

241

ridges, together with 63 empty cases of cart-
ridges picked up from various places. From
the baithak of the Mahant, beside other in-
criminating articles, a sieve, some lead amd
iron, and an iron pot, apparently for melting
lead, were found. In another room were
found five empty bottles of country wine, one
cartridge and some buckshot. Several cart-
ridges and other things were also recovered
later on from the tower where the Pathans
used to live.

On the evening of the 21st the Com-
missioner yielded to a strong pressure put by
the Sikh leaders, and handed over the keys of
the Gurdwara to a Committee of seven
members with powers to co-opt. Sardar
Harbans Singh, as president of the Committee,
tcok charge of the Gurdwara in the name of
the Shromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Com-
mittee of Amritsar. The military guard
was removed. The Sikhs, who had been kept
away so far, entered the Gurdwara and wept
bitterly to see their brethren mercilessly
slaughtered and disgracefully burnt. By the
order of Sardar Harbans Singh, however,
large crowds were not allowed to gather in-
side the temple to facilitate the medical en-
quiry. Next day thousands of Sikhs came
from far and near to pay their respects to
the martyrs. They found — and the police
evidence agrees — that almost all of the inhabit-

242

ants had fled from the place even before
the Sikhs had come. So they collected the
cattle, which would have died otherwise, and
placed them in a pound. They also protected
the deserted houses from burglars and thieves
by keeping watch over them. They announced
by the beat of drum that the people of the
place were welcome to their homes and that
all fear had vanished with the arrest of the
culprits and the removal of the military.

His Excellency Sir Edward Maclagan,
accompanied by his Executive Councillors and
Ministers, came to Nankana Sahib on the
afternoon of February 22nd to show his sym-
pathy with the victims of the outrage. He
seemed to be much affected by the sight and
promised that no efforts would be spared to
discover and punish the perpetrators of the
crime. He also sent a message of sympathy
through the members of the Legislative
Council to the relatives and friends of the
victims.

By the evening of February 23rd, which
was fixed for the funeral, thousands of Sikhs
had mustered on the spot to pay their last
homage to the holy martyrs. Many of them,
owing to the stoppage of trains on the 21st
and 22nd, had to walk for miles in dust and
sun. The scene inside was most pathetic.
Relations and friends were moving about to
recognise their dead. A woman was sitting

24

by a heap of ashes and bones, pressing the
hand of a half-burnt body. She said it
was her son's. She had lost five sons and one
grandson. Another woman had lost two
sons ; another one brother. And they did
not weep.

When all the remains were collected from
different places, 130 heads were easily
counted. The rest were reduced to ashes or
small pieces of bones, and were not dis-
tinguishable. A big funeral pyre was erected
in the same place in the compound where a
majority of the martyrs had been thrown by
the culprits for burning. In a touching
oration Professor Jodh Singh, M.A., exhorted
the Sikhs to bear the suffering like their fore-
fathers as a sacrifice, without a reproach or
curse. The crimes committed in the
holy temple required a flood of innocent blood
to be washed away. And they have been
washed away. " As for the criminal, his
own sins are sufficient to ruin him."
The daily prayer of the Sikhs contains these
words : Those who died for their religion,
were cut away limb by limb, or were burnt on
heated plates think of them and call on
God." These familiar words, uttered in the
funeral prayer that day, went to the hearts of
the assembled Sikhs with a new meaning. It
was as if a page of the old Sikh history had

244

been turned again. From that day the follow-
ing words have been added to the standard
Sikh prayer and are repeated daily in all
congregations :

" Those who, to purge the temples of the
long-standing evils, suffered themselves to be
shot, cut up, or burnt alive with kerosine oil,
but did not make any resistance or utter even
a sigh of complaint : think of their patient
faith and call on God!" When the Holy
Book was opened it gave out the most ap-
propriate verse : " Those whom God wanted
to honour as His servants have been picked
out." By a resolution passed in the light of
the big funeral fire it was resolved to hold
prayer meetings everywhere on a fixed day.
It was also decided to found a suitable me-
morial to the heroic sacrifice of the martyrs.
A Martyrs' Fund was opened to which all
Sikh families were requested to contribute at
least one rupee per head.

The police carried on its investigation
and, inspite of the advice of Mahatma Gandhi,,
who visited the place on March 3, to seek no
justice from Government, the Sikh Committee
continued to give assistance, and it was ap-
preciated in' the beginning. But soon it be-
came clear that the presence of the Sikhs at
Nankana Sahib was not relished by the police,
who wanted a free hand to make anything
they wanted of the case and did not take

245

down the statements of witnesses as they
were made. The Sikhs, therefore, dissociated
themselves from the enquiry and took no in-
terest in the case, which was started on April 5.
Many of the prosecution witnesses turned
away from their previous statements made
before a Magistrate, and the official
witnesses gave evidence in a spirit distinctly
hostile to the reform party among the Sikhs.
The three assessors (one Hindu, one Sikh and
oneMahammedan) found the Mahant guilty of
murder, and the Sessions Judge, who delivered
his judgment on October 12, 1921, sentenced
the Mahant and seven others to death, eight
to transportation for life, sixteen Pathans to
seven years' rigorous imprisonment, and ac-
quitted the remaining sixteen. In the High
Court, however, Mr. Hassan Imam of Patna
fought heroically for the Mahant and his sweep-
ing cock-sure arguments prevailed. In defend-
ing the Mahant's order to kill all the Sikhs,
he went so far as to eay that ' even if the
number of deaths were 130 thousand and not
130 , the Mahant would have been justified
in giving that order.'* The Judges of the
High Court, who delivered their judgment on
March 3, 1922, held that in view of his failure
to secure protection from Government, the
Mahant was fully justified in taking steps for
his own protection both by engaging Pathans

Reported in the Tribune of January 26, 1922.

246

as guards and by importing men, who were
reported to be good fighters, such as Eanjha
and Eihana. ' He was,' in their Lordships r
opinion, * suffering doubtless under a deep
sense of wrong and helplessness, and it was not
surprising that he lost his head and acted as
he did/ His sentence of death was reduced to
one of transportation for life. Only three
sentences of death, i. e>, against Hari Nath,
who had made full confession, and against
Ranjha and Rihana, were maintained. Out of
those who had beensentencedto transportation
for life, only two got their sentences confirm-
ed. All others, together with the Pathans,
were acquitted. This decision created a
great sensation in the country.

In May, 1921, in view of an apprehension
of a breach of peace between the Mahant's
party and the G-urdwara Committee about the
lands attached to the Gurdwara, the District
Magistrate called upon the parties to state
their claims as to the actual possession of the
said lands. He decided that the claim of the
Grurdwara Committee was true and that it
was entitled to the possession of the lands
until ousted by the courts of law.

A civil suit was filed against the
Gurdwara Committee, and on the day
following the decision of the High Court,
the Deputy Commissioner of Sheikhupura
informed the Manager of the Janam Asthan

247

that the jagir money was to be kept in
deposit by the Government as long as the
Civil suit was not decided, and ordered him,
under threat of legal proceedings, to pay up
the arrears within fifteen days.

In April, 1922, the Mahant's people tried
to get a Eeceiver appointed for the Janam
Asthan. But the court did nob allow it.

The Gurdwara Committee was successful
in making an arrangement with Mahant
Kirpa Earn of Malji Sahib at Nankana Sahib,
by which the Mahant consented to give
charge of the Gurdwara and its property to
the Committee. A very generous considera-
tion was shown to him. He was granted a
monthly salary of Ks. 1,000, with houses
worth Es. 80,000 for perpetual possession.
About Es. 45,000 were sanctioned to pay up
his debts. He also got for himself and his
male descendants 3 squares of land, which
will revert to the Gurdwara when his descend-
ants cease to exist. After his death his
children, male and female, will get Es. 500
a month, and his grand-children Es. 250 a
month. Inspite of temptations and threats
by mischievous parties, the Mahant has
continued to be loyal, except once in June,
1921, when he made an abortive attempt with
a band of ruffians dressed in Akali clothes
to take possession of Malji Sahib ; but he
soon recovered his balance and, when a few

248

months later, the Udasin Mahamandal of
Hardwar in a letter threatened him with
excommunication for his sympathies with
the Akali movement and told him clearly
that if he alienated any part of the Grurdwara
property he would be sued in the court, he
refused to be led away from the path of duty
and reaffirmed his belief in the Panth.

The management of the Grurdwaras and
their land was placed in the hands of Sardar
Narain Singh, Bar-at-Law, who ably conduct-
ed the affairs, inspite of many difficulties
that are natural in the beginning. The
income of the Gurdwaras of Janam As than
and Malji Sahib for the last year was
Es. 3,26,325. Out of this Es. 1,33,330 were
deposited in banks and with Sahukars, and
the remaining sum was utilized in erecting
a fund for the relief of the martyrs' families,
and in maintaining a free kitchen, missionary
propaganda, a hospital, and two schools,
one for boys and the other for girls.
Beside other things tailoring and weaving
are taught in the boys' school. The whole
sum collected in the Martyrs' Memorial
Fund upto 31st July 1922, amount to
Es. 2,48,461-12-3. In September, 1921, upto
Es. 700 a month was sanctioned for giving
pensions to the families of the martyrs and
Es. 25,000 towards the payment of their debts,
out of which Es. 13,000 have already been

249

paid. The relief, which is paid regularfy
every month, varies from Rs. 10 to 30 per
family. At present Rs. 546 are spent in
this way. More demand is being made.
Most of the proposals received abont the
Martyrs' Memorial suggested a missonary
seminary for the purpose of training
preachers, aud the sub-committee appointed
by the Shromani Committee to recommend
what form the Memorial should take has
also made the same suggestion.

Great improvements have been carried
out in the land surrounding the temple by
laying out lawns and gardens. New build-
ings for public use have been erected and
more are being planned. Good arrangements
have been made for the reception and
acccommodation of visitors. Those who
saw the celebration of Guru Nanak's Birth-
day in November, 1921, will bear witness to
the unprecedented enthusiasm with which
the service of each other and the mission
work was carried on by the people. There were
regular mission camps held, of which those
belonging to the Shromani Gurdwara.Parban-
dhak Committee, Chief Khalsa Diwan,
Sheikhupura Khalsa Diwan, Ramgarhia
Khalsa Diwan, Lahore and Gujranwala
Khalsa Diwan and Dhuri Khalsa Diwan were
most prominent. Feeding arrangements for
thousands of people were made most success-
fully.

CHAPTER XV.

AFTER NANKANA.

After the Nankana Sahib tragedy, owing
to the personal pique of some officers, the
attitude of the Government changed
altogether towards the Sikhs, Mr. King,
who had been Commissioner of Lahore
Division, became Assistant Chief Secretary,
and from that point of vantage began to take
very active interest in the Sikh movement.
Instead of showing any practical sympathy
with the Sikhs several Government officers
actually showed their anxiety to belittle the
gravity of the happening. The Deputy Com-
missioner of Shahpur dismissed one clerk
and treated others as absent without leave
for having gone to Nankana Sahib, and he
is alleged to have used insulting language
towards the martyrs. The police became
suddenly active in taking up cases, however
slight, agakst the Sikhs, and the Associated
Press lent its services for spreading
misrepresentations about them. The Govern-
ment became too nervous about the public
criticism of its officers. Without making
any enquiry into the grave allegations, about
some of which even Pandit Malviya expressed

251

himself satisfied, it hastened to declare the
conduct of its officers immaculate in connec-
tion with the Nankana affair and threatened
to take legal action against any body who
made unjust accusations against them.
S. Sardul Singh Caveessieur, who at the time
of the Nankana massacre had been illegally
forbidden by the District Magistrate to leave
Lahore, was hauled up for writing seditious
articles about Nankana Sahib in the AJcali,
and was sentenced to five years ' transporta-
tion. Several others were gagged at Lahore.
The AJcali also was prosecuted for publishing
certain allegations against Mr. King and
Mr. Bowring, the Superintendent of C. I. D.
An attempt was made through the
official evidence in the Nankana Sahib trial
to prejudice the case against the reform
party by irrelevantly referring to the excited
condition of the Sikhs who visited Nankana
Sahib after the tragedy. The officers com-
plained, as the Government did in its
communiques, that the Sikhs terrorized the
people with their large numbers and their
kirpans, and that when the Governor
arrived on 22nd February " they were
calling out that they desired justice. " To
all reasonable men it must appear but
natural that the Sikhs should at least feel
excited over the cruel murder of so many
of their brethren. And what harm did they

252

actually do in this excitement ? They could
be angry with the Government for having
taken no adequate measures to prevent
the massacre, and with the men of the
Mahant's party for having played a
part in the savage crime. But it is
admitted by the Government that when
the Governor arrived with his retinue,
including Mr. King, "there were a large
crowd of Sikhs gathered in this enclosure,
who, although greatly excited, were obedient
to their leaders and under their control, so
that although there were no police present
His Excellency and his party were able to
move all over the shrine without difficulty."
The Mahant's people were also safe from
any injury. Mr. P. L. Orde, Superintendent
of Police, who was on special duty at Nankana,
when asked if it was unsafe for the Mahant's
adherents to go about, admitted in court
that they suffered no bodily injury. As to
the flying away of Nankana people from fear
of Sikhs, it is sufficient to say that they had
fled even before the Sikhs were allowed to
enter the place, so that when Mr. Mercer,
D. I. G. of Police, came to Nankana Sahib
on the night of 20th February, he found
it practically deserted and saw only two or
three men in the town. It is significant to
note that at the time, when the Sikh terrorism
was alleged to be at its highest and when a

253

few cases of dacoity were also registered
against the Sikhs, the largest number of the
so-called arms captured from the Sikh visitors
was 74 takwas (with which the Sikhs cut
datans or tooth brushes) and 114 sticks
(which included many gentlemen's walking
canes and old men's only supports in life).

There was a general campaign of mis-
representation in the Associated Press and
the Government communiques, and the
specific charges mentioned were that the
Sikhs were tyranising over the population in
and about Nankana, molesting women, violat-
ing sacred shrines of the Hindus and Muslims,
defacing images, robbing people of their
property and desecrating graves. This created
a great tension between the sister communi-
ties. On the basis of these allegations
Government sent to Nankana about one
thousand soldiers to keep peace and order.

In the opinion of the Sikh leaders these
charges were mainly without any foundation.
They requested Hindu and Muslim leaders
to go to the place and make enquiries on the
spot. The Sikh members of the Legislative
Council also visited the place and made a
statement about these allegations to His
Excellency. The Khilafat Committee deputed
Agha Safdar, Malik Lai Khan, Sardar Habib
Ullah and Maulvi Ghulam Qadir Sahib for
the investigation; Swarajya Ashram sent

254

Mehta Anand Kishore and Lala Sham Dass ;
Syed Habib, editor, ' Siyasat ' and Raizada
Hans Raj, Bar-at-Law, President, Congress
Committee, Jullundur, also visited Nankana
Sahib for the same purpose. The result of
their enquiries is given below. The allega-
tions have been divided into four parts, first
Government communiques are given, then
follow the results of the enquiries of these
gentlemen. We leave it to the public to
judge of the facts from these extracts and
form their own opinion about the Govern-
ment Communiques.

1. TYRANNY OF THE SIKH CROWDS.

GOVEBNMENT COMMUNIQUE.

The investigation is being greatly hamper-
ed by the presence at Nankana of crowds of
persons who have come to see the site of the
tragedy. Among these crowds are bad
characters whose presence has alarmed the
inhabitants of neighbouring villages to the
extent of causing many of them to desert
their homes. To meet this situation a
detachment of cavalry has been detailed to
patrol the affected area and it is hoped that
this will restore confidence.
The Associated Pbess Special Coeees-
pondent.

The indignation aroused by the atrocity
has caused great excitement and Sikhs

255

patrolling the countryside in military forma-
tion with battle-axes. Their formidable
numbers and high state of excitement are
seriously hindering the investigation of
the tragedy. At the same time their violent
demeanour is causing much alarm among the
peaceful Hindu and Muslim population of the
locality which is beginning to fly in terror.
Numerous stories are told of beating and
arresting of individuals without any justifica-
tion and the commandeering of supplies and
fodder.

Sikh Members of the Punjab Council.

There are large areas of land attached
to the Gurdwaras. Gurdwara Committee,
being put in charge of the Gurdwaras by the
Government, made arrangements for collec-
tion of crops and possession of lands. There
were serious differences with Government
officers w1k> objected to these acts of the
Committee. The Government has now
agreed neither to oust the Committee from
these lands nor to interfere with the manage-
ment. The rumours that crops have been
forcibly appropriated or lands seized do not
appear to have any better foundation than
this.-

We found that there was absolutely no
need of the military being sent on the spot
a second time and we actually saw people

256

of the old village leaving it with their belong-
ings, who, on being questioned, told us that
they were doing so owing to the fear of
bombardment.

The Khilafat Deputation.

The fact is that on the second day of the
tragedy a large number of the Sikhs had
come to Nankana from out-stations. This,
coupled with the arrests made by the Police
and the military, had frightened the people
there. In this panic they left their houses
and ran away. Even now many of the houses
are locked up, and it appears that the whole
population has not yet come back to the
village. No body can claim for all the
Khalsas' immunity from every sort of
immoderation. In our opinion it would be
against nature that all should be perfectly
calm and peaceful. « More than one hundred
and fifty of their brethren had been butchered
most mercilessly, necessarily their hearts
must have been filled with anger and the
spirit of revenge. But after seeing that,
barring a few complaints of petty nature, no
complaint had any foundation at all, we are
obliged to offer praise for the calmness and
restraint displayed by the Khalsa.

Swarajya Ashram Deputation.
We are told in the Mandi that when
there was a great crowd of the Sikhs, and

257

the enemies began to spread various rumours,
people were informed by the beat of drum
that if there were any trouble to them they
should inform the Gurdwara Committee
of it. The Committee received about
fifty letters thanking them for their good
management. We too add our appreciation
of such a good behaviour displayed by so
many people.

Syed Habib, Editor, " Siyasat."

All those who live in Mandi and others
explained to me that the Sikhs robbed no
one ; rather when the people had fled on
account of panic, they kept strict guard over
their property.

Lala Hans Eaj, Bae-at-Law, Pkesident,

Congress Committee, Jullundur.

The members of the Akali Jatha are

holy persons. Whatever their past life, now

they are filled with an enthusiasm born of

religious fervour.

Hindu-Muslim Meeting.

The Nankana Hindus and Mohammedans
passed the following resolution on the 11th
of March in a public meeting : —

" That from the time the Sikha have
eome to Nankana their treatment of Hindus
and Mohammedans is sympathetic and
praiseworthy ; they do not t interfere in the

258

religion of others, and we strongly repudiate
the*false rumours spread by enemies."

II.— VIOLATION OF SHRINES,
MOSQUES, IMAGES, Etc.

Associated Pbess Special Correspondent.

It is even stated freely by panic-stricken
villagers that Sikhs have violated the shrines
of Shiv near Daria station.

Government Communique.

In Nankana houses have been seized
and Hindu images desecrated.

Sikh Members of the Council.

There were a few small receptacles like
Samadhs of some of the Mahant's predecessors
within the four walls of the Gurdwara. The
victims had taken refuge in these receptacles.
Ruffians smashed the thin doors with axes,
cut the victims into pieces, leaving pools
of blood inside, and roasted the dead bodies
outside these Samadhs. During the rush at
the cremation ceremony crowds pulled down
these Samadhs. These were not temples, nor
were there any gods or idols in them. No
one, at least from amongst the Sikh pilgrims
present or visiting Nankana Sahib, desecrated
any temples. The Sikhs respect the Hindu
tiemples and consider them sacred.

259

Swabajya Ashram Deputation.

After making investigations we are
convinced that there was no Shivling in the
Gurdwara Janam Asthan, nor were there any
marks of an idol having been displaced.

There were some broken idols in the
compound of the Gurdwara. These were
found about a hundred yards back from the
Dhaular mound. These idols are like those
found in the Museums. The Pandits in-
formed us that these idols were never the
objects of worship of the Hindus.

Some of the images in the house of Baba
Harnam Dass have been scratched. TheBe
images were in good condition when the
Sikhs gave charge of this house to the Mahant.
The images are those of Baba Nanak, Mehta
Kalu, Bibi Nanaki, Baja Janak, Harnakash
and thirteen saints, and of others. There
are some images on the top of those men-
tioned above. These were intact and
contained images of Mahant Kishen Das and
Baba Sujan Singh Bedi. As these images
were desecrated after the Mahant got the
posssession of the house from the Committee,
we cannot regard this as the work of the
Sikhs. Had the Sikhs any hand in the affair,
they would not have touched the images of
Guru Nanak and would not have left
untouched that of Mahant Kishan Das.

260

Khilafat Deputation.

We went to the mosque which was said
to have been pulled down. We found it in
perfect condition and without any harm
having been done to it.

Syed Habib, Editoe, " Siyasat."

The mosque is quite in a good condition

and no damage has been done to it I have

seen pictures and images of Hindu deities
in the office of the Gurdwara Parbandhak
Committee. No one has done any harm
to these. Some of the images have been
desecrated in the private house of the Mahant
and the temple of Harnam Das. Amongst
these images are those of Guru Nanak, his
father and mother, Bhagat Kabir and his

wife No Sikh could have done this

Harnam Das was arrested. His house
remained in charge of the Sikhs for ten days.
No images were desecrated during that time.
When the Sikhfc handed over the charge to
the Mahant and the Police came in, it was
then that these images were injured.

Ill— DESECEATION OF GEAYES.
Associated Pbess Special Cokkespondent.

It is even stated freely by panic-stricken
villagers that Sikhs have dug up a Mussalman
grave.

261
Sikh Members of the Punjab Council.

The Sikhs respect every grave and consider
the graveyards sacred grounds. They have
the greatest respect for the feelings of the
Bister communities, and any rumours that
any of them dug up any grave is absolutely
false and baseless. Such false rumours and
even such sacrilege of mischief-makers are
not unknown in times of commotion and
excitement in order to set one community
against another.

Khilafat Deputation.

We went to the graveyard ; many of the
villagers were with us. In the whole of the
graveyard there was only one high grave built
with white lime and bricks. Only asmall portion
of its plaster was found displaced. It appeared
to have been struck during the last four or five
days by some one with a stick. Nobody
could tell who had done this ; nor could it be
thought that it was done with a view to dig

up It is these which are said

to have been dug up. We have come to
know from the men there that after the
tragedy hundreds of the Khalsa had gone to
the graveyard in search of the assassins
hidden there. It is possible that the earth
was pressed low because of this visit. Anyhow
it did not appear to us that anyone had tried

262

to dig up the graves and desecrate the dead
bodies.

Syed Habib, Editor, " Siyasat."

I myself went to the graveyard. All the

tombs were in proper condition I regard

allegations against the Sikhs as utterly
mi true.

IV.-MOLESTATION OF LADIES.

Government Communique.

It is stated that men have been seized
and maltreated and women molested, in so
far that in some villages the residents have
deserted their homes.

Sikh Members of the Punjab Council.

It is common knowledge that women of
the Sikh community always attend the big
and crowded communal gatherings like the
Sikh Educational Conference. No one ever
beard any complaints of women being
molested in such gatherings. Several Sikh
Members of the Council have been going to
Nankana Sahib from time to time ever since
the tragedy and they have always found
the Sikhs on the spot in a condition of deep
and sacred grief. People who go for such
purpose as they did hardly molest or ill-treat
womenfolk. There is no true basis for
rumours that women have been or are being
molested.

263

Khilafat Deputation.

Some people informed us of the rumours
about the molestation of ladies, but nobody
could tell us with certainty of any instances.
Many persons explained to us that these
rumours were without any foundation. I In
our opinion there is no room for distrust of
the Sikh community on the basis of these
false rumours.

SWAEAJYA ASHEAM DEPUTATION.

We made special enquiries into this
allegation. "We could not find a single man
in the whole of the Mandi and Nankana
Sahib who could support this charge. It
appears that some friends are at the back of
these rumours in order to bring the Sikhs
into disrepute.

Syed Habib, Editoe, " Siyasat."

All the persons whom I saw on the spot
said on oath that they have not even heard
that any Sikh molested any woman, Muslim
or Non-Muslim.

Lala Hans Eaj, Peesident, Congeess
Committee, Jullundub.

Those who charge them (the Sikhs at
Nankana) with theft and disrespect towards
women cannot be others than enemies of
truth and country.

264

It is noteworthy that out of the 55 cases
of excesses alleged to have been committed
by Sikhs in and around Nankana Sahib only
four were brought for trial to the courts. It
will be interesting to look into the reality of
these cases.

On February 20, at 11 a. m., Bhai
Kartar Singh of Jhabar, while sitting in the
Gurdwara of Khara Sauda, received a wire
from Bhai Uttam Singh of Nankana Sahib
that Sikhs were being butchered and burnt in
the Janam Asthan, that Bhai Dalip Singh
had been killed already, and that he himself
was in danger of his life. Bhai Karfrar Singh
at once despatched about 40 men to different
villages to carry the news of the happening,
and himself started with about 50 men for
Nankana. When at about 10 P. m. he reach-
ed the Bridge of Chandarkot he found
himself at the head of a jatha of thousand
Sikhs. Half an hour later they saw a bright
thing drawing towards them. When it came
near, it was found to be a motor car. They
shouted to the driver to stop, but he would
not. Their suspicions having been roused,
they stood before the motor and stopped it.
It was found to contain three men with
Deva Das, who was a chela of Mahant
Narain Das and who was alleged to have
taken a prominent part in the day's work.
The self-restrain t of the Sikhs at that time

265

of rage and grief may be measured from this
that they did not move even a finger to hurt
him. They simply detained these four men
in order to hand them over as suspects to
the police. When the Sikhs began to light
fire to warm themselves, Deva Das felt
terrified and implored them on his knees not
to burn him. He offered to give eight lakhs
of rupees and a house if they spared him.
They reassured him by saying that they were
not so cruel as he was alleged to have been
to their brethren.

The Mahant had been arrested and a
force of British and Indian soldiers was
guarding the Janam Asthan. The inhabit-
ants out of fear of the army — for the jathas
had not yet entered the town — were Hying
from Nankana Sahib. One of them, named
Sant Singh with his wife on horseback, was
coming along the canal on the morning of
the 21st, when he was overtaken by a body
of Sikhs who were coming like Bhai Kartar
Singh to Nankana Sahib. This new jatha
held up Sant Singh as a suspect, for he was
known to some men in the jatha to be
connected with the temple. He was brought
before Bhai Kartar Singh, who sent away
the wife on horseback to her parents' village,
Kotwar, in the company of five respectable
men of that village, who had come to offer
food to Bhai Kartar Singh's jatha. She

reached her destination safely with all her
precious ornaments on her. Sant Singh
with Deva Das and his party was brought to
village Khipwala, where a Mohammedan with
a gun and 72 cartridges was found. He, too,
was taken along as a doubtful man. Here
Bhai Kartar Singh came to know that a box
of ornaments had beon taken by a man
of Lyallpur, who belonged to the jatha
which had taken Sant Singh into custody.
Bhai Kartar Singh asked this man to be
careful about the box and hand it over to
the police at Nankana Sahib without fail. At
this place they received a written order from
the Deputy Commissioner not to advance
any further. But the jatha in their eager-
ness to see the Martyrs did not mind the
order and went on. When they came near
Nankana Sahib they met Sardar Bahadur
Sardar Mehtab Singh on horseback, who
asked them not to go towards the Gurdwara,
as it was guarded by the military with
machine-guns and nobody was allowed to go
near it. But Bhai Kartar Singh insisted
that it was their duty to see the desecrated
Gurdwara and take care of the holy Martyrs.
The jatha, however, agreed to stop for some
time, during which Sardar Mehtab Singh
went to consult the Commissioner who was
at the Bailway Station. Sardar Mehtab
Singh urged on the Commissioner to give

267

the control of the Gurdwara to the Sikhs
and allow them to go where they pleased.
Mr. King, the Commissioner, yielded to
the pressure and agreed to give the keys
of the Gurdwara to a Committee of seven
members of the Shromani Committee who
were present there. The army was re-
moved and the Sikhs went to see the
Gurdwara.

The five men, who had been brought in
custody, were handed over to the police. But
Bhai Kartar Singh became so busy with the
arrangements about guarding the dead-
bodies and keeping peace among the Sikhs
that he forgot everything about the box of
ornaments. He remembered it, however, a
few days later when Tirath Das, an ex-
Granthi of the Janam Asthan and a brother
of Sant Singh, mentioned it to Sardar
Harbans Singh, who asked about it from
Bhai Kartar Singh. Bhai Kartar Singh
now tried to find out the man with
whom he had seen the box, but he was told
that the man had gone to Lyallpur. On
March 7, he went to Lyallpur and sought
the help of Dr. Kishan Singh and others,
who found out the man and brought
him to Bhai Kartar Singh. But the man
totally denied having received any box.
Bhai Kartar Singh had to go to Lahore next
day to meet the Government about the

268

situation at Nankana Sahib, and he came away
from Lyallpur, entrusting the matter of the
box to the above-mentioned gentlemen. "When
he returned to Nankana Sahib he was arrest-
ed soon after on 11th March. This is
what is called the Chandarkot case, in which
Bhai Kartar Singh was charged with dacoity
and sentenced, five months later, to seven
years' rigorous imprisonment with three
years' police surveillance after release.

On February 28, Mahant Tirath Singh,
the head custodian of Bal Lila, had volun-
tarily presented a written application to the
Gurdwara Committee, requesting it to take
over the management of Bal Lila Gurdwara
and stating that he was willing to work in
accordance with the wishes and instructions
of the Committee. On March 4, another
application was presented to the Committee
by Tirath Singh, Buta Singh and Santa Singh
to the effect that certain lands belonging to
the Gurdwara had been entered in their
personal names in the revenue records, but
that they desired that those lands be trans-
ferred to the name of the Gurdwara, and that
they and their families be granted mainten-
ance. These two applications were duly
laid before the Committee on March 6, and
the Committee decided that the manage-
ment of the Bal Lila Gurdwara be taken
over by them, and that the Committee

269

should appoint certain persons to work at
the Gurdwara. Tirath Singh handed the
keys of the Gurdwara to the Secretary of the
Gurdwara Committee.

The charge of the Gurdwara of Kiara
Sahib had also been given similarly to the
Gurdwara Committee. On March 10, Bhai
Kartar Singh was appointed by the Com-
mittee to detail some men to take charge of
the Gurdwaras of Bal Lila and Kiara Sahib.
He sent a few men to Bal Lila and about ten
men to Kiara Sahib. A sentry standing at
the Kiara Sahib shrine reported the matter
to Mr. Orde, S. P., who wired to the District
Magistrate and the D. I. G. of Police, and
proceeding to Kiara Sahib with a detachment
of troops took down the names of the Sikhs
who had been sent by the Committee to
serve at the shrine. Next day a report was
obtained from one Sant Singh, who complain-
ed that he had been ousted from his mahant-
ship and that a dacoity had been committed
at his Gurdwara, from which a canopy, a
gold chhaba (an ornament) and several
sacred scarfs, belonging to the Holy Book, had
been taken away. The Commissioner and
the Deputy Commissioner hurried to
Nankana Sahib in a special train and with a
fine show of military force eleven Sikhs were
arrested and handcuffed: Bhai Kartar Singh
from Janam Asthan, Bhai Uttam Singh,

270

factory-owner, from his house, and eight men
from Kiara Sahib. Bhai Lakha Singh, who
was also wanted, went and surrendered
himself. When S. Jogendra Singh, who had
gone there, questioned Mr. Dunnett, the
Deputy Commissioner, as to the charge
agianst these respectable Sikhs, he was
horrified to learn that it was ' dacoity and
being members of an unlawful assembly.'
After the arrests of Sikhs found in the
Gurdwara the holy place was attached, which
created great indignation in the Panth.

Next day Mr. Orde, with a military and
police force, went to Bal Lila and arrested
16 men from there. Even women sitting
in the temple were driven out and the
Gurdwara was attached- Bhais Kartar Singh
and Lakha Singh were charged in this case
also.

As to the charges of unlawful possession
and dacoity, it will be interesting to read the
following statement by Mahantni Indar Kaur,
widow of Mahant Ishar Singh of Kiara Sahib,
before three M.L.C.'s, who were also Honorary
Magistrates, and before the Commissioner
of Lahore Division : —

" I manage the Gurdwara Kiara Sahib,
and after my husband's death the Gurdwara
has remained under my charge. My husband's
brother Sant Singh and his son Ujagar Singh
lodged a civil -suit against me regarding the

271

Gurdwara. It was decided in my favour
three years ago. With my voluntary consent
Ijinade over in writing the management of
my Gurdwara about 20 days ago to the
Gurdwara Committee, Nankana Sahib: Since
then the management has been in their hands.
Day before yesterday when the police arrived

to take my statement asked me that

my statement should agree with theirs
regarding the forced possession by the Sikhs,
pulling down of Samadhs and the theft of the
chhaba, canopy and other articles. Because
it was all false, I refused to make such
a statement ; and, on the other hand, I stated
that I had voluntarily made over possession
to the Sikhs, who knew nothing about
the pulling down of Samadhs, and that the
gold chhaba and the canopy were lying in my
house, and nothing had been stolen. I
did not give any of the above-mentioned
articles to the police. I kept them in the
Mandi and the police went away. Because
I fear that I shall be molested, I have brought
these articles to Sardar Seva Earn Singh to
Bend my statement to the officers. I have
voluntarily made this statement before you.
I herewith make over the chhaba, canopy
and the rumals to Sardar Seva Bam Singh.
Nothing of the Gurdwara has been stolen.

Bead out to me and certified to be
correct."

272

The dacoity charge was dropped after
some time. But Bhai Kartar Singh was
convicted in both cases under Section 452r
I. P. C, and got two years' rigorous imprison-
ment in each case. Three others in Bai
Lila case and nine in the Kiara Sahib case
got one year each. Bhai Uttam Singh had
been released after some weeks for want of
evidence.

After Bhai Kartar Singh's arrest in
connection with the Bal Lila and Kiara Sahib
cases, the Chandarkot and Attari cases of
dacoity were also brought against him, though
these had occurred about three weeks before
his arrest. In each of them he got seven
years. Bhai Kartar Singh had nothing
whatever to do with the Attari case. Attari
or Patti Sahib was in charge of Nirmala Sikhs.
When the. great tragedy occurred, the
Nirmalas fled away for fear of their lives,
leaving cattle and other property unprotected^
Somebody reported to the Committee that
the cattle were dying without food and water.
The Committee deputed Bhai Mool Singh to
take care of the animals and make a list of
the property left. It was done. A free
kitchen was also opened in the place. On
March 12, Bhai Mool Singh was arrested for
having committed a dacoity and Bhai Kartar
Singh, who has upto now never stepped into
the place, was added as a co-accused. Bhai

273

Kartar Singh was sentenced to five years1
rigorous imprisonment under Section 395,
I. P. C, and two years under Section 452,
I. P. C, both sentences to run concurrently.
Bhai Mool Singh was sentenced to three years'
rigorous imprisonment under Section 395,
I. P. C, and one year under Section 452,
I. P. C, both sentences to run concurrently.
These sentences were passed about five
months after the arrests, although the accused,
by way of protest against the treatment of
Mr. Keough, the Additional District Magis-
trate, had non-co-operated.

These cases belong to Nankana Sahib.
There were similar cases going on at the
same time in other places. The Govern-
ment had issued instructions to District
Magistrates to attach a Gurdwara whenever
there seemed to be an apprehension of
interference on the part of Akalis. There
began a regular campaign of arrests, and even
old cases were dug up against the reforming
Sikhs. There is a specimen of Government's
own efforts to relieve tension by appointing
managing committees in disputed Gurdwaras.
On March 13, 1921, a meeting of some Sikhs
of the Ferozepore District was convened at
Muktsar in the presence of the Commissioner
and the Deputy Commissioner, who announced
their intention of withdrawing from the
management of the Muktsar temple and

274.

relieving the official president, the Naib-
Tahsildar, and the official Secretary, the local
Sub-Kegistrar. A committee of 18 members,
twelve of whom were priests, was appointed
for the management of the Darbar Sahib.

The new policy of Government had the
effect of encouraging opposition to the
Sikh cause from all sides. Even the Bbatti
Mohammedans living round Nankana Sahib
sent a memorial to the Government to hand
over the Janam Asthan to them. The
Mahants and priests were emboldened to
seek independence of the Sikh Panth. Certain
Udast Mahants,* in their memorial to the
Government, went so far as to say that the
Udasis were not Sikhs at all, but a sect of
Hindus, like the Sanyasis and Bairagis.
Others, especially in Sindh, made a hero of
Mahant Karain Das, and began to exclude the
Sikh congregations from their temples. One
such case occurred at Lahore.

Within the Sheranwala Gate in Lahore
there is a Gurdwara sacred to the memory of
Bhai Sadhu Bam, a great Sikh of Guru Arjan..
It was in the custody of Mabantni Nand Kaur

f A great irany Udasi and other Mahants, how-
ever, especially those in Shabpur District, tiotested
against the dishonest attempt of certain Sadhns to
c'eny Sikhism and declared themselves as the follow-
ers of the ten Hkh Gtrts They also expressed
themselves, in favour of the present movement of
Gurcwara reform.

275

and her chela Hari Das, against whom there
were some complaints as regards his character.
After the Nankana tragedy the attitude of
Hari Das towards the Sikh congregations
became truculent. He declared that the
temple was his private house and no
Gurdwara. He actually began to make
preparations to convert it into a Thakurdwara.
He went so far in his hostility towards the
Sikhs that he expelled those Sikh tenants
who were living in the Gurdwara houses on
rent. The Sikhs who went to remonstrate
with him were ill-treated. At last the Sikhs,
with the permission of the local Gurdwara
Parbandhak Committee, decided to hold a
diwan in the temple on 6th March.
When the sangat went to the place on the
fixed day they found it locked. The man
had gone to bring the police. The meeting
was, however, held in an adjoining temple,
where Hari Das came and begged pardon
for having insulted the sangat by shutting
them out of the temple. The people after
imposiDg a tankhah, which he readily
accepted, went with him to the Dharamsala
and re-assured the Mahantni by telling her
that there was no intention of ousting her.
Hari Das also agreed to work according to
the wishes of the Gurdwara Committee, and
the sangat went away. On March 9, when
the sangat went again, they found the temple

276

closed against them and a posse of about 100
policemen standing on guard. The sangat
insisted on their right of entering the Gur-
dwara, but the police refused to let them
enter. The District Magistrate arrived in
the morning and declared that the Gurdwara
was attached, but that the Sikhs could enter
for worship. The sangat went in and held
their diwan. The Nishan Sahib or the flag,
which is usually found in Gurdwaras, and
which was lying down in a dilapidated
condition, was raised up. When on March 10
Mr. Browne, Deputy Superintendent of
Police, came to the Gurdwara, he was
much enraged to find the flag upraised, and
ordered it to be taken down. Some weak-
kneed Sikhs carried out the order, which was
an unnecessary interference with a religious
custom of the Sikhs. In the evening the
three Sikhs, who had helped in the desecra-
tion of the flag, expressed their regret and
the flag was hoisted again.

On March 11, when the morning service
was going on, the Superintendent of Police
and Mr. Browne came with a force of police
and ordered the congregation to disperse.
The Sikhs resented this interference with
their worship, but did not move from the
place. Twenty one persons were arrested,
of whom seven were released by the District
Magistrate. They were charged under

277

Sections 143 and 148, I. P. C. Mr. J. E.
Keough, the trying Magistrate, showed the
same objectionable attitude in this case as in
other cases. He held that the shrine in
dispute was not a Gurdwara but a place of
Udasis, with which the Sikhs, who called
themselves Akalis, had got nothing to do.
The District Magistrate, Major Ferrar, also
exhibited great nervousness by ordering the
arrest of Sikh visitors to the court who wore
kirpans. He would not admit any Sikh with
a kirpan into his presence. Of the 14
accused, who had refused to defend them-
selves, Bhai Bhagat Singh was sentenced to
9 months and the remaining to 6 months'
imprisonment, except one who was acquitted.
When the case of Sadhu Ram's Dharam-
sala began an old case, which had happened
in Lahore six months before, was also raked
up. Bhai Sant Singh, President, Khalsa
Parcharak Jatha, Bhai Sadhu Singh, Secre-
tary, Bhai Gurbakhsh Singh and eight others,
who had been deputed by the local Gurdwara
Committee to take charge of the Gurdwara
of Chomala Sahib in September, 1920, were
sent to jail on 21st March, 1921. They were
put on trial under Sections 145 (rioting), 448
(taking forcible and illegal possession of pro-
perty) and 342 (wrongful confinement) of the
Indian Penal Code. A charge of dacoity
under Section 395, I. P. C, was added after-

278

wards, but it was quashed. The City
Magistrate tried them in the Borstal Jail.
They refused to defend themselves, and two
of them were convicted, getting 6 months'
imprisonment each.

Another old case came up about the
same time, and was tried by Mr. Keough.
We saw how in December, 1920, the sangat
of Jhambar Kalan in Lahore District,
exercising their ancient right of appoint-
ing incumbents of their Gurdwaras, had
ousted Mahant Prem Singh from the
Gurdwara of Tham Sahib and the lands
belonging to it. After the Nankana tragedy
on March 13, three Lambardars, three
Pattidars, and nine other Sikhs, including
Bhai Teja Singh of Bhuchar, were arrested
for having taken forcible possession of Tham
Sahib, Manak Chauk and Chah Nihanganwala.
They were also charged with dacoity for
having taken away six kirpans from Manak
Chatik to Akal Takht and a pony of the
Mahant. Three of them were released, and
after about five months the remaining 12
were convicted of both the charges. Bhai
Teja Singh of Bhuchar was sentenced to
five years' rigorous imprisonment, including
three months' solitary confinement, under
Section 395, I. P. C, and to two years'
rigorous imprisonment under Section 452,
I. P. 0., the two sentences to run consecu-

• 279

tively. Three others were each sentenced
to three years' rigorous imprisonment, includ-
ing three months' solitary confinement, under
Section 395, I. P. C, and to one year's
rigorous. imprisonment under Section 452,
I. P. C, the sentences to run consecutively.
The remaining accused were each sentenced
to two years' R. I. under Section 395, I. P.O.,
and one year's R. I. under Section 452, I. P.O.,
the sentences to run concurrently,

Mr. Keough tried another case in which
a Mahant was encouraged by the new
Government policy to break with the Panth.
Manak near Raewind in the Lahore District
is a Gurdwara sacred to Bhai Prithi, a mis-
sionary Sikh of the eighteenth century. It was
entered as a Gurdwara in the Settlement
papers of 1892-93 and 1912-13. The Mahant,
named Basant Das, took a very prominent
part in Mahant Narain Das's conferences
held before the Nankana tragedy. He was the
secretary of the Sadhus' Association which
had been formed in November, 1920, to oppose
the Sikhs, and of which Mahant Narain Das
was the president. After the tragedy he be-
came nervous about his position, and on 1st
March applied in writing to the Lahore sangat,
through Sardar Ujagar Singh Vakil and
Sardar Mehar Singh Chawla, to get the
Gurdwara affiliated to the Shromani Com-
mittee. The astute Mahant also volunteered

280

to get himself baptised and began to sign
himself as Basant Singh. Some Lahore
Sikhs, accompanied by a few local Sikhs, went
to Manak and the Mahant voluntarily gave
charge of the Gurdwara to them. There
arose, however, some differences about the
details of management and the Mahant went
away to Lahore on March 9 to report the
matter to the authorities.

The District Magistrate issued an order
of attachment under Section 145, 1. P.O., and
sent a Sub-Inspector of Police to eject the
Sikhs. The Sikhs, who did not understand
the trick of the Mahant, refused to vacate
the place, saying that they were there on
the explicit invitation of the Mahant and
that the matter being purely religious the
police had no ground to interfere. On the
night of March 12 the District Magistrate,
accompanied by the Senior Superintendent
of Police, a Magistrate and a force of 100
police, proceeded to the spot by a special train
and arrested 21 persons early in the morning.
S. Ujagar Singh Vakil had already been
arrested at Lahore on the 11th. Nine more
were arrested later on. The Gurdwara was
attached under Section 145, I. P. C. Three
accused were discharged on August 6. Of
the remaining 28 accused, five including Bhai
Lahora Singh were charged under Section 452,
I. P. O., with having committed the

281

offence of house trespass and having made
preparations for causing hurt, and under
Section 395, I. P. C, for dacoity, and the
remaining under the former Section only.

The Mahant during the trial declared
definitely, in opposition to his statement in a
Sialkot court and the official records, that he
was not a Sikh and that the place was a
Sadhus' dera and not a Gurdwara. The
Magistrate also went out of his way to con-
demn the Akali movement, as he had done
in the other similar cases before him.
Although he would not permit the defence
counsel to touch on the question whether the
Mahant was a Sikh and the disputed place
a Gurdwara, he himself in his judgment
made a dogmatic pronouncement that the
Udasis were not Sikhs and that the institu-
tion was an Udasi dera and not a Gurdwara.
While citing the old Eevenue Kecords of
1868 and a report by a Deputy Commissioner
in favour of the place being called a dera, he
carefully ignored the Settlement papers of
1892-93 and 1912-13, which had been quoted
by the defence counsel and in which it was
called a Gurdwara. The defendants declar-
ed in vain that the Mahant had himself
handed over the institution to them and that
they had gone there to take charge at his
own invitation. They in vain presented a
document in which the Mahant had clearly

282

stated that, before leaving Manak on March 9,
he had not been harshly treated by the
Akalis. Twenty out of 28 accused were
convicted on September 17. Bhai Lahora
Singh, being the leader, was sentenced to
7 years* R. I. under Section 395, I.P.C., and
to two years' R. I. under Section 452, I. P.O.,
the two sentences to run consecutively.
Bhais Sawan Singh and Hazara Singh got
4 years each under Section 395 and 2 years
each under Section 452, I. P.O., the sentences
to run consecutively. The remaining
17 were sentenced to two years' R. I. each
under Section 452, I. P. C. Eight accused,
including S. Ujagar Singh, Pleader, were
acquitted.

In the beginning of September, 1921,
after the Chief Khalsa Diwan deputation had
failed and after the newly-elected Shromani
Committee had confirmed on 28th August
the resolution of non-co-operation passed by
the old committee in May last, the Govern-
ment saw reason to release 32 prisoners out
of those who had been sentenced in the above-
mentioned Gurdwara cases. The sentences
were suspended on the understanding that
the released persons would remain of good
behaviour during the term of their sentences.
The Shromani Committee and the Panth did
not approve of this action of the Sikhs who
had accepted release on such a condition. The

283

Sikhs arrested in the Manak case were not
released, as their case was still pending when
the order of release in other cases was
given. But the promised release did not
come even when their case was decided and
the false alarm as the Gurdwara Teje, which
was given at the reason for withholding the
concession, had been judicially proved a mere
hoax. The omission was the more glaring
in the cases of S. Mangal Singh, B. A., and
S. Partap Singh, B. A., B. T., editors of the
Ahali, S. Amar Singh of Jhabal and Sardar
Sardul Singh Caveessieur, who had been
sentenced for writing or speaking in connec-
tion with those G-urdwaras.

CHAPTER XVI.

GURDWARA BHAI J06A SINGH.

In Peshawar there is a temple called
Bhai Joga Singh's Gurdwara. The Bhai
Sahib, in whose honour the temple was built,
was a Sikh who had received baptism from
Guru Gobind Singh himself. He was so
devoted to the cause of Sikhism that once,
when his marriage ceremony was being
performed, summons came from the Guru
and he left his bride in the midst of the
ceremony and joined his Guru at Anandpur.*
He is also called Jogan Shah by Hindus and
Mohammedans in the Frontier. In those
districts it is customary to call a saint a Shah.
Another origin of the epithet Shah is given
in the Tales from Sikh History (p. 60).
Once a Durrani Governor's daughter was
cured by a visit to this temple. She began
to frequent the temple, which was not liked
by her father. But when she persisted against
all attempts of her father to dissuade her,
the Governor ordered that every one should
pronounce Jogan Shah instead of Joga Singh,
and gave it out that he was a Sayyed Faqir*

* See Macauliffe : The Sikh Religion^ Vol. W
p. 138; also Suraj Parkash, Chapter 36, Rut 4.

285

A mosque was raised by the side of the
Gurdwara and a well was also dug to carry
conviction to the ignorant masses.

The Sikhs in Peshawar are in a very
small minority and in that Province of the
summary law they are not able to look after
their interests properly.

Some time back, while the reform move-
ment among the Sikhs had not yet touched
Peshawar, a Granthi named Bhai Tara Singh
was removed on account of his ill fame and
another baptised Sikh was appointed in his
place. A committee had also been proposed
to govern the temple. It was to be composed
of four baptised Sikhs and four Sahjdharis,
and Rai Bahadur Karam Chand, who called
himself a Sahjdhari, was nominated to act as
receiver in connection with the accounts of
the temple, pending the formation of the
above committee. Unfortunately the com-
mittee never came into existence, and the
said gentleman continued to look after the
accounts as receiver, while the management
of the temple remained in the hands of the
Granthi and the sangat.

When the reform of Gurdwaras began
in 1920 the Hindu leaders held a meeting in
the GurdwaTa of Mai Raji. They impressed
on the people that all Gurdwaras were really
meeting places for Hindus and Sikhs, where
all could perform their rites.

286

This alarmed the Sikhs. They held that
even if the Sikhs were Hindus, nobody but
themselves should be in charge of the Sikh
temples. The Jains, the Brahmos, the Arya
Samajists were Hindus, but they would not
allow the Sikhs or men not belonging to
their sects to interfere with the management
or the ritual of their temples. The Hindus
said that, as they had been supporting the
Sikh temples along with the Sikhs, they had
the right of sharing the management. The
Sikh view was that 70 per cent, of the people
who visit and worship the Shrine of Sakhi
Sarwar are Hindus, but this fact would not
persuade the Mohammedan managers of
that place .to give control to the Hindus.
Besides the Sikhs also have been supporting
the Hindu shrines. Their demand was that
at least in their temples they alone should
have control. Besides the rule has been that
the Sahjdharis may call themselves Sikhs and
enjoy the right of praying, receiving the
communion food or listening to discourses
in the Sikh temples, but they have always
accepted the leadership of baptised Sikhs in
matters of ritual. They have never followed
any other ritual except that prescribed in
Sikhism. Therefore those at Peshawar, who
were insisting on the introduction of Hindu
worship in the Gurdwara, were not Sahjdharis
but_Hindu aggressors who wanted to impose

287

their customs on Sikhs and to convert the
latter's Gurdwaras into Thakurdwaras.

Any reasonable man will admit that it is
impossible to perform both Hindu and Sikh
rituah in the same temple. As long as both
were backward committees they might make
all sorts of combinations of religious practices,
but when they have reformed themselves
it is most desirable for them to confine their
rituals to their separate temples. They have
become self-conscious and, whether rightly or
wrongly, their religious sympathies and
interests are no longer identical. They
cannot be forced to amalgamate themselves.
Separation of religious interests is bound to
happen. Then in the interest of the wider
unity awaiting us, why should we not do it
decently ?

The Sikhs came in a deputation to the
house of Rai Bahadur Karam Chand to
persuade him to make peace. On 21st Decem-
ber, 1920, the Hindu and Sikh leaders met
together at the house of S. Ram Singh, a.
Sikh backer, for settling the question. But
the Hindus were inexorable. It was openly
said that Bhai Joga Singh was a Hindu
ascetic and no Sikh, that his temple belonged
to the Hindus alone. Every day in the
temple meetings anti-Sikh literature began
tb be distributed and the Sikh worship was
disturbed. At the same time, other Sikh,

288

temples in the city met the same fate. Their
doors were closed against the Sikhs and
prayers suspended. The Sikh Scriptures were
removed from some and other books or
images substituted. Here and there a
lonely passing Sikh was jeered at, abused or
beaten.

The Akali Jatha which was in those days
at Panja Sahib, midway between Eawalpindi
and Peshawar, heard of the troubles of the
Peshawar Sikhs and came to their rescue.
They with their leader Bhai Teja Singh of
Bhuchar put up at Bhai Joga Singh's temple.
It was reported to the authorities that the
Jatha people were Bolsheviks and that they
had come with the purpose of looting and
terrorising the people. The Deputy Com-
missioner issued orders that Bhai Teja Singh
with his party should leave Peshawar within
24 hours. These orders were at once with-
drawn, when the Deputy Commissioner
discovered that he had been misled. An
application was filed under Section 145, Cr. P.
C, and i?he leading Sikhs of Peshawar and the
Akali Jatha were summoned as respondents
to the Court of the City Magistrate
on 28th December at a few hours' notice,
On both parties giving assurance that there
would be no breach of the peace the appli-
cation was dismissed.

289

The Sikhs kept the promise. But the
attacks on them continued as before. Once
aKabuli Sikh, named Jagat Singh, was set
upon in a street and almost done to death.
Attempts were made to set fire to the temple
of Bhai Joga Singh.

In the beginning of February an attempt
was made by Lala Lajpat Eai and Giani Sher
Singh to make peace between the parties, but
they were not allowed by Government to
proceed to Peshawar, and were stopped at
Attock. Then on February 20 Hindu and
Sikh leaders of Peshawar and Pindi met
Mahatma Gandhi and Lala Lajpat Eai at
.Rawalpindi, and it was proposed to refer the
question to a court of arbitrators composed
of five Sikhs and five Hindus, but the terrible
news of the Nankana tragedy put a stop to
all deliberations.

Just before the Holi festival, on March 17,
a compromise was arrived at in the presence
of the Deputy Commissioner. Both parties
agreed that, pending the settlement of the
whole Gurdwara question by legislation or
otherwise in the Punjab, the Gurdwaras of Mai
Baji and Kakran should remain in the hands
of Hindus and the Gurdwara of Bhai Joga
Singh should remain in the hands of Sikhs,
who were also required to send away all the
jatha people, except five to remain in charge
of the temple.

290

On March 22 the jatha was Bent away
to the Punjab and only five men were left in
the Gurdwara. The next day the Hindus,
forgetting the compromise made in the court,
made a serious attempt to capture the
Gurdwara. They came about noon to the
temple and, according to the published
testimony of an eye-witness who is a Hindu
gentleman, began to shout the Jai of Mahant
Narain Das and Bawa Kartar Singh BedL
They wanted to celebrate Holi in the Gur-
dwara. The few Sikhs who were there refused
to allow them. The Hindus went away, but
after 15 minutes a large crowd with a big
banner and armed with lathis and knives
made a rush at the Gurdwara. A Sikh
standing in the doorway was overpowered.
He called for help. Only three Sikhs attacked
the menacing crowd in return and threw
them into confusion. The mob wanted to run
away, but their retreat was made difficult by
the whole street being full of the Holi crowds.
The Sikhs plied their lathis freely and cleared
not only the Gurdwara but the whole lane
of all males ; their females were all the while
throwing stones and showering abuses on the
Sikhs. Three Sikhs and 13 Hindus were
said to have received injuries.

The police and the Deputy Commissioner
appeared on the scene, and a large number
of Sikhs, too, hastened to the Gurdwara. No

291

Hindu was touched, but about 40 Sikhs,
including the members of the jatha and those
Sikhs who had come to the spot after the
affray, were arrested. The Gurdwara was
attached and put under a military and police
guard. No Sikh was allowed access to it.
The Sikhs, especially military men, protested
against the attachment of their Gurdwara.
They wired to the Gurdwara Committee and
the Sikh Press, but their telegrams were
stopped. They had to send a special messenger
to Lahore and Amritsar in order to inform
the Sikh public outside Peshawar. The
arrested Sikhs were released next day.

It was notified by the Deputy Commis-
sioner of Peshawar that nobody should go
about in the city with a kirpan or any other
weapon. Those Sikhs, who could not part
with the kirpan as a religious obligation, went
away to the Sadar where the order was not
promulgated. A free kitchen was opened in
the Sadar Singh Sabha to feed the refugees.
A big diwan was held on the evening of
24th March to protest against the high-
handed action of the Deputy Commissioner.
Giani Sher Singh, who had arrived by
that time, went to see the Deputy
Commissioner at his bungalow on the 26th
to protest against his order about the kirpan,
but the Giani was told to put off his kirpan
before he entered the Deputy Commissioner's

292

room. The Sikh leader refused to see him
under that humiliating condition, and was
then allowed to come in with the kirpan. On
the matter being put to him, the Deputy
Commissioner said that the Sikhs had been
deprived of the kirpan in many places in the
Punjab too. He was told that at Nankana
Sahib, where even little sticks and canes had
been taken away from Sikhs, nobody was
deprived of his kirpan. The Deputy Com-
missioner wanted time to consult the Deputy
Commissioner of Lahore, and about 1 p. M.
che order against the wearing of kirpans was
withdrawn. After much agitation against
the attachment of the Gurdwara, it was
freed on April 12.

After being dragged about in courts for
some time, the Sikhs obtained a firm
possession of the Gurdwara, and now it is
being controlled by the Sri Guru Singh Sabha
of Peshawar City, which has appointed a
sub-committee of five members to carry on
the management. There is perfect amity
between Hindus and Sikhs now.

CHAPTER XVII.

KAMALIA, SATLANI, TEJE, HOTHIAN, KAPUR-
THALA AND FARIDKOTE.

At Kamalia in the Montgomery District
there is a well-known Gurdwara named after
Bhai Prem Sati, a Sikh saint. It has got the
revenue of the village attached to it. Bhai
Taru Ji, Mahant of. the place, feeling very
old, in 1909 appointed Tikka Earn Kishan
Singh of Una as his general Attorney. This
gentleman, who already possessed a great
estate, wanted to add to it the revenues of
this place also. As he was a married man,
he could not himself acquire the gaddi ;
therefore he got his minor son, Devindar
Singh, appointed as chela of the Mahant.
But this young man, who got married, never
attended to his duties, and the purpose for
which the Mahant had made these arrange-
ments was never fulfilled. The daily service,
the free kitchen, the repairs of the buildings,
were all neglected, and the old Mahant
himself was not cared for. On February 10,
1921, Bhai Taru Ji applied to the Shromani
Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee to take
charge of the Gurdwara and make some
provision for his living. The Shromani
Committee sent three men to get the thing

294

done and a deed was properly registered on
March 8, 1921, by which the Gurdwara and
the property were transferred to the name
of the Shromani Committee, which made a
comfortable provision for the Mahant. This
was, of course, not very palatable to Tikka
Bam Eishan Singh or his supporters in the
town. He came on April 5 and put up in the
upper storey of the Gurdwara. Next day a
large number of persons attacked the
unresisting Sikhs who were holding a memo-
rial diwan in the temple, and a repetition of
the Nankana tragedy was averted only by the
timely interference of two local gentlemen
and the police. The Sikhs felt deeply
wronged, but were persuaded, in the interest
of Hindu- Sikh unity, to forgive their attackers
and take no action. The matter seemed to
have been settled once for all, when many
months later to the surprise of all honest
men, all the leading Sikhs of the place,
including the old Mahant, seven in all, were
required by the Magistrate to furnish securi-
ties for keeping the peace and being of good
behaviour. They refused and were sent to
jail. The irony of fate is that the Sikhs were
the party attacked and they form an infini-
tesimal minority in a vast population of
Hindus at Kamalia. These seven Sikhs
were practically the whole of the local
Managing Committee of the Gurdwara.

295

The Shromani Committee sent a number
of workers under responsible men to carry
on the management of the Gurdwara and
its landed property. But all of them, about 24,
were arrested on February 27, 1922. The
Shromani Committee was in session when
the news was brought, and the Executive
Committee at once proceeded to Kamalia to
take the matter in hand. After this for a
long time batches of Sikhs from different
places had to be deputed to keep the work
of the Gurdwara going. On April 6, 21 of
the accused along with their Jathadar Bhai
Buta Singh, Assistant Manager of Nankana
Sahib, were sentenced each to 6 months'
B. I., and other two who were quite young
were sentenced each to one day's B. I.

The temple of Gurusar Satlani in the
Amritsar district is an historical Gurdwara,
sacred to the 6th Guru. Bhai Bulaqa Singh
of Guru Gobind Singh's time was its first
Mahant. His son Bhai Basti Earn, although
a renowned personage, was not an Amritdhari
Sikh ; and so were his descendants for some
time; therefore the Gaddi came to be adminis-
tered by Amritdhari Sikhs, one of whom, Bhai
Kooma Singh, was a great Sikh who refused
to accept a jagir from the State. Bhai Bir Singh,
the predecessor of the present Mahant, was
also called Nihang Singh and Dilli-tor Singh,
nd Sir Charles Aitchison wrote about him

296

that to know him was to love him. Its present
Mahant Bhai Kirpa Singh boasted in a court
that he had acquired control over more than
three hundred Gurdwaras and that he was the
Shri Mahant of all the Gurdwaras in Northern
India. According to him one sign of his over-
lordship of so many temples was that all the
bhang consumed in them was supplied by him
out of the two boat-loads which he got
exempted from Government.*

Without any attempt on the part of the
Sikhs the Mahant vacated the temple about
the beginning of February, 1921. The sangat
of the surrounding villages gathered at the
place on March 6, 1921, and gave charge of

* See the Punjab Government notification No. 8
(Revenue), dated 20th Jannary, 1903. By this
notification the Lieutenant-Governor exempted bhang
obtained for the supply of the Gurdwara of Satlani
from the duty imposed upon the transport of bhang.,
provided (1) that it was obtained from Gurdaspur
district, (2) that the quantity obtained in any one
year did not exceed 350 maunds, and (3) that it was
consumed only by the Mahants and the Sadhus
resident at Satlani and other Gurdwaras subordinate
to the gaddi, of which 93 are mentioned in a schedule
attached to the notification.

The morality of the exemption apart, could 350
maunds of bhang be consumed by all the Nirmalas,
whose total number in the Punjab at the census of
1911 did not exceed 378 all of whom could not be
Mahants and Sadhus, and most of whom did not
drink bhang at all.

297

the temple to an Akali jatha. A committee
was appointed, and a list of the articles found
in the Gurdwara was prepared and reported
to the Shromani Committee. A few days
later the Deputy Commissioner summoned
the members of the local committee and
told them that the Government did not want
to give back the possession to Kirpa Singh,
but that the man should be allowed to visit
the temple. He came on the eight of April
16, and refused to leave the temple. The
Sikhs did not want to use force and the
officers refused to oust him, so he remained
in possession in the teeth of all popular
opposition.

Then in July, 1921, a few leading Sikhs
of the ilaqa, including Bisaldar Ajapal Singh
Zaildar, S. Bhagat Singh Lambardar, Sardar
Mota Singh Keis, S. Surain Singh Jagirdar
and Bhai Sadhu Singh, a chela of the Mahant,
applied to the Deputy Commissioner for
permission to institute a civil suit against
Mahant Kirpa Singh. They made grave
allegations against his character and exhibited
a photograph in which the Mahant had
got himself portrayed along with a woman
of questionable character. They also
filed the alleged love letters of the
Mahant in the civil suit which was decided
on 5th October, 1922. There was plenty
of evidence to show that the character

298

of the Mahant was tad, and about this
complaints had been made even in courts
in 1898 and 1912. He was now found to be
given to wine drinking and womanizing. He
kept mistresses at the temple and attended
nautch parties of public women. Although
professing asceticism, he married at the
advanced age of 52 a mere child girl of 12.
He spent much time in making calls on
Government officials and was suspected of
acting as a tout between clients and some
corrupt officers. The poor house attached
to the temple was neglected. The Mahant
openly declared in court that he was not a
Sikh, but a monk belonging to the sect of
Nirmalas who, according to him, were non-
Sikhs. He declared the Gurdwara property
to be his private property. The judge found
almost all the charges of misconduct and
unfitness proved against him. He quoted
the Privy Council judgment, reported as 45
Madras 565 (July 1922), wherein it was
held that when the custodian of a temple
with trust property claims as his own lands
found to belong to the temple, he is liable
to removal from his post ; also the Punjab
High Court decision in civil appeal No. 117
of 1917, given on 1st August, 1922, to the
effect that a Mahant's denial of the waqf
nature of the property attaching to the
temple and his setting up an adverse claim

299

to it was sufficient in itself to render him an
unfit person to continue in the office of
Mahant.

The Judge ordered that Kirpa Singh be
removed from the gaddi, that a new Mahant
be appointed by the Nirmala Sikhs in con-
sultation with the leading Sikhs of the ilaqa,
and that a committee of management consist-
ing of the following gentlemen be formed to
assist the Mahant in the management of
the Gurdwara : —

(a) The head of the Sandhanwalia
family of Eaja Sansi or his representative.

(6) The head of the Attariwala family
or a representative of that family.

(c) The Sikh Lambardar of Hoshiar-
nagar.

(d) One elected representative of the
Shromani Gurdwara Committee of Amritsar,
with 3 years' tenure of office.

(e) One resident Nirmala Sadhu of
Satlani to be elected by the Nirmalas, with
3 years' tenure of office.

(/) The Sikh representative of the Bhai
family of Lahore or lineal descendant of Bhai
Basti Earn.

(g) The Mahant of Satlani Sahib ex^
officio.

The Mahant will be the religious and
executive head of the institution. He will not
be regarded as a servant of the committeer

aoo

but he will abide by the decisions of the
eommittee in regard to the management
of the property and income.

The court also decreed that the ex-
Mahant, Kirpa Singh, be paid Es. 75 p. m. out
of the Gurdwara income as maintenance for his
life and a house in Amritsar for his residence
until his demise.

A similar case occurred at Wazirabad.
The Mahant of the historical temple of Bhai
Abinasha Singh had been openly charged
with misappropriation and mismanagement
of the trust, and his alleged love letters to
his own aunt were published in the Press.
But the Mahant took no notice. The per-
mission being secured from the Collector of
Gujranwala a civil suit under Section 92,
C. P. C, was filed on March 31, 1921, for the
removal of the Mahant. The case is still
pending.

Mahant Dhian Das of Gurdwara Teje,
sacred to Baba Budha, in the district of
Gurdaspur, was mismanaging the gaddi and
wasting the income, which was about
E,s. 14,000 a year, on drink and mistresses.
Public opinion forced him to make over
•the management by a deed dated 17th
February, 1921, to the Shromani Gurdwara
Parbandhak Committee. He was reappointed
Mahant on certain conditions, one of which
was that if he misconducted himself

301

in future or broke any other condition
laid down on his appointment, he would be
dismissed. He defied the local committee,
which had been appointed for his guidance,
and broke almost all the conditions. The
matter was reported to the Shromani
Committee, which appointed a sub-committee
to look into the matter and take action.
The Mahant issued a handbill defying the
whole Panth, which, he said, had no concern
with the Gurdwara. On September 23, the
sub-committee visited the temple and found
two of his mistresses actually in his bed-room.
Tobacco and wine were also found in the
Gurdwara. The Mahant was dismissed at
once.

The police came, and also hundreds of
the Mahant's supporters, who surrounded the
Sikhs in the Gurdwara and began to throw
stones at them. The besieged Sikhs
received injuries, but did not retaliate. One
of the Sikhs, who was found outside, was
beaten mercilessly before the very eyes of his
comrades. The Working Committee of the
Shromani Committee reached the spot in a
motor car and showed the agreement signed by
the Mahant to the District officers, who de-
clared that in face of the agreement they were
not prepared to interfere. The suit filed by
the Mahant under Section 145, Cr. P. C, was
dismissed by the District Magistrate of

302

Gurdaspur. A Committee consisting of the
following gentlemen was appointed to manage
the shrine : — Sardar Kharak Singh, B. A.,
LL. B., Keis of Sialkot, Sardar Mehtab Singh,
Bar-at-Law, Sardar Bhag Singh, B. A., LL. B.,
Sardar Amar Singh of Jhabal, Sardar
Dan Singh Beis of Vachhoa, and Sardar Teja
Singh of Alavalpur.

After this another Gurdwara in the
district of Gurdaspur came into the possession
of the Panth. Mahant Nanak Saran, in
charge of Guru Arjan's Gurdwara of Hothian,
was squandering the income on his low
pleasures. On the night of 30th September,
1921, he lied away, secretly removing from
the Gurdwara four she-buffaloes, 2 horses,
furniture, and every other article of value.
The greatest sacrilege he committed was that
he stole away two copies of Guru Granth Sahib,
one of which was a beautiful old manuscript.
Next day the sangat were thunderstruck
to find the Gurdwara deserted- and the
Sacred Book removed. A few Namdhari
Sikhs took charge of the place and carried on
the worship upto 4th October, when they
went away of their own accord. The
prominent Sikhs of Hothian and the neigh-
bourhood assembled in large numbers in
the Gurdwara on that day, and after con-
demning the conduct of the Mahant signed
a stamped punchayatnama authorising the

303

Shromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee
to control and manage the institution. They
handed 'over the control temporarily to a
committee of eleven Sikhs under Jathadar
Gajjan Singh.

The Mahant reported to the police that
he had been forcibly evicted from the Alchara
on 30th September. The Sikhs in charge
of the Gurdwara were arrested and hand-
cuffed, which was absolutely in contravention
of the law, as the Section 145, Cr.P.C, is not
an offence for which attendance can be en-
forced. The District Magistrate, the same
who had decided the Teje case, ordered on
October 26th that the possession should rest
with the Mahant and that nobody should
come and interfere in his possession.

The Executive Committee of the Shro-
mani Committee, which was in session on
29th October when it heard the news, at
once proceedad to the spot and told the
District Magistrate that his orders were
indefensible and that the Mahant would not
be allowed to take possession. The District
Magistrate fumed and fretted, but the Sikhs
held their ground.

On March 17, 1922, the District Magis-
trate informed the Shromani Committee
that he intended to enforce the order passed
on October 26, and wanted to . discuss the
matter with the Committee. Two members

304

went and interviewed the Magistrate on
March 31 and April 25. But the possession
has remained with the Sikhs.

The Sikh community was glad to hear
in October, 1921, that the Sikh State of
Kapurthala had taken up the question of
Gurdwara reform in real earnest. A diwan
was convened at Kapurthala on 28th
August, 1921, in which certain proposals about
the reform of Sikh temples in the State were
made for the consideration of the Darbar*
Another meeting of the Sikhs, invited from
all parts of the State, was held on 1st
October, 1921, in which Major General Puran
Singh, C.I.E., announced the following
decisions of the State about the Gurdwara
reform : —

(1) That all historic Gurdwaras and
Dharmsalas would thenceforth be under the
direct management and control of an elected
General Committee of Sikhs inhabiting
the Kapurthala State.

(2) That all village Gurdwaras and
Dharmsalas would be managed and controlled
by local Sikh Committees.

(3) That all property (moveable and
immoveable) attached to historic and other
village Gurdwaras and Dharmsalas, which
had hitherto been shown in Eevenue Eegis-
ters against Sadhus and Mahants, would at

305

once be mutated in favour of Sri Guru
Grranth Sahib.

(4) That all Sadhus and Mahants lead-
ing vicious and wicked lives or not following
the main principles of Sikhism as laid down
by the Panth would be, after having been
given an opportunity to reform themselves,
at once turned out of the Gurdwaras or
Dharmsalas.

(5) That the General Committee would
manage its work in accordance with the
wishes of the Tehsil sub-committees, the
members of which will be elected according
to the rules prescribed by the Shromani
Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee.

The Gurdwara of Babe-di-Ber in Sultan-
pur, which used to be managed by Mahants,
was placed in the hands of the Committee.
It is a Gurdwara situated on the Bein river
which flows by the town of Sultanpur, where
Guru Nanak had spent some time as store-
keeper of the Lodhi Nawab, and the spot
is sacred as the place where Guru Nanak
had meditated for three days on the future
career of his mission.

In January, 1922, it was learnt that the
management of two other Gurdwaras,
Chaunta Sahib and Domeli, connected with
Guru Har Gobind, were given over to the
Eepresentative Committee.

306

This example was followed up by Farid-
kot State. A Central Gurdwara Parbandhak
Committee, consisting of officials and non-
officials, was formed in April, 1922, to manage
and control the historical Gurdwaras in the
State. The Gurdwaras which badly stood
in need of monetary and other assistance,
such as those at Kot Kapura, Bahbal Kalan,
Mahma Sewai and Lakhi Jangal, received
the immediate attention of the Committee.
Local Sub-Committees were formed to manage
them and funds were collected to complete
the unfinished buildings or to put up new
ones.

CHAPTER XVIII.

THE GURDWARA BILL.

In the beginning of the Gurdwara reform '
jnovement the Government remained neutral.
/ But after the Tarn Taran tragedy, as the
/ events began to thicken and the movement
became more rapid, it resolved to take
some action. A communique was issued on
February 16, 1921, in which the Government
announced that a Committee of Enquiry was
contemplated ' to consider the existing
management of Sikh Gurdwaras, shrines, etc.,
and the efforts being made to alter such
management and to report on the best
method of settling disputes and of regulating
future control of the institutions.' To
arrange for certain preliminary enquiries a
conference between the Eeformers, as
represented by the Shromani Committee,
and the Mahants, as represented by
Bawa Kartar Singh Bedi, was proposed
to be held at Lahore as early as convenient.
It was to be presided over by Sheikh Asghar
Ali, C. B. A., I. C. S., who was a Secretary
to the Government of the Punjab. But clolse
upon the proposal came the horrible tragedy

308

of Nankana and the conference was never
held.

Then the Government ' in order to ensure
the overhauling of the position of Sikh
shrines ' proposed the adoption of 1 islatio
in the form of appointment of comm ioner '
on the lines of Charity Commissioners
in England. But as a full-fledged act would
take some time and the need for action was
immediate, an Ordinance was suggested to
serve in the meanwhile. On March 14, Mian
Fazl-i-Hussain, Minister of Education, move
the following resolution in the Punjab
Council :• —

" That this Council moves the Local
Government to take early steps to introduce
a Bill overhauling the law relating to chari-
table and religious endowments in the
Province, and pending the presentation and
passing of the legislation, it moves the
Governor-General to make and promulgate
an ordinance on the subject?, so that the
movement to alter and reform the existing
management of such endowments may cease
to threaten the peace and good government
of the Province ; provided that on the expiry
of the ordinance the jurisdiction of civil
courts, or of such courts as the Bill which it
is proposed to introduce may establish, shall
not be ousted" (The italicised words were

7

309

added as the result of Raja Narendra Nath's
amendment).

In moving his resolution Mian Fazl-i-
Hussain admitted that the existing law was
not adequate. They had the Regulation 19
of 1810, the Regulation 7 of 1817, Act XX of
1863, Act VI of 1890, Act XIV of 1920, and
certain provisions in the Civil Procedure
Code. Of these the first two did not apply to
the Punjab, the third should be left out of
account, because the religious endowments
referred to in that Act did not exist in the
Punjab, and the Act of 1920 was only an
enabling Act. The provisions of the Civil
Procedure Code were the only provisions
that could be utilised. But the procedure
laid down, he said, was expensive and dilatory.
Further on the Hon'ble Minister said that
wherever there was a man unworthy of hold-
ing the position of a trustee, or who did not
fulfil the objects of the trust, there should be
an effective machinery of law to replace him.
But the existing legal provisions of law — which
were embodied in the Civil Procedure Code —
were too costly and took too long to work.

The Gurdwara Commission which was to
be appointed under the proposed Ordinance
was to consist of three Members, two of
whom were to be non-officials and Sikhs.
Its function was to be to take charge of the
contested Gurdwaras temporarily and make

310

provision for the men who lived in them and
who had a right to do so. Eaja Narendra
Nath, who proposed a.n amendment which
was incorporated, said that Section 145 of
the Cr. P. Code was sufficient to meet the
requirements of the situation. Some Hindu
members raised the question of the so-called
sects in Sikhism, and wanted an adequate
representation for them on the proposed
commission. Mr. Ganpat Eai who was the
legal adviser of Mahant Narain Das and who
declared himself to be a Sikh (!), went further
and desired representation for Hindus and
Mohammedans too, who, he said, had endowed
some of the Gurdwaras in the past. The Sikh
members protested againfc the wording of the
resolution and repudiated the suggestion that
there were any sects among the Sikhs. They
were sceptical about the purpose of the
Ordinance, which made no distinction between
ordinary charitable trusts and the Sikh
Gurdwaras, which must be managed accord-
ing to Sikh principles ; and they chose to
stand aloof. The resolution was, however,
passed without their votes.

The Government, under these circum-
stances, could not proceed with the Ordinance,
and decided to introduce a Bill instead, for
which the Legislative Council was adjourned
till 5th April. In the meanwhile the
Government proposed a demand of

311

Bs. 1,15,217 for an additional force of police
necessitated, as alleged, by the disturbed
state of the Central Punjab and particularly
by the disputes regarding the management of
Gurdwaras. In vain did Sardar Mehtab
Singh protest against the use of police in
Gurdwaras, which gave rise to nothing but
misrepresentation and repression of Sikhs.
In vain did he appeal to Government that
the Sikhs were the same who had shed their
life's blood in Britain's cause all over the
world. The demand was sanctioned.

Before the Council met the Sikhs were
asked to present their views as to the form
of legislation which would satisfy them. A
big representative meeting was held at the
Akal Takht on 20th March under the
auspices of the Shromnai Gurdwara Par-
bandhak Committee. Beside the members
of the Commitee other important Sikhs,
including the Sikh members of the Punjab
Council and the press representatives, were
invited to take part in the momentous debate.
In view of the wholesale arrests of Sikhs
going on at the time there was a strong
feeling in favour of Non-co-operation with
the Government in the matter of Gurdwaras,
but a compromise was effected when moderate
gentlemen, like Professor Jodh Singh, Sardar
Harbans Singh of Attari and Sardar Mehtab
Singh, wanted to give another chance to

312

Government to show its sympathy with its
old friends, the Sikhs, in their travail for
reform. The following resolutions, among
others, were passed • —

(1) That all Sikhs arrested by the
authorities in connection with the Gurdwaras
should be released.

(2) That the Panth strongly resents
and condemns the action of the authorities
concerned in arresting the Sikhs from
Gurdwaras in various places and handing
over the same to their previous Mahants and
Pujaris.

(3) That pending the enactment of
legislation on the lines suggested by the
Shromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee
for the management of the Gurdwaras and
other religious charitable institutions of the
Sikhs, the control and management of
Gurdwaras be left in the hands of those who
were exercising such control at the time
when the arrests of the Sikhs began in
various places.

(4) All efforts of the Panth to make
the Government alive to the pressing need
of reform in the Sikh Gurdwaras and
charitable institutions having failed, the
Panth standing before the Akal Takht in the
presence of the Guru resolves solemnly that if
the innocent Sikhs arrested are not released
and a satisfactory legislation of the Gur-

313

dwaras is not passed upto the 10th of April,.
19*21, the Sikhs will consider it an interference
with their religions rights and will be com-
pelled to resort to all necessary means of
reforming the Gurdwaras themselves.

(5) The Guru Panth calls upon every
Sikh to join the Akali jathas to effect the
reformation of their Gurdwaras.

(6) As by the grace of the Guru, the
Sikhs during this hour of trial have shown

he greatest fortitude and self-control, so the
Guru Panth ordains that in future, too, they
should similarly maintain their calmness and
self-restraint in the face of even greater
hardships and should never be prompted by
an idea of revenge or retaliation. Thus
should they remain faithful to Sikhism up
to the last breath.

(7) The Shromani Committee requests
all Sikhs not to interfere in the existing
management of any new Gurdwara upto
10th April next.

By another resolution a standing Com-
mittee of 12 Sikhs was appointed to discuss-
matters with the Government and the
members of the Punjab Legislative Council,
if asked to do so. But the only reply the
Government gave to the demand about the
release of prisoners was the arrest of more
leaders. One of them Sardar Amar Singh
of Jhabal was arrested under the Seditious
Meetings Act for repeating and explaining a

314

•resolution of the Gurdwara Committee about
kirpan to the congregation at the Akal Takht
on March 20. He was s-entenced to six months'
B. I. Others were prosecuted for wearing
kirpans and harassed for possessing little
axes and sticks. The Gurdwara Bill, too,
when published, was a sorely disappointing
document. The following is the full text of
the Bill as it emerged from the Select Com-
mittee, which reported on 8th April. \ui,

THE SIKH GUBDWABAS AND
SHBINES BILL.

Preamble.

Whereas it is expedient to make emer-
gent provision for the administration and
management of certain Sikh Gurdwaras, and
shrines in the Punjab, and, with a view to
future legislation relating thereto, to provide
for inquiry into these and other matters ;

And whereas the previous sanction of
the Governor- General has been obtained
under Section 80 A (3) of the Government of
India Act to the passing of this Act ;

It is hereby enacted as follows :—

Short Title and Extent.

1. (1) This Act may be called the Sikh
Gurdwaras and Shrines Act, 1921.

(2). It extends to the whole of the
Punjab.

315

Definitions.

2. In this Act—

" Disputed Gurdwara or shrine " means
a Gurdwara or shrine in respect of which a
^declaration has been made under section 3.

" Prescribed " means prescribed by rules
made by the Local Government under this
Act.

"Gurdwara" means a Sikb place of public
worship erected by or in memory of or in
commemoration of any incident in the life
of any of the 10 Sikh Gurus.

Shrine " means a Sikh place of public
worship erected in memory of a Sikh martyr
or saint.

Declaeation that a Shrine is a
Disputed Shrine.

3. Where on enquiry the Local Govern-
ment is satisfied that any dispute has arisen
or is likely to arise with respect to the ad-
ministration or management of, or succession ,
to any office in, or the title to any property
belonging to, any Sikh Gurdwara or shrine,
it may by notification declare such Gurdwara
or shrine to be disputed Gurdwara or shrine.

Effect of Declaration.

4. Upon the making of a declaration
under section 3 in respect of any Gurdwara
or shrine, such Gurdwara or shrine shall be

316

deemed to have been attached by the Local
Government ; and the Local Government
shall appoint a Board of Commissioners in
the manner hereinafter provided for the
administration and management of all such
Gurdwaras or shrines, and such Board of
Commissioners (hereinafter referred to as
the Board) shall exercise such powers and
perform such duties as may be conferred or
imposed upon it by this Act.

Appointment of Commissioners.
5. (1) The Board shall be appointed
by notification by the Local Government and
shall consist of the following :—

». A non-Sikh to be appointed by
the Local Government as
President.
iim A Sikh to be appointed by the

Local Government.
Hi. Two Sikhs to be selected by the
Local Government from a
panel of eight to be proposed
by a majority of the Sikh
Members of the Legislative
Council.
(2) Upon any vacancy occurring in the
Board by reason of . the death, resignation,
incapacity or removal of any Commissioner,
the Local Government shall, by notification,
appoint another person possessing the same
qualification as such Commissioner to fill
such vacancy.

317

(3) The President shall in case of an
equality of votes have a second or casting
vote.

Pay and Duration of office of
Commissioners.

6. The Commissioners shall be paid
such remuneration and shall hold office for
such period not exceeding two years as may
be prescribed.

Managers and Committees.

7. Subject to any restrictions that may
be prescribed in this behalf, the Board from
time to time may appoint a manager or a
committee of management for any disputed
Gurdwara or shrine and may delegate t©
such manager or committee all or any of the
powers or duties conferred or imposed on the
Board by this Act.

Central and Local Establishments.

8. (1) The Board may from time to
time appoint such officers and servants as
may be necessary for the general administra-
tion of all disputed Gurdwaras and shrines.

(2) The Board may from time to time
appoint such officers and servants as may be
necessary for any disputed Gurdwara or
shrine.

318

Salaries.

9. (1) The managers and members of
any committees of management appointed
under Section 7 and the officers and servants
appointed under Section 8, shall receive such
salaries as the Board, subject to the control
of the Local Government, may determine-

(2) Subject to the control of the Local
Government, the remuneration of the Com-
missioners, other than the President, and the
salaries of the officers and servants appointed
under Section 8 (1) shall be paid by contri-
bution from the funds of disputed Gurdwaras
and shrines in such manner and to such
extent as the Board may determine.

(3) The salaries of managers and mem-
bers of committees of management appointed
under sections 7 and 8 (2) shall be charged
against the funds of the Gurdwara or shrine,
for the management or service of which they
have been appointed.

Taking of Possession.

10. (1) Upon the making of a declara-
tion under Section 3 in respect of any Gur-
dwara or shrine, the Board shall be entitled to
take possession of such Gurdwara or shrine
and of all property belonging thereto.

(2) Subject to the provisions of sub-
section (3), the Board may, when it appre-
hends any opposition to its taking or retain-
ing possession of any Gurdwara or shrine>

319

apply to the District Magistrate to be placed
or maintained in possession, and the District
Magistrate shall thereupon take steps to
place or maintain the Board in possession,
and shall have all papers necessary for that
purpose.

(3) Where any claim is preferred to, or
any objection is made to the Board's taking
possession of, any property on the ground that
such property does not belong to a disputed
Gurdwara or shrine, the Board shall proceed
to investigate the claim or objection and its
decision shall, so long as the declaration made
under section 3 in respect of such Gurdwara
or shrine remains in force, be final, subject to
the result of any suit that may be brought
in accordance with the provisions of this Act.

Board's Powers of Managing Properties.

11. Subject to any restrictions that may
be prescribed in this behalf, the Board shall,
for the purpose of providing for the manage-
ment or administration of any disputed
Gurdwara or shrine, have, in addition to the
powers conferred by this Act, all the powers
which may be conferred on a receiver under
the provisions of the Code of Civil Procedure,.
1908.

Maintenance of Keligious Observances.

12. During the period of management
of any disputed gurdwara or shrine it shall b&

320

the duty of the Board to provide for the
conduct of religious or charitable duties,
ceremonies and observances.

Application of Funds.
13. Save as otherwise provided in this
Act, the Board shall apply the proceeds of
the rents, profits and other sources of income
of any disputed Gurdwara or shrine to the
following purposes, and no others, namely : —

(a) the provision of reasonable main-

tenance allowances for the exist-
ing mahants, attendants and
other persons having a claim to
support on the funds of such Gur-
dwara or shrine ;

(b) the maintenance of religious wor-
ship and the performance and
conduct of religious or charitable
duties, ceremonies and observances
of such Gurdwara or shrine ;

<(c) the payment of the salaries of
officers and servants of such
Gurdwara or shrine ;

(d) the maintenance and repair of
structures connected with such
Gurdwara or shrine ; and

{e) all other purposes which the Board
may consider necessary for the
maintenance of such Gurdwara or
shrine and for furtherance of the
object and intention with which it
was founded.

321

Kecords and Accounts.

14. The Board shall maintain in such
form and manner as may be prescribed a
complete record of its proceedings and a full
account of all monies which have come into
its possession, and such records and accounts
shall be published in such manner as may
be prescribed and be deemed to be public
documents within the meaning of Section 74
of the Indian Evidence Act, 1872.

Settlement of Dispute.

15. (1) Where it shall appear to the
Board that persons interested in any disputed
G-urdwara or shrine are likely to come to a
settlement in regard to any dispute connected
therewith, the Board may give public notice
in such way as it thinks fit of its intention to
hear the parties to such dispute at a time,
place and date to be mentioned in such notice,
and thereupon any person claiming to be in-
terested in the matter in dispute shall be
entitled to appear before the Board.

(2) The Board shall have power to
receive any proposal for settlement or ad-
justment of any such dispute, and whenever
any settlement or adjustment is arrived at
among the parties appearing, the Board shall
cause such settlement or adjustment to be
reduced to writing and signed by the parties1
thereto and by the Board, and such settlement

322

or adjustment in writing so signed shall be
a final bar to all actions, suits, claims and
demands by any parties thereto in respect of
the matter to which such settlement or ad-
justment relates.

Bar against Suits.

16. (1) So long as a declaration under
section 3 remains in force in respect of any
disputed Gurdwara or shrine no civil or
revenue suit or proceeding in respect to any
matter connected with such a Gurdwara or
shrine shall be commenced cr continued, or
entertained by any court, except when such
suit or proceeding is lodged or continued by
or on behalf of the Board or with the consent
of the Local Government ;

Provided that notwithstanding anything
contained in the Indian Limitation Act, 1908,
any person who is hereby prevented from
instituting any suit or proceeding shall, when
a declaration under section 3 ceases to have
force, be entitled to institute any suit or
proceeding which would otherwise have be-
come time-barred within one year from the
date on which such declaration ceases to have
force.

(2) Upon the making of a declaration
in respect of a disputed Gurdwara or shrine
under section 3 any proceeding pending
under Chapter 2£l or Chapter XII of the
Code of Criminal Procedure, 1898, in respect

323

of such Gurdwara or shrine shall abate, and
do subsequent proceediDg under eitber of the
said Chapters in respect of such Gurdwara or
shrine shall be entertained by any court so
long as such declaration Terrains in force. ,

Bar against Proceedings against
Commissioners, etc.

17. No suit or criminal proceeding shall
be instituted in any Court against any
Commissioner or District Magistrate in
respect of anything in good faith done or
intended to be done in the exercise of any
power or duty conferred or imposed by this
Act, without the previous sanction of the
Local Government.

Inquiry by Board.

18. (1) It shall be the duty of the
Board to examine find inquire into the
following matters in connection with all
disputed Gurdwaras and shrines, namely : —

(a) the origin, nature and objects of
the foundation thereof ;

(b) the value, title, conditions, manage-
ment and application of all estates, funds^
property and income pc rfaining or attached,
thereto ;

(c) the law or custom regulating* the
succession to any office connected therewith j.

(d) the nature aid character of any
religious or charitable duty, ceremony or
observance connected therewith ;

324

(e) the rights of any mahants, granthis,
chelas, pujaris or attendants connected
therewith ;

(/) the general character and manage-
ment thereof, the conduct of the incumbents
thereof, ani the performance of any religious
or charitable duty, ceremony or observance
connected therewith, with special reference
to the objects and intentions with which such
Gurdwaras and shrines were founded, and to
the advancement of the Sikh religion ; and

(g) any other matter in connection
therewith that may be prescribed.

(2) It shall be the duty of the Board
to report to the Local Government the result
of such inquiry.

(3) The Board shall have power to
make such recommendations in connection
with any disputed Gurdwara or shrine as it
may think fit and calculated to secure the
carrying out of the objects and intentions of
the foundation of such Gurdwara or shrine
and the advancement of the Sikh religion,
and it may propose schemes for the future
administration and management of any
such Gurdwara or shrine.

(4). The Board shall, for the purposes
off any inquiry under the section, have
the same powers as are vested in a court
under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908,

325

when trying a suit, in respect of the following
matters : —

(a) enforcing the attendance of any
person and examining him on oath or
affirmation ;

(b) compelling the production of
documents ; and

(c) issuing commissions for the exam-
ination of witnesses.

Penalty for Kesisting.

19. Any person resisting or obstructing
the Board or any one acting on its behalf or
under its instructions in taking possession
of a disputed Gurdwara or shrine under this
Act and any person interfering with such
possession when taken shall, on conviction by
a Magistrate of the first class, be liable to a
fine not exceeding one thousand rupees, or
to rigorous imprisonment for a term not
exceeding twelve months, or to both.

Eules.

20. (1) The Local Government may
by notification make rules for the purpose of
carrying into effect the provisions of this
Act.

(2) In particular and without prejudice
to the generality of the foregoing power
such rules may provide for—

(a) the remuneration of the Commis-
sioners and their term of office ;

326

(b) the restrictions on the powers of
the Board to appoint a manager or a
committee of management and to delegate
their function to the same ;

(c) the restrictions that may bs placed
on the powers of' the Board under section 11 ;

(d) the number required to constitute
a quorum of the Board, or the circumstances
in which the Board may act in the absence of
any member ;

(e) the records and accounts to be
maintained by the Board and the method of
publication thereof ; and

(/) the matters in connection with
disputed Grurdwaras or shrines into which
the Board shall inquire.

Statement of Objects and Eeasons.

Recent events have brought into pro-
minence the fact that the management of
Sikh Grurdwaras and shrines leaves much to
be desired.

The object of this Bill is to 'obtain by
the appointment of a Board of Commissioners
information relating to the foundation, past
management, rights of succession, titles in
property and other nesessary matters relating
to such institutions so as to enable Govern^
ment, the legislature and the public to know
on what matters legislation is necessary to

327

ensure that in the future these Gurdwaras
and shrines shall perform their proper
functions, viz., the maintenance and further-
ance of the Sikh religion.

The Commissioners who wiN. be appointed,
under the Bill, besides enquiring and report-
ing, are, in order to prevent further tension,
empowered to take possession of Gurdwaras
and shrines which are notified .as disputed
and to manage them during the period of
their office ; and at the same time by powers
conferred on them to entertain compromises
and settlements in respect of particular
Gurdwaras entered into by parties disputing.

(Sd.) FAZL-I-HUSSAIN, '

Minister* for Education.
(Sd.) E. JOSEPH,
Secretary to Government Punjab.

Even the Sikh members of the Select
Committee, who did not fully represent
Panthic views, were not satisfied with the
Bill and recorded the following minute of
dissent : —

1. " The Gurdwaras and shrines, as
defined in the amended Bill, are obviously the
holy places of the Sikhs, and as such they are
in theory at least under the control of the Sikh
panth. The principle is perfectly sound in
law and justice, and there is no reason why

328

the present Bill should not be based on it.
To ignore this fundamental principle at the
yery outset and to leave the recognition
of it to be determined from the Commis-
sion ers' report will be to go against the sound
canons of such legislation. The Sikhs can
in no way feel satisfied with the enquiry,
if it is not meant to secure to them the
control of their own sacred places of worship.
The very object of the Bill is likely to be
defeated, because this guiding principle is
not incorporated in it.

2. The feelings of the Sikhs, which we
ourselves fully share, are very keen, that
all members of the Board should be of the
Sikh faith elected or selected by the Sikh
members of the Legislative Council. But
we have agreed as a last resort to the
constitution of the Board as given in the
Bill as amended, in the hope, that the Sikh
member to be nominated by the Govern-
ment under sub-clause (2) will not be
one whose views may be antagonistic to the
spirit of religious reform among the Sikhs.
We feel bound to express our opinion on this
point, because the success or failure of the
proposed legislation depends entirely upon
the constitution of the Board,

3. We are opposed to the provision in
the Bill that the salary of the Commissioners

329

and their staff should be paid out of the
gurdwara funds for the following reasons: —

(a) That the money meant for religious
and charitable purposes alone should not be
spent in any other manner.

(b) That no Sikh Commissioner would
agree to be paid out of the religious offerings
and proceeds of the sacred property.

(Sd.) DASAUNDHA SINGH,

(Sd.) KAETAR SINGH,

(Sd.) HAENAM SINGH,

(Sd.) MEHTAB SINGH.''

The consideration of the Bill was post-
poned to 16th April. Those few days were
of the greatest commotion and anxiety for
the Sikh community. They were, on the
one hand, trying their best to keep themselves
calm and pacific in the face of an unprece-
dented campaign of prosecution and
harassment and had, on the other, to meet
the mischievous attempts of some people to
set the Hindus against the Sikhs. Besides
fighting tooth-and-nail against the Sikh in-
terests in the Council, some Hindu gentlemen
were trying to raise an artificial opposition
outside in the country. The Shromani Com-
mittee had made it clear several times in
the press and on the platform that it had
got nothing to do with the Hindu shrines or

330

those temples which are not historically
associated with Sikh Gurus or Sikh saints
And yet the Punjab Hindu Sabha was made
to issue a circular letter, dated 4th April, to
different orthodox Hindu bodies, emphasising
that no changes should be allowed in the
system of worship and other conditions
prevailing in the Gurdwaras, and that if a
Gurdwara Commission be appointed, a
sufficient representation should be granted
to Hindus. As a result of this some resolu-
tions were passed here and there to oppose
the Sikh demands. This unfortunte difference
between Hindus and Sikhs was, however,
averted by the timely action of other Hindu
leaders, like Swami Shankracharya of Sharda
Peeth and Lala Lajpat Eai, who came forward
to actually sympathise with the movement.
The deputation of the Shromani Committee,
which toured in the country to remove
misunderstandings about the Sikhs, was
enthusiastically received everywhere by
Sikhs, Hindus and Mohammedans, who passed
resolutions of sympathy with the Gurdwara
Eeform Movement.

On April II, the Shromani Committee
again met at the Akal Takht to consider
the situation created by the publication
of the Bill and the refusal of the Gov-
ernment to release the Sikh prisoners. The
Bill was declared unsatisfactory, as none of

331

the important amendments suggested by
the Committee's representatives had been
incorporated in the Bill. The Government
would not recognise the Shromani Committee,
nor would it accept the principle that the
Gurdawras belonged to the Panth and that
the Mahants were its mere servants to be
removed whenever proved unfit in the eyes
oi the Panth. The principle of heredity with
regard to any office in connection with a
Gurdwara was diametrically opposed to the
spirit and dictates of the Sikh religion and
the object of the present reform move-
ment. The creation of Commissioners to
enquire into cases of dispute and, if
necessary, to take charge of Gurdwaras would
have been only a veiled extension of the
existing defective law under which the
Gurdwaras were being attached and which
treats the whole Sikh Panth, the rightful
owner, as a mere party against its servants,
the Mahants. The effect of such legislation,
if passed, would have been that, instead of one
Sarbrah whom the Sikhs had with great
difficulty ousted, there would have been
many Sarbrahs and, instead of controlling
one Golden Temple, the Government would
have come to control all the Sikh temples.
The Committee resolved to reject the Bill
on another ground too, that is, the failure of
the Government to release the Sikhs arrested

332

in connection with the reform of Gur-
dwaras.

To decide upon a definite line of action
to be taken by the Sikhs in pursuance of the
last meeting's decision, a working committee
of the following seven gentlemen was
appointed :- — 1. S. Kharak Singh, B. A., L.L.B.,
of Sialkot ; 2. S. Harbans Singh of Atari ;
3. Professor Jodh Singh, M.A. ; 4. Professor
Harkishen Singh, M.A. ; 5. Bhai Tara Singh,
B.A. ; 6. S. Batan Singh, Canadian ; and
7. S. Teja Singh of Samundri. This committee
issued a manifesto calling upon the Sikhs to
enlist in Akali jathas for taking concerted
action whenever necessary. The jathas were
to be reorganized and measures were taken to
see that each man who enlisted was a regular
Sikh strictly pledged to purity and non-
violence. The Sikhs felt as if they were
entering the Valley of the Shadow of Death,
where their only source of strength was
Almighty God. The 14th of April was fixed as
the day of prayer for all Sikhs to seek divine
help in the great task of suffering before them.
Many Sikhs left off their business and their
homes, and came to offer their free services to
be employed in any capacity by the Shromani
Committee. Many Sikhs serving in the
Military and Police Departments asked as to
whether they should leave their services, but
they were told by the Shromani Committee to

333

continue in the faithful discharge of their
duties where they were employed, as the
time for giving up Government service had
not yet come.

The Bill was presented in the Council on
April 16, hut in the hope of arriving at some
compromise in the meanwhile its ' considera-
tion was postponed to May 9. On April 23,
a conference was arranged by Government
between the representatives of the Shromani
Committee and of the Mahants, Lala Ganpat
Eai and Kaja Narendra Nath taking part
with the latter. The Councillors and Ministers
of the Government and some other Sikh
leaders were also present. At first it was
tried to bring about reconciliation about cer-
tain points which were to form the basis of a
permanent legislation. The Sikh leaders
were able to argue their opponents into
reason, and made them agree to the following
three principles : —

(1) That only those Mahants had the
right to remain in charge of Gurdwaras, who
bore good character ;

(2) that all Gurdwaras belong to the
whole Panth and should, therefore, be under
Panthic committees ; and

(3) that regular accounts of the income
and expenditure of Gurdwaras should be
kept and rendered to the public.

334

The meeting was adjourned for further
discussion, and there was every hope of a
complete understanding on most of the points
at issue. But when the conference met again
on April 26, quite a new and irreconcilable
attitude was adopted by certain fresh mem-
bers to the conference on the opposite side*
It was insisted in behalf of the Mahants that
the question of ritual and ceremony must be
decided there and then, and that it should be
agreed that no changes would be made in the
form of worship that had prevailed up to the
year 1920. On the side of the reformers it
was suggested that the question, being highly
controversial, should be left to be decided in
each case by the committees of control which
had been agreed upon in the last meeting*
But the other side would not consider even
the last meeting's decisions finally settled if
the new question was not taken up and decid-
ed in their favour. They wanted a declara-
tion that the same ritual which was observed
a year before should be followed in every
case in future. It was most unreasonable
to expect the reformers to stop all progress
in reform for ever and bind down the future
generations to the prevailing customs of a
particular time. And why should they go
back only one year ? Why should they not go
back 300 years and revert to the simple be-
liefs and practices that prevailed in Guru

335

Arjan's time, when the temples were first
organized ? The Sikhs as a compromise
suggested the formula that the worship held
in Sikh temples should be according to
the teachings of Guru Granth Sahib.
But even this was not acceptable to the
champions of the Mahants who were deter-
mined not to come to any agreement with
the reformers.

Then it was tried to come to some un-
derstanding as regards the temporary measure
that was before the Council. The contro-
versy raged about the composition of the
Board of Commissioners. The Sikhs came
down from their original demand, which was
to have at least two-thirds of the Commis-
sioners elected by the Shromani Committee,
and simply asked that the President of the
Board may be nominated by the Government,
but must be a Sikh.. They were not averse
at that time even to the appointment of an
official. The Mahants insisted that the Pre-
sident must be a European and not a Sikh.
It was futile to argue with them any more,
and the conference came to an end.

The Government postponed the meeting
of the Legislative Council, which was to have
been held on the 9th of May, to some day in
June or July. The Sikhs realised that there
was no chance of getting a suitable Bill from

336

this Government, as long as it was bent upon
attaching too much importance to the views
of the Mahants, whose self-interest could
never make them agree to any change, and as
long as it was allowing certain men of other
communities to interfere in this purely Sikh
question. The Shromani Committee met
on May 10 at the Akal Takht to finally
settle their attitude towards the Government
in matters religious. The Working Com-
mittee, including Sardar Harbans Singh and
Professor Jodh Singh, had been asked to
prepare a programme according to the policy
of passive resistance passed in the Executive
Committee on 1st May. But owing to
differences about certain terms, that sounded
political, no unanimous conclusion had been
arrived at. The General Committee post-
poned their meeting to the next day to
allow time to the Working Committee to
come to some decision by majority, if not by
unanimity. The Working Committee pre-
sented their majority report to the General
Committee on May 11, and recommended
that as the Government, owing to its
callous disregard of the Sikh rights about
Gurdwaras and kirpans, had forfeited the con-
fidence of the Sikhs, the Committee should
call upon the Panth —

(1) to resort to Passive ^Resistance so far
as the possession of the Gurdwaras that had

* 337

already come under the Panthic control was
concerned ; and —

(2) as a preparation for this to resort to
a process of self-purification, otherwise called
Non-co-operation, by

(i) boycotting the intoxicating liquors,

(ii) fostering the use of Swadeshi
goods, and

(Hi) by organizing and availing of
Panchayats.

This recommendation, after a hard con-
test put in by a few members like S. Harbans
Singh and Professor Jodh Singh, was adopted
by the General Committee. S. Harbans
Singh and Professor Jodh Singh put in their
resignations. The Committee decided to do
without a Bill and make every effort to reform
the remaining Gurdwaras by making com-
promises with the mahants ; but with the
existing attitude of the Government towards
the reforming party no headway could be
made. The resolution of Non-co-opera tion
was purely constructive and did not suggest
any boycott of courts, schools or titles.
But the Committee in the eyes of the
Government began to appear as a political

338 *

body and incurred an unmerited suspicion of
its intentions. Its supporters, who wore black
turbans, were suspected of sedition and
suffered many indignities at the hands of the
police or the departments wherein they
Berved.

The Government; too, dropped the idea
of introducing a Bill, and issued a communique
m which it advised the Sikhs to carry out
reform by persuasion and the legitimate pres-
sure of public opinion, or by resort to law,
which was now discovered by Government to
contain ' provisions which go a considerable
way towards achieving the objects in question'!
For the benefit of the Sikhs it also published
the main provisions of the law and explained
how the expense and delay involved in the
Gurdwara cases could be minimised. It was
promised that the Deputy Commissioners and
the civil courts would be instructed to pre-
vent delay in deciding the Gurdwara suits —
which is too evident from the Haflzabad
and other cases. The Government also
discovered for the Sikhs in July that, in
addition to the remedies provided in the
substantive law for the explusion of bad
Mahants, there also existed a general or
special power by custom in the Punjab to
claim the removal of a Mahant for miscon-
duct.

339

When the Shromani Committee was re-
elected according to the new constitution the
situation was still unchanged. The Sikhs
arrested in connection with the Gurdwaras
were still rotting in jails and the monstrous
sentences parsed on BhaiB Kartar Singh
Jhabar, Teja Singh Bhuchar, etc., further in-
tensified the discontent. The Non-co-opera-
tion resolution passed in May was confirmed
by the new Committee in its meeting of 28th
August. There was not one vote against the
resolution this time ; the moderates, who
remained neutral, promised not to stand in
the way, but to follow the lead of others. The
Sikh members of the Punjab Council were
called upon to resign their seats in protest
against the Government's policy of repression
in regard to the Gurdwsra movement ; but
just as they had gone to the Council, so
they chose to remain in the Council against.
the expressed wishes of the Panth. Sardar
Bahadur Mthtab Singh, wl o had already
thrown up the Public Prosecutorship, now
resigned the membership and with it his
appointment of the Deputy President of the
Punjab Council.

In the beginning of September the
Government saw reason to release most of
the Gurdwara prisoners, including^ BhaiB
Kartar Singh Jhabar and Teja Singh Buchar,
and the situation became somewhat easier.

340

The Government officers felt disposed to
discuss again the necessity of restoring peace
with the Sikhs. It was even given out that
the Government was ready to accept a Sikh
as President of the Board of Commissioners,
which they had refused in the April dis-
cussions. On * September 13, Mr. Dunnett,
the Deputy Commissioner of Amritsar, met
some members of the Shromani Committee
at the Committee's office to learn what the
Sikhs wanted. He alse discussed the affairs
of the Darbar Sahib. The difficulty with the
Government officers was that they did not
want to recognise the Shromani Committee,
and so they always suggested committees
and conferences. They were told that there
was no use wasting time over conferences, as
there was no party among the Sikhs in general
opposed to reform. Only the Government
must change its policy of suspicion, and then
everything would go on well. The Mahants
would be ready to agree and make compro-
mises with the reformers, if the Government
indicated its genuine sympathy for reform.
Many Mahants had actually offered to accept
the Panthic control, but when they saw that
the law was being illegally used in their
favour and that the reforming Sikhs were
being arrested in hundreds, they put up their
backs and turned away from their plighted
word. Even documents of agreement duly

341

signed by Mahants in the presence of the most
respectable representatives of the people were
repudiated. Mr. Dunnett refused to believe
that there was no party among the Sikhs
opposed to the Shromani Committee. He
said, " for instance the Chief Khalsa Diwan
might not accept the Shromani Committee's
decisions, " and suggested that if the Com-
mittee took two or three members of the
Diwan on its Executive all would be well.
This was playing one party against the other.
But the Diwan quickly repudiated any
intention of hostility on their part. The
fact is that there were many members of the
Chief Khalea Diwan on the General Com-
mittee, but they themselves had declined
to serve on the Executive, when some of other
members had offered to vacate their seats
for them.*

The things were, however, settling down,
and even the resolution of boycott of the
Prince of Wales' visit, introduced in Septem-
ber, was postponed for reconsideration to
November. But suddenly by a strange freak
of unwisdom the Government raised a storm
of indignation against it by snatching away
the keys of the Golden Temple.

*The Khalsa Advocate of November 11, 1921.

CHAPTER XIX.

THE KEYS AFFAIR.

On 7th November at 3 P. M. Lala Amar
Nath, E.A.G., accompanied by a body of police
came to the house of Sardar Sundar Singh
Bamgarhia, Vice-President of the Shromani
Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee and Presi-
dent of the Local Gurdwara Committee which
was in charge of the Golden Temple, Akal
Takht, Baba Atal and Tarn Taran. The Sikhs
felt it like a bolt from the blue. They could
not understand this action of the Government
taken after the community had been in
possession for full thirteen months. There
was no party among the Sikhs that had gone
to court against the possession of the Darbar
Sahib by the Shromani Committee. The
Government issued a communique, two days
later, in which it tried to explain its arbitrary
action as being due to its desire to divest itself
by legal process of the control which by 'long
practice' it had exercised over the affairs of
the Darbar Sahib of Amritsar. It declared
that as a step in that direction, it had formed
in November, 1920, " a provisional advisory
committee " of 36 members to propose rules
for the future management of the shrine.
But as that had been absorbed by the

343

"Shromani Committee it now wanted to
institute a friendly suit for the settlement of
a scheme of management by a civil court.
The communique also stated that the
Government was compelled to take the keys
into its custody, as it was apprehended that
the Shromani Committee, which, according
to Government, had received no legal
authority to control the Golden Temple or
its treasure, might bring pressure to bear upon
the manager of the Golden Temple to
surrender to it the Keys.

The whole position of the Government
was untenable. In the first place it appeared
that the Government thought that it had still
gob some control, a legal one, over the affairs
of the Darbar Sahib. We have already shown
in the account of the Golden Temple how
illegally this control had been acquired by the
Government. For many years from 1859 the
management was in the hands of a Committee
of Trustees presided over by a nominee of the
Government, but about 1883 the Committee
was quietly dropped and the president, called
Sarbrah, who should have gone the way of
the Committee, came to take all instruc-
tions from the Deputy Commissioner of the
district. Therefore Long practice, ae admitted
in the communique, was the only excuse for
the Government to have controlled the
Darbar Sahib for so long.

344

But we had supposed that even of this
the Government had divested itself when
in November, 1920, it had handed over the
management to a committee of 36. According
to Government's own Publicity Committee,
the then Lieutenant-Governor accepted the
following proposal of certain Sikhs, who
waited upon him on 13th November, 1920
(only two days before the representative
meeting of the Panth was to be held for the
purpose of appointing a Managing Com-
mittee) : —

" The Government has already expressed
its desire of handing over ihe management
to a representative Sikh Committee, so we
respectfully propose that the following
Provincial [? provisional] Committee may
be appointed to prepare rules for the future
managemaent of Sri Darbar Sahib and
attached Gurdwaras (in a manner acceptable
to the Panth) •, and meanwhile to supervise
the management of the institutions."

This; does not show that the Committee
was merely advisory, as was alleged in
the Government communique. It also
showed that with the formation of this
Committee the connection of the Government
with the Darbar Sahib and attached shrines
ceased altogether, and the new rules were
to be presented to the Panth for acceptance
and not to the Government. The Lieutenant-

345

Governor at the same time told S. Sundar
Singh Ramgarhia, the Sarbrah, that from
that time he was to take his orders from S,
Harbans Singh of Atari, President of the
Committee, and not from the Deputy Com-
missioner. And he did so. S. Harbans Singh
did sign many papers and money drafts, as
presented by S. Sundar Singh Ramgarhia to
him, and he continued to do so until the
Shromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee,
which had been elected in the meanwhile,
was inaugurated in December, 1920.

With the establishment of the Shromani
Committee (in which the members of the
Government-appointed Committee had wil-
lingly amalgamated themselves and which
was accepted by all parties including the Sikh
States), Sardar Sundar Singh Ramgarhia took
his orders from this new Committee, whose
President was Sardar Sundar Singh Majithia
and whose Vice-President was Sardar Harbans
Singh. S. Sundar Singh Ramgarhia published
the proceedings of the Committee as its
Secretary, setting forth its claims of final
authority over all the aflairs of the Darbar
Sahib, as of other Gurdwaras in the country.

That the Government had nothing
further to do with the management of the
Darbar Sahib was openly assumed all along
in the several negotiations between the
Government and Shromani Committee*

346

representatives. Sir Edward Maclagan in
a speech at an informal meeting of the
-Council members on November 13, 1920,
while mentioning many favours shown to
the Sikh community by his Government,
said, " It (Government) has arranged for
its withdrawal from the control of the
Darbar Sahib." In a meeting of the Punjab
"Council, on March 15, 1921, Sardar Mehtab
Singh addressed fche Government thus : "Now
that the Government has given up control
of fche. Darbar Sahib, will it kindly present
the accounts thereof for the period of its
stewardship ? " The Government is said to
have replied, " we had never anything to do
with the accounts. We only appointed the
Sarbrah and that we have given up." Onx
March 14, Mr. Fazl-i-Hussain, in his speech
on the resolution recommending an Ordinance
on the Gurdwara question, used these words :
" The Government, realising that public
opinion was strong and united, superseded the
manager of the Golden Temple at Amritsar,
and appointed a representative managing
body "; and yet a full year after superseding
this manager the Government still held that
he was a functionary appointed by itself. In
a communique published on 20th April, 1921,
the Government gave examples of its kind-
ness towards the Sikhs and mentioned " the
withdrawal of Government interference in the

347

management of the Golden Temple " as an
accomplished fact.

Tarn Taran was also one of the Gur-
dwaras whose keys were taken away, and yet
on July 9, 1921, the possession of the
Gurdwara by the Sikh Committee had been
left undisturbed by an order of the Additional
District Magistrate under Section 145 of the
Or. P. C. In a case filed by Pandit Dharm
Sarup about the same Gurdwara, Sardar
Sundar Singh Kamgarhia, the Sarbrah, had
stated that the suit should have nothing
to do with him, as the control rested with
the Shromani Committee.

In view of these clear declarations it
had come to be regarded as a settled fact that
the Government had got nothing more to do
with the management of the Darbar Sahib.
But when it attempted to reassert its control
by snatching away the keys, it simply
staggered the Sikhs who were not used
to such turning away from the given word.
It was ridiculous to say that it was * appre-
hended that the Shromani Gurdwara Par-
bandhak Committee intended to take these
keys by force from the manager.' The keys
had for a year been at the command of the
Committee and the Sarbrah had never
demurred in using them at its bidding.

The Sikhs felt extremely disturbed in
their minds about the liberty of their Gur-

348

dwaras, and resolutions of protest were passed
all over the country. The high-handed action
of the Government was deeply resented
especially in view of the fact that the keys
of the Gurdwara treasury being with the
Government the jalau or exhibition ceremony
could not be held on the sacred day of Guru
Nanak's birth. A hurried meeting of the
Shromani Committee was called at the
Akal Takht, where on 12th November it was
resolved not to allow Captain Bahadur Singh,
the new Sarbrah appointed by the Govern-
ment, to interfere in the management in any
way. The decision was duly communicated
to the Deputy Commissioner, who, however,
sent Captain Bahadur Singh with the keys
to exercise his authority as Sarbrah. When
he came to the Temple on the sacred morning
of November 15, the day of Guru Nanak's
birth, he was asked by the assembled Sikhs
why he had come. He said tremblingly
that the Government had sent him as
Sarbrah. Pointing to Sardar Kharak Singh,
the Secretary asked Captain Bahadur Singh
to compare his position with that of the
venerable Sardar. The Captain was a
nominee of a Government officer, while
Sardar Kharak Singh derived his position of
the President from the whole Panth. The
poor Captain was perspiring with shame and
perhaps cursing his fate for having been

349

placed in that predicament by an alien
Government. He slunk away with the
bundle of keys under his arm. He became
ill physically and mentally, and in a few days
sent word to the Shromani Committee that
he felt accursed for his conduct towards the
Panth and that he had resigned. He begged
the Community to forgive him and pray for
him. The whole assembly felt touched at
his humiliation and prayed for his recovery.
Then another Military Sardar was asked to
become Sarbrah and take the keys, but he is
said to have died by falling from the roof of
his house. After this the Government had
much to do to find a man who would accept
the keys, but nobody would touch them.

The Deputy Commissioner held frequent
meetings at his house to explain his position
to those who cared to go to him. And then he
adopted another method to allay the growing
tension between the Sikhs and the Govern-
ment. He went round to different villages and
held meetings, in which he misrepresented the
position of Sikhs. The Sikhs, therefore, felt
compelled to hold counter-meetings at the
same places to contradict the misstatements
of the Government officials. The Deputy
Commissioner announced a meeting of his
own to be held at Ajnala, a few miles from
Amritsar, on the 26th of November. The
District Gurdwara Committee also announced

350

a religous Diwan to be held at Ajnala on the*
same date. The Government applied th&
Seditious Meetings Act to the districts of
Amritsar, Lahore and Sheikhupura, and an
order about this was promulgated in Amritsar
and Ajnala on the night of the 25th. A copy
of it was also served on the Secretary of the
Congress Committee of the district, which
was supposed to be the convener of the Sikh
meeting.

The Deputy Commissioner held his
meeting on the 26th at noon and explained
the Government's position about the Keys
affair. S. Dan Singh of Yachhoa and S.
Jaswant Singh of Jhabal, two Sikh leaders
who were present there, asked the permis-
sion of the Deputy Commissioner to express
their views, but it was refused. The Sikhs,,
therefore, held their own diwan. But before
they had begun the proceedings the Deputy
Commissioner arrived with a few executive
and police officers and demanded to know
what was going on. S. Dan Singh and S.
Jaswant Singh came out of the diwan and
told the Deputy Commissioner that the
meeting was religious and that they were
singing hymns. The Deputy Commissioner
asked if there would be any speeches. S-
Jaswant Singh replied that there would be
no speeches on Swarajya, Swadeshi, or any
other political subject. The Deputy Coin-

351

missioner asked further if there would be any
talk about the Keys affair. He was told that
undoubtedly there would be. On this, without
waiting to see if any speeches wTere actually
made, he ordered the Police Iuspector to
arrest S. Dan Singh, S. Jaswant Singh, Pandit
Dina Nath, S. Teja Singh of Sainunclri and
S. Harnam Singh Zaildar. The last-named
gentleman was arrested, according to the
Deputy Commissioner's own admission,
merely because he had taken part in a
meeting at another place and had attended
the Deputy Commissioner's meeting "clad
from head to foot in Khaddar."

When the news of the arrests was
brought the same day to Amritsar, the
Shromani Committee was in session at the
Akal Takht. The meeting was at once
adjourned to Ajnala. The members reached
the diwan in motors at 4-30 P. M. and
continued its proceedings, which had gone on
undisturbed in the meanwhile. After 19 per-
sons had spoken the Superintendent of Police
came and called out one by one the names of
and arrested Sardars Kharak Singh, President
the Shromani Committee, Mehtab Singh,.
Bar-at-Law, Secretary, Sundar Singh Lyall-
puri, Manager of the A kali, Bhag Singh
and Gurcharan Singh, pleaders, and Hari
Singh of Julluudur. The Superintendent of
Police then read out a proclamation by the

352

Deputy Commissioner declaring the diwan
to be an unlawful assembly under Seditious
Meetings Act. It was pointed out by Pro-
fessor Jodh Singh, M. A., S. Tara Singh,
B. A., and others that it was a religious
meeting and, therefore, would continue.
The diwan went on for two hours more, and
speeches were made by a large number of
prominent Sikhs, members of the Gurdwara
Committee and non-members. After the close
of the diwan with the evening prayer, about 40
members of the Shromani Committee present
there met in a separate place and elected
S. Amar Singh of Jhabal as President,
Captain Earn Singh as Vice-President and
Bhai Tara Singh, B. A., as Secretary of the
Committee.

The Shromani Committee met at the
Akal Takht on 27 th November and learnt
from a letter of the Deputy Commissioner
that even religious meetings were not
exempted from the operation of the Seditious
Meetings Act. The official attitude had
become so prejudiced against the Shromani
Committee that a regular embargo was
placed on its telegrams, most of which merely
announced the arrest of Sikhs without any
comment ; so that the Committee was
•obliged to appoint special messengers to
convey its news to the press and to the
important Sikh centres. The Committee

353

after congratulating those arrested passed
the following resolution :

" In order to keep the freedom of oui
sacred places and to get back the Darbar
Sahib Keys and also to assert our liberty
of holding religious meetings, the Gurdwara
Committee resolves —

(a) that in all places, especially in the
Districts of Amritsar, Lahore, Sheikhupura
and Delhi, religious diwans be held to explain
facts about the Keys affair ;

(b) that on 4th December, which is
the day of Guru Tegh Bahadur's martyrdom,
in all places diwans be held and after com-
pleting the sacred readings the following
additional words be recited in the Prayer,
" May God remove the persecutors of
religion " ;

(c) that every Sikh on that day should
recite the Japji five times and then offer the
above Prayer ; and

(d) that the Gurmukhi communique
issued by the Shromani Committee should
be read in all such diwans."

A few days later the Committee took up
the deferred question of the boycott of the
Prince of Wales' visit, and passed that a
complete hartal should be observed on the
day of His Royal Highness's landing on the
Indian shores and that no Sikh should
participate in any function connected with

• 354

the Royal visit. It also passed a resolution
on December 6, " that no Sikh should agree
to any arrangement about the restoration
of the keys of the Golden Temple, unless
and until all the Sikhs arrested in connection
with the keys are released unconditionally."

Morning and evening diwans, exactly of
the type as was held at Ajnala, were held
daily in front of the Akal Takht and in the
Guru Ka Bagh, where speeches were made to
explain the Keys affair and to protest against
the high-handed action of the Government.
Arrests were made daily from among those
who spoke at these meetings. S. Amar Singh
of Jhabal, acting President of the Shromani
Committee, Master Tara Singh, B. A., Secre-
tary, S. Sarmukh Singh, brother of Sardars
Amar Singh and Jaswant Singh of Jhabal and
President of the Akali Dal, Dr. Gurbakhstf
Singh, who^ became Secretary after Bhai
Tara Singh, and Bhai Kartar Singh Poet
were arrested in the Court compound in the
presence of thousands of Sikhs. Perfect
calm prevailed, inspite of the provoking way
of making arrests. The police were asked
to send in the names of those whom they
wanted to arrest. As soon as the Sikh
sangats came to know that one of them was-
wanted, they went with him to the Kotwali
and handed hihr over to the police. Of tea
the scenes of arrest were most impressive.

355

The wife or mother of the accused would
come forward in the presenee of thousands
who showered flowers and coins, and gar-
landing their hero would bless him on hie
way to jail. Hundreds of people poured in
from different districts and offered themselves
in turns for the cause of the Guru. Captain
Bam Singh and Bisaldar Sundar Singh, two
retired Military officers, who would never
have thought of displeasing the Government
in any other matter, felt so strongly on
this question of religious importance that
they wrote to the Deputy Commissioner on
December 1 that they were going to address
the meeting in the Guru Ka Bagh on the
Keys affair, and asked him to arrest them
if he was so minded.

The movement became more intense
when the leaders arrested at Ajnala, who
had put in no defence, were convicted and
awarded the maximum sentences prescribed
by law. Sardars Kharak Singh, Mehtab Singh,
Bhag Singh, Gurcharan Singh, Hari Singly
and Sundar Singh were sentenced each to six
months' rigorous imprisonment and a fine of
Bs. 1000 or in default to another six weeks'
B. I. Pandit Dina Nath, Sardar Dan Singh,
Sardar Jaswant Singh and S. Teja Singh were
sentenced to five months' B. I. and a fine
of Bs. 1000 or in default to undergo six

356

weeks' further E. I. ; and S. Harnam Singh
Zaildar to four months' E. I. and a fine of
Es. 1000 or six weeks more in default. The
standard by which religious meetings were ad-
judged as political will be evident from the
following extract from the judgment delivered
by the Additional District Judge : " There
could be no doubt that in the present political
situation of the Amritsar District any public
discussion about the keys of the Darbar
Sahib is likely to cause public excitement,
and no one who stood up to make a speech
on the subject could be free from political
motive, and such a public meeting could not
be obviously classed as a purely religious
one." The Sikhs held that a meeting, in
which the Holy Book was open, hymns were
sung, and speeches delivered contending that
the Darbar Sahib could remain only under
Panthic management and control and that
the Government's action in interfering with
such control was high-handed — such a meeting
could never be conceded to be called other
than purely religious. Eeference in religious
meetings to actions of Government was
inevitable, unless the Government ceased to
interfere in religious matters. Exactly a
similar situation would arise in academic,
commercial and other spheres of life, if
Government chose to interfere in those
matters.

357

Other leaders arrested in the same
connection were similarly sentenced. S.
Tara Singh, B. A., who was sentenced to
4 months' B>. I. with a fine of Es. 100, had
merely repeated the resolutions of the
Gurdwara Committee to the evening diwan.
S. Amar Singh of Jhabal, who got 6 months
with a fine of Ks. 1,000, had scrupulously
avoided speaking in obedience to the orders
of S. Kharak Singh, but on November 28 the
following words had escaped from his lips
in the morning diwan : " Khalsa Ji, what
could be expected from you, when many of
you cannot have the courage even to put on
khaddar and black turbans?" But what could
be expected from the court which depended
mainly on official witnesses, the most
important of whom, the Tehsildar, produced
reports which had been written after the
meetings from mental notes taken of all the
scores of speeches delivered continuously.

As the arrests continued in full vigour,
the Sikhs felt as if they were on their last
trial for resolution and self-sacrifice. They
grimly determined not to give in, but to see
it through. Everywhere, in cities and villages,
not only in the Punjab but also in Bengal
and elsewhere, they held meetings to add
their share to the general toll by protesting
against the action of the Government. It
was a great strain on the suffering capacity

358

of the Sikhs, but they held on with the old
tenacious spirit of the Khalsa. When the Sikh
prisoners were daily taken to courts, it was a
sight for the gods to see thern singing hymns
stoutly in the midst of the police bayonets and
ihe people repeating solemnly after them.
The following hymn was usually sung : —

" No king is like unto the Lord.

These rulers of the earth are only for
a few days. They merely make a false show.

A man, who dedicates himself to Thee,
never wavers ; his influence spreads over
the whole universe.

Who can lay his hand on such a man?
Is one can dare to speak before him.

Kabir, my doubts and fears are over
now. God did honour thus his Dhruva and
Prahalad."

Other communities looked on with
satisfaction and blessed the Sikhs for giving
a good account of themselves. Beside the
Khilafat and Congress associations, even the
Sadhus' All-India Eajnik Mahasabha and
the Parsi Rajkiya Sabha sent resolutions
of sympathy and appreciation. Lala Lajpat
Eai felt happy and wrote about the Sikhs :
" People had thought that they were lagging
behind the struggle for liberty. People had
also thought that being a martial race they
would be the last to imbibe the doctrine of
non-violence. They have given the lie to
both these misconceptions. They might

359

have been a little behind others in the

fjreliminary stages, but they made up the
eeway rapidly and passed the others by over
a length at the crucial moment ; while afi
regards non-violence, with its attendant
conception of self-sacrifice, they have given
the most amazing proofs by their behaviour
at Nankana Sahib on the 15th November
and later at Ajaala and Amritgar. They
have proved themselves worthy descendants
of their Gurus and the example they have
set of self-sacrifice, calm courage, devoid of
swagger and absolute self-control in the face
of provocation, will be hard to beat."

The Government had been trying all
along to find out the best way of disposing
of the Keys. When it was discovered that
no Sikh would become a Sarbrah, it was
proposed to form a small committee which
would take over the duties of Sarbrah and
with them the fatal Keys. The Government
would do anything but accept the Shromani
Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, and
declared it unrepresentative solely on the
alleged ground that it did not include
representatives of the Darbars of the Sikh
States. The fact was that the Constitution
of the Committee provided for representaion
through election of all Sikh populations,
whether in the British districts or Sikh

360

States, in the Punjab or outside. The Sikh
States had been allotted seats as follows : —
Patiala 7, Nabha 5, Jind 2, Faridkot 2, Kalsia 1,
Kapurthala 2. The Sikh Maharajas had
the right of nominating 4 of the total number
of members allotted to their respective
States. The elected representatives of these
States had been attending the meetings of
the Committee. Then, from the attitude
of Baba Parduman Singh of Multan and
others in the friendly suit, it was thought that
perhaps the Babas or descendants of the
Gurus might take up courage to stand against
the Gurdwara Committee. It was, however, a
forlorn hope. The Babas were already repre-
sented on the Committee, one of them holding
a prominent position even in the Working
Committee. They held a meeting of the
Executive Committee of the Gurbans Con-
ference at Amritsar on 1st January, 1922,
and, inspite of their president Baba Parduman
Singh, who resigned, they resolved to support
the Shromani Committee. They directed
their representatives, who were to appear as
defendants in the friendly suit, to put the
following plea — " That the Shromani Gur-
dwara Parbandhak Committee is an elected
representative body of the Sikh Panth for
the management and control of the Darbar
Sahib and connected Gurdwaras, that we
have got full confidence in it and that the

361

Government should not interfere in the Sikh
religious matters."

Only two days after this the Government
in a communique expressed its wish that the
Keys should at once be handed over to the
Executive Committee of the Gurdwara
Parbandhak Committee for use in the
service of the Temple for Guru Gobind
Singh's birthday celebration, which was to
come off on the 5th January, 1922. It
also declared that it had no objection to the
Committee's holding the Keys even after
that day, pending the decision of the friendly
suit, which the Deputy Commissioner had
filed under section 92, C. P. C, in the co*urt of
the District Judge. Could not the Govern-
ment have adopted this very attitude from the
beginning ? While the Keys remained with
the Gurdwara Committee, the Government
could have pleased itself by carrying on its
civil suit, in which, of course, the Gurdwara
Committee would have taken no parfc. "Where
was the necessity of creating so much heart-
burning by taking away the Keys forcibly and
arresting hundreds of Sikhs for protesting
against the very action, the futility of which
the Government now tacitly admitted ? How
could the Committee now accept the Keys,
unless the Government undid the effect of
its whole action ? In reply to the offer
conveyed through the District Judge the

362

Gurdwara Committee referred to its resolu-
tion of 6th December, 1921, and informed
the Government officer that it could not
avail itself of the proferred temporary and
conditional restoration of the Keys, unaccom-
panied by the unconditional release of the
Sikhs arrested in connection with the Keys
affair. The sacred day was celebrated without
the usual jalau.

After this the Government found it hard
to find any responsible body of Sikhs that
woald present the case before it. Everybody
said that Sardar Kharak Singh himself would
take the Keys and nobody else could. The
Deputy Commissioner came to the office of
the Shromani Committee to note down the
terms on which it would agree to take the
Keys. While he was still trying to make up
his mind whether the Government should
release the prisoners before or after the
acceptance of the Keys, Sir John Maynard
made the announcement in the Punjab
Council that the Sikh prisoners would be
released unconditionally. It was also declared
in a communique that as far as the Govern-
ment was concerned it was prepared to leave
the administration, as it now stood, in the
hands of the Shromani Gurdwara Parbandhak
Committee, and to allow the Keys to be
given over at once to that Committee.

363

Out of 193 men arrested, most of whom
had been convicted, about 150 were released
on 17th January from the jails of Dera Ghazi
Khan, Mianwali, Lahore and other places.
With its peculiar blundering obstinacy the
Government did not release Pandit Dina
Nath, inspite of his co-prisoners' protest.
The released Sikhs came to Amritsar on the
morning of 19th January and were accorded
a right royal welcome. The whole city wore
a festive look. Triumphal arches, draped
in khaddar and Swadeshi silks and with
pictures of national heroes, had been erected
all over the route. Thousands of people,
Hindus, Mussalmans and Sikhs, had come
out to greet the leaders with joy. The long
procession, which started from the Eailway
Station, extended over a mile. It was a
most orderly piece of exhibition. The tall
muscular Akalis, clad in black and wearing
kirpans, moved in front in rows of five. They
were singing holy songs. Then came the
bands of volunteers belonging to different
denominations, showing sympathy with the
sacred cause of the Sikhs. Next came the turn
of ladies, thousands in number, all wearing
kirpans and moving four-deep in regular
detachments. They, too, were singing
hymns. Then followed the carriages of the
Sikh leaders, who were profusely garlanded
and had at every step to stand up and

364

acknowledge the affectionate showers of
rose-petals and greetings offered by the
enthusiastic crowds. There was no rush,
no confusion. The spectators carefully stood
aloof, lining the sides or crowding the roofs.
The police were conspicuous by their absence.

At 6 P. M. the leaders reached the Akal
Takht, where a big meeting was already
waiting for their reception. After they had
paid their respects, they were presented with
robes of honour for having served the Panth
well. It was announced at that time that
the Clerk of the Court of the District Judge
had come there to hand over the Keys to
Sardar Kharak Singh. The venerable Sardar
stood up, and with tears in his eyes asked
permission from the sangat to take the Keys.
When the bunch of Keys wrapped in red cloth
was handed over to Sardar Kharak Singh,
there arose a general shout of Sat Sri Akal,
which rent the skies. All eyes were streaming
with tears and throats choking with emotion.
Sweet is pleasure after pain.

The court had decided that the Keys
should be given over to the Shromani
Committee, but the decision about the way
in which the Darbar Sahib was to be adminis-
tered was still held over. The Court formed
a sub-committee of four gentlemen, impleaded
in the case as defendants, to draw up a
scheme of management. The scheme which

365

was drawn up by Professor Jodh Singh, Sodhi
Charn Singh, Baba Teja Singh and Professor
Arbel Singh, and which is yet pending in the
•court, is understood to run as follows : —

" 1. The Government shall have no
connection with the management and control
of the Darbar Sahib and connected Gur-
dwaras (i. e., the Golden Temple, the Akal
Takht, Baba Atal, Jhanda Bunga and other
shrines situated in their preciacts).

2. The Shromani Gurdwara Parbandhak
Committee, the elected representative body
of the Sikhs, shall be the sole authority for
management and control of the Darbar
Sahib and connected Gurdwaras, and also
for the maintenance of the religious worship
therein.

3. All properties (including tha Bun-
gahs), pertaining to the Darbar Sahib and
connected Gurdwaras, shall be administered
by the Shromani Gurdwara Parbandhak
Committee.

4. The Shromani Gurdwara Parbandhak
Committee shall have full power to frame
or ameud rules and regulations for the
management, control and maintenance of
religious worship in the Darbar Sahib and
•connected Gurdwaras.

5. The Shromani Gurdwara Parbandhak
Committee shall have full power to change
the Dastur-al-Amal or make a new one.

866

6. The Shromani Gurdwara Parbandhak
Committee shall have full power to appoint
sewadars (£ e. Granthis, ragis, pujaris^
ardasias and other sewadars).

7. The Shromani Gurdwara Parbandhak
Committee shall have full power to remove,
suspend, dismiss or replace any sewadar, and
to inflict any suitable punishment on any,
sewadar for misconduct, breach of rules,
negligence of duty or for any other sufficient
reason. In all such cases the Shromani
Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee shall be
the ultimate judge, and its decisions will be
final.

8. The Shromani Gurdwara Parbandhak:
Committee may exercise all its powers itself
or delegate any or all of its powers to any of
its members.

It remains to be added that in the
opinion of the Committee the Shromani
Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee should;
have the power of supervision over all other
Bungahs ,and Akharas bordering on these
Gurdwaras in order to ensure that these)
places are not used for a purpose offensive)
to the Sikh religious practices and are not
misused or frequented by undesirable
persons."

But as long as Pandit Dina Nath was
still kept in jail, the Shromani Committee?
decided to consider no scheme. The Deputy

367

Commissioner who had promised the release
of Pandit Dina Nath, when asked about itr
wrote to the Gurdwara Committee saying
"that if Pandit Dina Nath makes a represent-
ation to Government as to his release, his
petition will be considered." The Keys had
been accepted only on the understanding that
the Pandit was going to be released forthwith.
The Sikhs considered it more incumbent on
them to strive for his release than of any
Sikh, for he was suffering simply for the Sikhs.
On February 8 they began again to hold
meetings in contravention of the Seditious
Meetings Act to protest against the detention
of Pandit Dina Nath, and on the first day the
whole Executive Committee; made speeches
on the subject. Then the gentleman was
released ;— a fine way of doing things indeed.
Thus was the "first decisive battle won",
as Mahatma Gandhi put it when he heard
the news of the Sikhs' success.

CHAPTER XX.

THE THIRD WAVE OF REPRESSION.

The Government denned its attitude
towards the Shromani Gurdwara Parbandhak
Committee as that of sympathy, and
acknowledged the Committee ' as represent-
ing a large section of Sikh religious opinion
on the subject of Sikh Gurdwaras.' It also
expressed its readiness to take a similar atti-
tude in dealing with questions connected with
other shrines as it had done in leaving the
administration of the Golden Temple in the
hands of the Committee. In dealing with
disputes over the management of Gurdwaras,
the local officers, while maintaining peace
and order, were declared to be at liberty ' to
consult the Shromani Gurdwara Parbandhak
Committee or its local representatives, and
to give to their views on Gurdwara questions
the attention due to the representations of
a large section of Sikh religious sentiment
on the subject/ The Deputy Commissioners
were also instructed to try to get the lands
and jagirs attached to Gurdwaras entered in
the name of the Gurdwaras concerned, or to
form committees of management to super-
vise the control of Mahants. But as both of

369

these alternatives were made subject to the
consent of the Mahants, the futility of the
new move was evident. Then a satisfactory
Gurdwara Bill was announced to be in pre-
paration, and the kirpan question, too, was
settled — as it was understood at that time —
once for all. The Government took pride
in the doubtful fact that for about eight
months past no Sikh had been arrested * for
wearing a sword or kirpan,' and it gave a
public assurance that ' kirpans or swords
worn by Sikhs ' would not be interfered with,
as long as they were ordinarily worn peace-
fully by the side and were not unsheathed
except for purely religious purposes.

The Shromani Committee on its side
adopted a most correct attitude. It issued
instructions to Sikhs to work for a calm
atmosphere. It reiterated its declaration that
it was a purely religious association, and
condemned the obnoxious acts perpetrated by
certain persons masquerading as Akalis.
Everybody thought that the whole trouble
was going to be over, and that a permanent
peace was in sight.

But the Sikhs were again disappointed,
as the Government was trying to use the
Homeopathic and the Allopathic methods both
at the same time. While it was promising
support in settling the Gurdwara and the
kirpan questions, it was at the same time

370

issuing orders to its officers in all the
13 districts to break up the Akali bandsr
who were declared to be disturbing the
public tranquility in the central Punjab.
The Sikh States of Patiala and Kapurthala
also took similar action against the Akalis at
the sam6 time. Prosecutions for wearing
kirpans were also started with full vigour. '
Even small axes meant for agricultural
or domestic use were treated as offensive
arms within the meaning of the Arms Act,
if they exceeded any of the measurements
laid down below : —

(1) Length of shaft from end to end 2r

(2) Breadth of blade from blunt side to
cutting edge &k".

(3) Length of cutting edge from top

corner to bottom corner 3i."

,

Military forces were posted in the cen-
tral districts in order to support the police
ill dispersing the Akalis and effecting their
arrests. Lists were prepared of all the black-
turbaned Sikhs, and their leaders were
marked out for arrest or harassment by the
police. The campaign of arrests began from
Hoshiarpur, and spread in a short time all
oyer the province. We can only mention a-
few' cases that produced some stir at the
time- ,

371

At Sabraon 9 Sikhs were arrested on the
charge of resisting the demand made by
authorities to pay the cost of the punitive
police, and 8 of them were sentenced each
to rigorous imprisonment for two years
under Section 145 and for six months under
Sec. 151 of the I- P. C, the sentences to run
concurrently. "What troubled the people
most was not the sentences so much as the
way in which the collections were forcibly
made. The people had organized a Pan-
chayat in order to effectively stamp out crime
and thereby to minimise the chances of
police interference. They were remarkably
successful in doiug this ; but the police, in-
stead of appreciating their work, were
distinctly opposed to it. The people urged
their inability to pay for the punitive post
on account of their poverty, but nobody
would listen to them. On 7th March their
village was surrounded, and after the arrest
of leaders the people were subjected to beat-
ing and humiliation. Next day leaving their
homes to the mercy of the police they came
but, and sitting down in a retired place began
to sing hymns and offer prayers. The
assembly was declared unlawful and the
people were dispersed, after being dragged by
the keshas and assaulted. The police dues
were then realized. The non-violence of the-
Sikhs in the face of great provocation was.
praised by all.

372

In Orara, another village where a Pan-
chayat had been established, similar assaults
were made on the peaceful villagers. Mr.
Prance, Assistant Superintendent of Police,
admitted in court that he had pulled an
Akali by the beard, but said that he did not
regard it as an act of sacrilege*. Twelve
Sikhs were convicted in a case arising out of
a Panchayat's decision.

In several other places Sikhs came to
trouble for having taken part in deciding
cases in Panchayats with the full consent of
the parties appearing before them. A typical
case was reported from Buchhoke in Kasur
Tehsil. A man had been punished by the
local Panchayat for the offence of damaging
crops, and he had willingly accepted the
punishment. But nine men were hauled up
under Sec 342, 1. P. C, before Mr. Keough.

Akalis were arrested at Amritsar, Sial-
kot, Lyallpur, Bughiana, Samundri, Sarhali,
Sukar Chak, Verka, Fatehgarh, Marhana,
Chabba, Grhawind, Hudiara, and hundreds of
other places, mostly from religious diwans.

* In answer to a question about this put in the
Legislative Council Sir John Maynard gave the
following reply : " The officer referred to, who is
young and inexperienced, did not intend to injure or
insult the Sikh in question ; he has since been inform-
ed of the respect attached to beard and hair by a
Sikh, and warned that for the future he should avoid
touching them.,,

373

About 15 most respectable Sikhs were arrested
at Sialkot. Three first-class Magistrates,
with a moving column of military police went
round in three different directions in the
district of Sialkot to make arrests of Akalis.
From Narowal, Daska, and other villages
about 80 men were hauled up. The total
number of arrests in this district, according
to Government's own computation, was 253,
of whom 103 were discharged after some time
without being even sent up for trial. The Gov-
ernment itself admitted in this case that the
arrests had been made on a scale which
suggested a lack of careful discrimination.
The arrests that attracted the greatest
attention were those made from the Gur-
dwara of Nonar in the same district.

Nonar.

The Gurdwara of Nonar is an historical
place, to which 750 bighas of land, belonging
to Nonar, were attached by a Sikh baron
named Nahar Singh, who ruled there
before the time of Maharaja Eanjit Singh.
He had also endowed considerable land out
of other villages, but that seems to have
been confiscated after the Sikh rule. The
income used to be spent on missionary work
and on a free kitchen kept at the temple.
The present income is about Es. 3000 per
annum.

374

There were many complaints about, the
youthful Mahant, named Harcharan Das.
There is a judgment, passed on 10th July,
1916, by Laia Kesho Das, a first-class
Magistrate of Sialkot, in which his findings
were that Mahant Harcharan Das was of
bad character, had an evil connection with a
widow, named Maya Devi, and was associat-
ing with badmashes, whom he brought to
the temple. It also appears that he had
sold up some Gurdwara property and had
alienated waqf land. He was squandering
the income of the temple on Maya Devi and
her relations. Although a high priest in
charge of a Gurdwara, he did not know how
to. read Guru Granth Sahib. All day long
he gambled or remained busy with his
pigeons, parrots, quails, and monkeys, with
which he had made the Gurdwara a regular
zoo. He was under the influence of his
creditors who often brought their marriage
and other joy parties to the temple and
desecrated it with huqqas.

The Sikh population of the place being
negligibly small, the whole onus of effecting
reform fell on the people of the neighbouring
towns and villages. They held a big meeting
at Nonar on 15th February, 1922, and
appealed to the Mahant to remove the
abuses. The Mahant agreed and stood up
to announce that he was no master of the

375

Gurdwara, but a servant left there in behalf
of the Sangat. He consented to work under
a committee. Satisfaction was expressed
by everybody, including the zemindars, who
spoke through their representative, Bhai
Mangal Singh, to give their approval. Two
days later the Mahant willingly gave up the
keys, and a list of property was prepared.
On 19th February Bawa Jhanda Singh, Sub-
Judge, accompanied by the Tehsiidar and
a Thanedar, came to Nonar to settle the
case on behalf of the Government. After
much discussion it was agreed that the
Mahant should consent to work under the
Shromani Committee and should improve
his character. In the presence of the above'
officers and other important people of the
locality, the Mahant agreed to these con-
ditions in consideration of a suitable
maintenance to be granted by the Shromani
Committee. An agreement was drafted
with his approval, and he declared that he
would sign it after it was announced to the
Sangat waiting below. When all came down,
however, the Mahant absconded. The Sub-
judge sent a Zaildar with Munshi Nathe
Khan, a friend of the Mahant, to find him
out, but they came back disappointed. By
this time many respectable people, Khatris,
Zemindars and others, had come to the
meeting, and it was unanimously resolved

376

by those present that the Mahant, who was
a notorious bad character, should be removed.
A committee of 17 members, approved by
the Shromani Committee, was appointed to
control the Gurdwara and its property.

A month passed and no interference was
offered in the work of this committee. Eather
on one or two occasions certain Government
officials visited the temple and assured the
Sikhs of Government support. But when
the campaign of arrests began in the whole
province, those Sikhs, about 40, who had
taken part in the above proceedings, were
arrested, some on 24th and others on 27th
March, 1922, from the Gurdwara. The
sacred flag was taken down and shoe-beaten
by certain Kashmiris. The police, who did
not prevent this desecration, were themselves
seen sitting with huqqas in the temple. The
Mahant was reinstated and a committee of
seven (one Mohammedan, four Hindus, and
two Sikhs) was appointed to help him.

Among those arrested were S. Gurcharan
Singh Vakil and his old father, who is a
great landlord and is looked upon in the
locality as . a most respectable gentleman.
The charge on the latter was that he had
committed dacoity and illegal interference
in the temple and that he had taken away
a brass-kettle, a dhotie, and a pillow from
there. The case never came up for hearing,.

377

but they and others were kept in Sialkot jail
for a month, during which time Mr. Fyson
tried to negotiate about the appointment of
a committee for Nonar. His proposal was
that he would release them, if they agreed to
the above mentioned committee of seven
members. The Sikhs refused. They were,
however, released on April 23, the Deputy
Commissioner informing them that the
Mahant had accepted a committee of six
genuine Sikhs. Four of the so-called genuine
Sikhs refused to accept membership, and the
Akalis again took charge of the temple on
May 3, restoring the original committee of
17. appointed by the sangat on February 20.

The Deputy Commissioner sent alarm-
ing reports to the Government and the Sikhs
were blamed for ousting his second committee,
which, as we have seen, never came into being.
Mr. Tollinton, the Commissioner of Lahore,
suggested that the Shromani Committee's
representatives should meet the new Deputy
Commissioner, Mr. Talbot, to settle the
matter amicably. On June 7, S. Teja Singh
of Samundri, Eisaldar Sundar Singh and S.
Gurcharan Singh met Mr. Talbot, who had
also summoned the Mahant and his friends
to the conference. The Deputy Commissioner
enquired if the Shromani Committee was
ready to give maintenance to the Mahant.

378

"'Yes' was the reply. Bawa Jhanda Singh
•said that when he had first gone to make a '
settlement, the Akalis had consented to grant
him Es 550 yearly, but the Mahant had
asked Es. 800. Let the Mahant come down
by Es. 150 and let the Akalis increase their
offer by Es. 150; that is, the Mahant should get
Es. 650 yearly or Es. 55 per mensem. Then
followed discussion about the formation of a
committee of management. It was agreed
that two members should be supplied by Akalis
and two by the Mahant. The Mahant nomi-
nated SardarsNand Singh and Slier Singh, and
the Akalis named S. Harcharan Singh and S.
Sher Singh Ghiaspuria. On the Mahant object-
ing to S. Harcharan Singh, the Sikhs accepted
S. B. Varyam Singh, Hony. Captain, whose
name was suggested by the Deputy Com-
missioner. The Mahant agreed to the
settlement and a document began to be
>drawn up. When they had gone half-way
through, the Mahant went out to take water.
When he came back he was entirely changed.
He would not agree to any settlement with
the Shromani Committee. A Mohammedan
E. A. C, who had been . taking the Mahant's
side, suggested that the Mahant should be
given ird of the income, which he said, was
fixed by him when he had recently made a
committee for the Gurdwara. The Shromani
Committee people agreed on the understand-

379

ing that the Mahant would keep good charac-
ter and that the land would be entered in
the name of the Gnrdwara. But the Mahant
would not agree. The Deputy Commissioner
asked the Shromani Committee's representa-
tives to write down the above terms and
offer them to the Mahant. They did so, acd
took a copy of it attested by Bawa Jhanda
Singh. It was provided in the document
that if the Mahant did not accept the terms,
the offer would be considered withdrawn.
Narowal was fixed by the Deputy Commis-
sioner for another meeting with the Mahant,
but the infatuated priest declared that he
would have nothing to do with the Shromani
Committee. The terms were, therefore,
withdrawn with the consent of the Deputy
Commissioner, and the Akali Committee
remained in possession.

Heran.

In village Heran, District Ludhiana,
there is a Gurdwara where Guru Hargobind
had spent some time with a Sikh saint named
Bhai Hamira. The couch on which the
Guru had sat and the hearth where Guru's
food used to be prepared are still preserved.
From the days of Mahant Kirpal Das, who
had fought for Guru Gobind Singh at
Bhangani, the temple had been a great
meeting place for the Sikhs. The • Mahant

380

of the place named Har Prasad, like his-
predecessor, was living with a woman of loose
character, whom he kept in the upper storey
of the Gurdwara. The worship in the temple
was neglected. Property was being misused
or alienated, and the income was being
squandered on illegitimate and frivolous
pleasures. The Mahant spent most of his
time with his mistress or his pigeons, of
which he had a large stock in the temple.

He was clearly breaking the condition
of good character which had been entered in:
a stamped deed executed by him at the time
of his appointment by the Malwa Sangat-
On February 16, the same Sangat, consisting
of Lambardars and other respectable people
of Heran and other villages, came together
and removed Har Prasad from the gaddi.
He appealed to the authorities, and Mr.
Hilton, the Deputy Commissioner, went there
with British and Gurkha military forces
with guns and a large number of police from
several districts. After some days of
military show it was found necessary to
arrange matters amicably, especially when
the Mahant openly admitted the truth of the
Sangat's allegations against him. Mr. Hari
Kishen Kaul, the Commissioner of Jullundur,
accompanied by the representatives of the
Shromani Committee, reached the spot and
five Sikhs were nominated by consent of

381

tooth parties to take charge of the Grurdwara,
-until the passage of the proposed Gurdwara
Bill, or, failing that, until the case was
adjudicated upon by a competent civil court.
Mr. Hilton clearly declared that, the matter
having been settled by mutual agreement, he
would not prosecute the Sikhs who had
removed the Mahant unless asked by the
Government to do so. On this the Com-
missioner remarked that Mr. Hilton had
gone further than he himself (the Commis-
sioner) would have done ; but that the
District Magistrate could drop the police
investigation, which was still pending, at any
time, and that there was very little likelihood
of his discretion being interfered with. After
this regular lists were made of the Gurdwara
property and the offerings and rations collect-
ed by the Sangat during its occupancy, and
formally charge of everything was made over
to the new committee in writing. The
Commissioner and the Shromani Committee
both issued communiques about the above
arrangement, pending " the final settlement
of the dispute by competent authority."
But a little before the end of March, without
the knowledge of the Shromani Committee,
the committee of management was turned
out and the Mahant was put in possession of
the temple. The prosecution of the Sikhs
who had taken part in the affair was also
ordered.

382

The wholesale arrests of Sikhs included
not only of those who had taken part in the
Gurdwara reform, but of those also who were
found baptizing Akalis or wearing and
manufacturing kirpans. At Varyam ISfangal,
District Amrit§ar, while the Sikhs were
performing the ceremony of Sikh initiation,,
a body of armed police appeared on the scene
and began to interfere in the religious obser-
vance. They threatened that all those who
would take part in the ceremony and become
Akalis would be arrested. With great
difficulty were they persuaded to wait until
the ceremony was over, when 17 Sikhs were
arrested. It was said to them at the Thana
at Kathu Nangal, that those who would put
off their black turbans and apologise would
be let off. One man of Easulpur agreed to
this and was released. The remaining 16
having stoutly refused were taken away. Qn
26fch March two jathas of Akalis, numbering;
about 70, who were, coming to attend a
diwan at Dosanjh in Phillour Tehsil, were
arrested while only singing hymns, and were
sentenced to various ,terms. , of imprisonment
on the spot. In order to avoid any cause of
excitement during the prevailing repression
the Shromani Committee discouraged the
Sikh public from holding even religious
diwans. . But this was misinterpreted as a»;
weakness, -In Lyallpur; a Magistrate, Tikka*

383

Bajendra. Pal passed an order*, forbidding
Akalis from gathering even in religious
meetings in a Gurdwara.

Although the Government had declared
the kirpan to be synonymous with the sword,
many confiscations and arrests were being
made in that connection too. Mr. E. M.
Jenkins, Assistant Commissioner of Ainritsar,
on March 28 convicted two Sikhs, Bhais
Ram Singh and Makhan Singh, for possessing
kirpans and sentenced each of them to one
year's R. I. About 750 kirpans were taken
away by the police from the Kirpan Factories
of Sardar Kharak Singh and Sardar Khazan
Singh of Sialkot. The police raided a kirpan
factory of Tobatekstngh and arrested four
Sikhs. Kirpans were also removed from a
shop and two Sikhs arrested therefrom were
sentenced to one year's R. I. Bhai Ajit Singh
was arrested at Abbottabed for wearing a
kirpan. The score of arrests reached 844
even before the end of March.

The Shromani Committee summoned an
urgent meeting of its members to consider

The original copy of the order which is in. tbe
Shromani Committee's possession included these
words: — "I declare hereby that their assembling
even in the Gurdwara is clearly for political pur-
poses and not for religious or devotional purpose at
all. As required by them I hereby again order them
to go away even from this place, otherwise they will
be proceeded against according to law."

384

the situation into which the whole movement
had been thrown by the ill-considered action
of the Government. On 28th March, when
the repression was at its full swing, the
Oovernment sent a letter to the Secretary
of the Shromani Committee to send a
deputation on April 5 to discuss with the
Government the draft Bill for legislation
regarding Gurdwaras. The Shromani Com-
mittee met on 30th March and, in answer
to the invitation, passed the following
resolution : —

" While the Government and the
Shromani Committee's representatives were
negotiating about the Gurdwara Bill, it was
agreed by both parties on 8th March,
1922, that in order to produce the requisite
atmosphere nothing should be done by either
party to prejudice the chances of conciliation.
In pursuance of this purpose simultaneous
•communiques were issued. The Government
made an announcement about its recognition
of the Shromani Gurdwara Parbandhak
Committee as representative of the Sikh
religious opinion and about the freedom of
the kirpan or sword- The Shromani Gur-
dwara Parbandhak Committee advised all
Sikhs to refrain from doing anything calcu-
lated to disturb the calm atmosphere.

" The Shromani Committee is satisfied
ithat the Sikhs have scrupulously adhered to

385

the understanding and that the Government,
in absolute disregard of its obligations, has
launched forth a campaign of widespread,
indiscriminate and intensive repression of
the Sikhs participating in the Gurdwar&
reform movement under all sorts of pretexts..

u Inspite of its plighted word about the
kirpan, the Government is arresting Sikh&
for carrying or manufacturing kirpans, and is
confiscating hundreds of kirpans from
factories.

" Unmindful of the breach of faith involv-
ed, the Government has dispossessed the Sikhs
of the Gurdwaras of Heran and Nonar and has
made over the Gurdwaras to the sacrilegious
Mahants condemned by the sangats.

" The Government is arresting and pro-
secuting the Sikhs peacefully worshipping in
Gurdwaras.

"Hundreds of Sikhs are being indiscrimi-
nately arrested and mercilessly beaten for no
obvious fault but that of wearing black
turbans and kirpans.

" Even women have been molested by the
police ; Iceshas of Sikhs have been pulled and
filthy language has been used, in the presence
of Sikhs, for the Sikh Gurus.

" All this and much more, coming on the
top of the High Court judgment in the
Nankana Sahib case and the final refusal by
the authorities to take action against the

police official who made a sacrilegious attack om
Guru Granth Sahib and assaulted an old Sikh
lady near Sri Darbar Sahib, has shattered
the belief of Sikhs in the pledges of Govern-
ment, however solemnly made, and has dis-
sipated the hope of an amicable settlement.

il Therefore the Shromani Committee
feels compelled to resolve that all negotiations
with the Government be broken off:, until the
Government gives up its unholy attempt to
kill the Gurdwara Eeform Movement by
crushing the Akalis."

The police went on making arrests, and
in a few days hundreds of more Sikhs, in-
cluding 30 members with four successive
Presidents and 3 Secretaries of the Shromani
Committee, were hauled up. Sardar Kharak
Singh, President of the Committee, was
arrested on April 4 under Section 107, Cr.
P. C, but two days later he was charged
under Section 5 of the Arms Act for manu-
facturing kirpans and sentenced to one year's
rigorous imprisonment. Then he was tried
under another Section, the famous 124A,
I.P.C., and was sentenced to three years' K.I.
S. Khazan Singh, a retired E. A. C, was
also arrested for manufacturing kirpans, but
he threatened to start a case against the
Deputy Commissioner for the latter's illegal
action and was released after being kept for
a few weeks in prison. Master Tar a Singh,

387

B. A., a prominent member of the Working
Committee, was arrested under Section 108,
Cr. P. C, but was released soon after.

On 31st March a warrant under Sec. 107,
Cr. P C, had been issued against Sodhi
Pritam Singh, who belongs to the most re-
vered family of Anandpur. On 4th April
the customary notice was issued to him to
present himself within 30 days, otherwise his
property would be attached. On' April 16,
long before the expiry of the month, when
Sodhi Pritam Singh and his father Sodhi
Moti Singh, called Bari Sarkar, were absent
from Anandpur, a body of police surrounded
the house and locked it up after turning out
the parda nashin ladies, one of whom was
pregnant. After much ado Sodhi Moti Singh
was able to persuade the authorities to re-
lease his house, which was done on April 22.
It was on the same day that the pregnant
lady gave birth to a child. On April 26,
when Sodhi Moti Singh was away, a bur-
glary was committed at his house and his
property worth Es. 80,000 v, as taken away
by thieves. Both father and son suffered
enormously. They were hard pressed to dis-
sociate themselves from the Gurdwara move-
ment, but they manfully stuck to the Guru's
cause.

S. Eaghbir Singh, Beis of Sarhali, was
asked by the Tehsildar to put ofl his black

388

turban and kirpan, and was threatened with the
confiscation of his jagir if he did not do so.

Bhai Ajit Singh, a cloth merchant of Pahla
(district Jullundur) alighted at Ludhiana
Railway Station on April 5, and was
proceeding to the city to buy yarn, when he
was detained by some military men near the
Clock Tower and taken to their officer. His
name and address were taken down and he
was sent under escort to the Kotwali, where
the Subdear told the Sub-Inspector of Police
that the man was to be challaned under
Section 109, as the order of the Deputy Com-
missioner was that all Akalis coming from
outside districts should be challaned. The
police told the Subedar to give the report and
bring written orders from the Deputy
Commissioner. While the report was being
written, two more Akalis were brought
in. They had been detained on the Railway
Station, when they had alighted to change
their train. Bhai Ajit Singh was then asked
to get his bona-fides attested by his arhU, or
commission agent. This was done, and yet
he was pressed to give a personal security.
He refused and offered to go to jail. After
great trouble and delay he was released on
supplying chits from certain shop-keepers
from the city. Similar demand was made
from the other two Akalis, but being utter
strangers they could not comply. This is a
typical case of trouble incurred by Sikhs for

389

wearing black turbans and kirpans. S.
Harbans Singh, a very respectable and well-
known merchant of Seistan, was detained at
the Railway Station of Duzdab and was told
that he could not proceed any further pending
further orders. He, however, communicated
directly by wire with His Majesty's Consul
and got permission. Other Sikhs who were
not so iniluential suffered much in Baluch-
istan for no other fault than that of wearing
black turbans and kirpans. On May 15, Bhai
Avtar Singh, a blind musician, who belongs
to the Grujranwala Sikh Orphanage, while go-
ing with his music party for preaching work,
was arrested on the Railway Station Mandhra
under Section 19 of the Arms Act. His fault
was that he was not wearing the kirpan by
his side, but was keeping it loose with him,
as his shoulder-belt was broken and the sheath
of the kirpan was also out of order. The
Shromani Committee's deputation, consisting
of G-iani Sher Singh, Sardar Labh Singh, Bar-
at-Law, and Sardar Dalip Singh, Bar-at-Law,
was subjected to the same harassment at
Ludhiana. While going from the Railway
Station to the City their carriage was stopped,
and they were asked to give up their kirpans.
After some altercation with the police they
were allowed to proceed ; but they were not
gone far when they saw that a jatha of
Akalis was stopped by the police who forbade

390

$iem to sing the sacred songs. The police
men, when questioned, replied that they had
orders to disperse more than two Akalis and
to take away the long kirpans from them. At
this the members of the deputation went to
(join the jatha and challenged the police to
come and stop them singing hymns.
They were forced to remain where they were,
but they continued singing. At last a constable
came and released them. The police were
aBked to show the order by which they were
stopping people and interfering with their
liberty, but they would show no order. They
simply said : " Our word is the order."

Several Sikhs serving in the Army
were awarded heavy punishments for
wearing black turbans and kirpans.
According to a report supplied to the Shro-
maai Committee two Sikh soldiers belonging
to Regiment No. 45 stationed at Jhelum
were sentenced, one to 18 years' and the
other to Si years' R. I. for insisting to wear
<black turbans inspite of orders to the con-
trary. Fifteen soldiers of the 57th Rifles
stationed at Piaza Ragza were reported to
:have been sentenced to various terms of im-
prisonment ranging from 10 to 4 years for
insisting to wear kirpans. Similar reports
came from Mesopotamia. In answer to an
allegation about certain Sikh soldier of 4th
Cavalry being punished for wearing a black

391

turban and kirpan, the Government itself ad-
mitted in a communique dated August 2,
1922, that u one man in the regiment put on
a black turban and that suitable disciplinary
action was taken against him." In a letter
dated 27th October 19*2, the Adjutant General
in India mentions a Sikh sepoy being punished
for wearing a black turban in a regimental
Gurdwara, and orders a regimental pattern
of pagri to be worn even in mufti to be fixed.
Any contravention of this order would be
punished as disobedience of orders. The whole
number of arrests may be approximately put
at 2000.

On several villages, which were predomi-
nately Sikh, punitive police posts were
imposed and the Akalis were made to pay
the same tax as badm ashes. At village
Hudiara in Lahore District, the punitive tax
was to be realised at the rate of Ke. 1 per
village menial, Es. 2 per tenant, Es. 3 per
land-holder, Es. 30 from previous convicts or
persons entered in the Eegister No. 9, and
Es. 40 from badmashes of the register No. 10,
members of the Akali, Congress and Pancha-
yat organizations and persons convicted
under the Seditious Meetings Act, most of
whom were Sikhs punished in connection with
the Keys affair. At Ghawind, in the same
district, a punitive police post was placed,
although according to all Moderate and Con-
gress leaders, who personally made enquirie

392

on the spot, there was no valid reason for
the location of the police. In the matter of
collecting the punitive tax the Akalis were
placed on the same footing as badmashes
and convicts.

Although the Government had alienated
the sympathy of the reforming Sikhs by carry-
ing on a vigorous campaign of arrests
against them, it still nourished before them
the hope of getting a satisfactory Gurdwara
Bill. It looked almost ironical. And yet
the Government persistently invited the
Sikhs to come and tell them what they want-
ed. The Sikhs insisted that they could not
talk about a Bill as long as their brethren were
rotting in jail. On 1st May a few Sikhs had
an informal talk with Mr. Tollinton, Com-
missioner of Lahore, and Mr. Wilson John-
ston, Home Secretary. The Government
officers, when reminded of the repression
of the Akalis, tried to throw the whole blame
on the subordinate Magistrates and Police
officers, and offered to appoint a High Court
Judge to look into the Akali cases. The
Sikh leaders, on the other hand, pressed for
a mixed Committee of Enquiry. As there
was no agreement reached on this essential
point the Sikh leaders refused to talk of the
Bill. Mr. W. Johnston, however, by way of
a parting shot, which sounded like a threat,
told them that the Bill would be carried
through with the help of the Sikh members

393

of the Council and the public outside it. The
Sikh leaders retorted that if the Bill was
passed inspite of the expressed wishes of the
Panth, it would fail as the Rowlett Bill had
failed.

The Government, however, went on
with the draft, announcing now and then in
the press how deliciously it was progressing
under the nominal blessings of the Sikh
members. The Gurdwara Committee in the
meanwhile had enjoined on all Sikhs, includ-
ing those in the Council, not to have any-
thing to do with the Bill. A deputation was
also sent out in the country to explain the
necessity of rejecting the Bill as long as the
Government pursued its aggressive policy.
The Sikh opinion became unanimous in con-
demning the Bill and even the Sikh Council-
lors declared in July that they would have
none of it, unless the prisoners were released
and the Bill was substantially altered.

To refute this unanimity, deputations
of Nirmalas and Udasis, mostly from outside
the Punjab, began to appear before Sir John
Maynard to oppose the claims of Akalis, who,
they declared, were in a hopeless minority.
The Shromani Committee, which believed
itself to be the most representative body of
the Sikhs, declared in answer : " Let there
be a number of Commissioners freely elected
by Sikh voters on the official lists prepared
for the Provincial Legislative Council, and let

394

the settlement of the Gurdwara Eeform ques-
tion be left entirely in their hands." Feeling
that there was no hope of getting a solution
of the problem from the Government, the
Shromani Committee passed the following
resolution on July 16, 1922 :

" As, judging from the experience of the
past full year, there is no hope of getting the
Gurdwara question settled through the Gov-
ernment, which has been trying in every
way to suppress the Gurdwara Eeform Move-
ment, the only course left open to the Sikhs
now is to get the service and the administration
of the Gurdwaras into their own hands.
Therefore this meeting of the General Com-
mittee, after full deliberation, feels itself
compelled to authorise the Executive Com-
mittee to take proper action, whenever neces-
sary, in regard to any Gurdwara which has to
be brought under the Panthic control."

On 31st July, 1922, Sir John Maynard
announced to the newly-assembled Punjab
Council that the Government had abandoned
the Gurdwara Legislation, resting contented
with the fact that in about 40 cases of Sikh
shrines the entries regarding property and
assignments of revenue were already in the
name of the institutions and that in about
15 other cases entries had now been made in
the names of the shrines through the influ-
ence of Deputy Commissioners.

CHAPTER XXI.

GURU KA BAGH.

At a distance of about 12 miles front
Amritsar there is a place called Guru ka
Bagh, where there are two Gurdwaras, one
sacred to Guru Arjan and the other to Guru
Tegh Bahadur. Both of these Gurus were
martyrs, who had passively suffered all the
insults and tortures that the rulers of the time
could inflict on them. The Gurdwara of Guru
Arjan was founded in honour of the Guru's
visit by Baba Ghuka, after whom is named
the neighbouring village of Ghukewali. After
Ghuka his descendants continued in charge of
the place, which was called Guru-ka-Eaur,
until Guru Tegh Bahadur came to visit it ;
and then its name was changed into Guru-ka
Bagh, as a garden was planted on the bare,
desolate land and its whole outlook was made
beautiful. Guru Tegh Bahadur stayed here
for some time, and Baba Lall Chand, a des-
cendant of Baba Ghuka, and other Sikhs of
the neighbourhood built a nine-storeyed
house for the Guru at a little distance
from the Gurdwara of Guru Arjan.
The tall house, however, was demolished

396

the enemies of Sikhism in the days
persecution, and later on Sardar Nahar
Singh Randhawa of Chamiari built the
present Gurdwara. The Gurdwara of Guru
Arjan, as it stands, was built by S. Punjab
Singh, an officer of Maharaja Ranjit Singh.
It was also about that time that an Udasi
Sadhu was appointed by the neighbouring
Sangafc to take care of the Gurdwara. The
Sikh Maharajas, Sirdars and Zemindars
granted lands for the upkeep of the Gurdwara
and its free kitchen, but many lands were
resumed by the British Government.

Mahant Sundar Das, in charge of the
Gurdwaras, was reported to be keeping
mistresses, and the Sikhs of the neigh-
bourhood had been complaining for a long
time about his character. On 31st
January, 1921, some Sikhs under the leader-
ship of S. Dan Singh went to the spot to see
if they could bring the Mahant to reason.
The Mahant, when he saw that the Sikhs
were not after ousting him, submitted at once
and signed an agreement* to the effect

The following is an extract from the printed
report of Hakim Iqram-ul-Haq, Deputy Superin-
tendent of Police, C. I. D., produced as part of his
evidence in the Nankana Sahib Massacre Case : —

"On the 31st January (1921) a party cf forty
men and five women of the Akali Dal under Dan
Singh Jathedar of Wachhoa arrived at the Guru ka

397

that he would marry one of his mistresses
and would work under a committee of 11 Sikhs
to be appointed by the Shromani Com-
mittee. The document was read out by him-
self in the presence of the villagers assem-
bled. He also declared that he would get
himself baptised as a regular Sikh. Five men
with his consent were left to help him with-
out expecting any remuneration, and then the
Jatha withdrew. On February 8, 1921, the
Mahant took Sikh baptism at the Akal Takht
and w as renamed Joginder Singh. His mis-
tress Ishri also took amrit and was renamed
Gian Kaur. On the same day she was
married to the Mahant at the Akal Takht
according to the Sikh rites.

An account of all these proceedings was
published in the press.

Bagh Gurdwara, Sansra, from Amritsar. The Ma-
hant, Sunctar Dass, was aware of their intention and
had collected fifty or sixty men to meet them. There
were also about three hnndied villagers present.
Terms on which the Mabant might remain in posses-
sion of the Gurdwara were announced to him.
These were that he should take Amrit, work in con-
sultation with a Committee and marry his paramour.
He agreed to these terms. A number of persons
were appointed as members of the Committee and a

day was fixed for the Amrit ceremony It is true

that miny Mahants are very bad characters and are
generally most unpopular with the people in the
neighbourhood of their Gurdwaras."

398

After the Nankana Sahib tragedy, when
Sikhs began to be arrested in large num-
bers, this Mahant, like so many others,
went back on his pledges and adopted his
old ways. On August 23, 1921, the Shro-
mani Committee was obliged to take charge
of the institution in its own hands. The
rejected Mahant sought the help of the autho-
rities, but when Mr. Macpherson, Superin-
tendent of Police, went to the spot with a force
of police and studied the facts, he confirmed
the possession of Sikhs and left a body of
police to protect the Akalis in charge of the
place. After some time when the danger of
an attack from the Mahant's party was over,
the Superintendent of Police wrote to the
Gurdwara Committee that he wanted to
remove the police guard, unless the Gurdwara
Committee wished to retain it at its own cost.
Tbe Gurdwara Committee consented to the
withdrawal of the police.

In February, 1922, the Mahant agreed
to abide by the decision of three arbitrators,
S. Teja Singh of Samundri, S. Gurcharan
Singh and S. Bal Singh, about his mainten-
ance. They decided to offer him Ks. 120 p. m.
and a house at Amritsar, and he accept-
ed this offer ; but, encouraged by the repres-
sive policy of the Government towards the
Akalis in March and April, he went back
again on his word.

399

Ever since the Gurdwara had come
under the Committee's control the fire-wood
required for the free kitchen attached to the
Gurdwara had always been taken, as of right,
from a portion of the land which is entered
in the name of the Gurdwara and which is
not, and has never been, ' valuable agricul-
tural land " as has been alleged, but a mere
grove of Jcikar trees for which no land revenue
had ever been paid. It was from the same
place that on August 8, 1922, five Akalis, who
were admittedly in charge of the Gurdwara,
cut wood from a dry kikar tree for use in the
Gurdwara kitchen. They were arrested on
August 9, not on the complaint of the Mahant,
but by the orders of Mr. Dunnett, the Deputy
Commissioner, on the basis of a confidential
diary of Bedi Brijlal Singh. It was on
August 10, after Mr. Beaty and other officers
and policemen had reached the spot, that
the complaint of Mahant Sundar Das was
obtained in support of the step which had
already been decided upon. On August 10 the
arrested Sikhs were hurriedly convicted of
theft and sentenced to six months' rigorous
imprisonment with a fine of Es. 50 each.
The Sikhs had got the same right to cut
wood from the Gurdwara land as to control
the Gurdwara itself. Both go together. The
property of a Gurdwara is a trust meant only
for the maintenance of the Gurdwara. and

: i

400

its institutions, like the free kitchen, and it
cannot be used for any other purpose. It
was, therefore, unjustifiable on the part of
Government to start criminal proceedings
against the Sikhs at Guru ka Bagh in aid of
a Mahant who, having now no Gurdwara to
support, was still tryirg to use the trust pro-
perty for his own private and illegitimate
purposes.

The Sikhs did not cease to exercise their
right of cutting wood for the Guru's kitchen.
The police, which had remained inactive in
the meanwhile, became suddenly active on
22nd August and began to carry out
wholesale arrests of Sikhs. By 24th August,
1.80 arrests had been made and on the 25th
the total reached 210. With the return of
the Deputy Commissioner from Simla the
policy of beating under Section 127 and 128
of the Cr. P. C. began in order to overawe
the Sikhs. On the very first day of his
arrival about 100 Akalis were severely beaten
with fists; kicks and the butt-ends of guns.
The next day about 40 Akalis, left in the
garden in charge of Guru Granth Sahib, were
beaten with lathis and dragged by the hair,
simply because they had dared to remove the
Holy Book from the sun and brought it
under shade. On the 26th the following
office-bearers ard workers of the Shromani
Committee were arrested for abetting theft>

401

and the holding of unlawful assemblies :■ —
Sardar Mehtab Singh, Bar-at-Law, President;
Bhai Jaswant Singh, B. A-., General Secre-
tary ; Sardar Narain Singh, Bar-at-Law,
Secretary ; Bhai Sahib Singh, B. A., Assist-
ant Secretary ; Master Tara Singh, B. A.,
Member of the Working Committee ; Sardar
Sarmukh Singh of Jhabal, Member of the
Working Committee and President of the
Shromani Akali Dal ; Sardar Teja Singh of
Chuharkana, Member of the Executive
Committee and Vice-President of the Shro-
mani Akali Dal ; and Sardar Bavel Singh,
Member of the Shromani Committee and
Secretary, District Gurdwara Committee,
Amritsar.

On the 26th Baba Kehar Singh, the
great peace-maker, had brought round the
Mahant to acknowledge his guilt and agree
to an understanding with the Panth. Mr.
Beaty and the Tehsildar were pleased with
the prospect of a settlement, and the former
gave his car to Baba Kehar Singh and
the Tehsildar to take the Mahant to
Amritsar and make peace with the Shromani
Committee.

Before sitting in the car, however, Baba
Kehar Singh said that he would like to cut
wood from the land in dispute, as he had
pledged to do so. Mr. Beaty said that when
a compromise was going to be made any

402

number of trees might be cut. The Baba Sahib

cut some wood from the grove and brought

it to the Gurdwara. Then they started for

Amritsar. Before entering the city, however,

the Tehsildar took them to the bungalow of

the Deputy Commissioner, who expressed

his satisfaction when he heard from the

Mahant that he had made a compromise

with the Shromani Committee. As soon as

Baba Kehar Singh had gone out of his room,

the Deputy Commissioner called in the

Tehsildar and then again Baba Kehar Singh,

v whom he told that warrants had been issued

for his arrest. This startled even the Tehsildar,

who had hoped for a better appreciation of

the situation by the Deputy Commissioner,

The Deputy Commissioner asked Babaji to go

back to Guru ka Bagh and get himself arrested

there, for his arrest in Amritsar would have

brought discredit upon the Tehsildar The

Baba Sahib did so and was arrested. On 27th

the batch of Sikhs who went to cut wood at

Guru ka Bagh were beaten and ducked.

About 96 who had been kept under arrest

in the Garden were asked to march towards*

Amritsar. "When they did so they were

belaboured with lathis and left unconscious

on the ground.

From that time onward the policy of
beating the Sikhs in Guru ka Bagh or on the
road leading thereto was followed most

403

vigorously. The Sikhs, too, began to pour
in from all directions to put in their share of
sacrifice at the altar of the Guru. All
approaches to Guru ka Bagh were stopped and
no means were left to the blockaded Sikhs for
receiving provisions or any other kind of help.
Those who were suspected of preparing or
taking provisions for them were beaten and
the rations seized. A professor of the
Khalsa College, Amritsar, who was going
with his family towards Guru ka Bagh, was
severely assaulted in the presence of his
ladies. All pilgrims proceeding to Amritsar
were detrained at Lahore and other stations
in the neighbourhood of Amritsar, and were
sent back or arrested. The roads, bridges
and ferries were also picketted.

Inspite of these restrictions, however,
Sikhs were able, somehow or other, to reach
Amritsar. Every day at the Akal Takht a
party of Sikhs took a solemn vow to go for
sacrifice, and under all circumstances to
remain non-violent in word and deed.
Another jatha, of a smaller size, would go-
every day from the Gurdwara of Guru ka
Bagh to assert their right of chopping wood
for the Guru's kitchen. Both the jathas
were beaten invariably in a most heartless
manner until all the Akalis became sense-
less.

404

In the beginning no medical relief was
allowed to be sent to the injured, and
a small party of doctors and , scouts was
actually driven out unceremoniously from
Guru ka Bagh, even though they had a
permit from the Deputy Commissioner. But
afterwards it was allowed, and a regular
service of doctors and assistants was arranged
by the Committee in Amritsar. There were
three big well-equipped hospitals maintained
at the cost of about Rs. 2,000 a day, and a
set of ablest doctors belonging to different
communities offered themselves to attend to
the wounded.

From 31st August onward everyday
a jatha of about 100 Akalis, after taking the
vow of non-violence at the Akal Takht, would
start from Amritsar with a train of ambu-
lance cars and take the road to Guru ka
Bagh. It was invariably stopped in the way,
and beaten mercilessly with lathis until all.
its members became unconscious. When the
police had done their work, they would' drag
the prostrate and wounded Sikhs by their
sacred hair and throw them into muddy
ditches or leave them in the fields. Then
the forces of mercy, the medical relief party
supplied by the Shromani Committee, would
begin their work. They would bring the
wounded in ambulance lorries to Amritsar
and put them in the Committee's hospitals.

405

The beating was moBtly directed at the
joints or the private parts, so that the Akalis
might be soon disabled or made unconscious.
It was declared to be most cowardly and
inhuman by all the great leaders like Pandit
Malaviyaji, Hakim Ajmal Khan and Mr. C. F.
Andrews. The whole affair is full of harrow-
ing details, but we will give here a few
impressions of what went on for about a
month. The following joint report was issued
by a few most prominent journalists : —

As is well known, every day a jatha
generally composed of about 100 men started
from Amritsar to Guru-ka-Bagh after taking
the vow of non-violence before Akal Takht.
Their immediate objective for the day was
the Gurdwara at Guru-ka-Bagh, though it
was understood that, on some other day,
they might be allowed to go forward to the
disputed land in small batches of three, four
or five. The jathas were stopped at some
point en route to Guru-ka-Bagh by a body
of policemen armed with regulation lathis,
and dealt with in the manner described below.
Policemen on horseback were sometimes
added, while on two occasions the police
were supported by cavalry also.

We should like to add here that the
vow of non-violence taken by the bigger
jathas before Akal Takht at Amritsar, or by

406

the smaller batches of three, four or five
men before the Darbar Sahib at Guru-ka-
Bagh, was kept by all the Akalis to the
letter. Not a single individual, out of the
hundreds of men whom we saw being severely
beaten with lathis and kicked and in several
cases having their beards and sacred hair
pulled, etc., etc., raised even his little finger
by way of resistance or retaliation. Let any
responsible officer of Government come
forward and deny this fact. Every day, both
at Guru-ka-Bagh itself and at one point or
another on the road leading to it, the beating
was carried on under the immediate orders
and supervision of, and often led by, one or
more British Police Officers (Superintendent,
Additional Superintendent and Assistant
Superintendent of Police) and, on certain
occasions, high Police and Civil Officers like
the Inspector-General, and the Deputy
Inspector-General, and the Deputy Com-
missioner, Amritsar, and the Commissioner,
Lahore Division, were present at the scene.

It may be a marvel or even a miracle of
human endurance and patient, resigned,
prayerful suffering which the Akalis have
shown, but it is a miracle which thousands of
persons saw with their own eyes, and which
we witnessed with admiration and reverence
on a dozen occasions or more.

The Police excesses were most in evi-
dence in three separate areas, viz. (1) at

407

three specific points on the road leading from
Amritsar to Guru-ka-Bagh Gurdwara, a
distance of 12 miles, viz., Gumtala, Raja
Sansi and Chhinna bridge, (2) at Guru-ka-
Bagh itself, specially on the boundary line
between the premises of the Gurdwara and
the attached land which is the subject of
dispute, and (3) the Tillages surrcundiug it.
We consider it convenient to give a general
idea of the excesses in each of the se areas
and then leave it to others to judge for
themselves how far the Home Member's
statement does justice to the terrible realities
of the situation as we witnessed it from day
to day.

I.— (a) Gumtala Bridge.

September 1. On this date, the Jatha was
stopped on the road by the Police armed with
lathis, not batons. Out of a dozen occasions
not once have we witnessed the Police
even carrying batons. The lathis were about
5 feet long, iron-bound at oce end to a length
o about 5 to 6 inches, and brass-bound
to the same length at the other end. There
was also, in some cases, a round metal knob
a t the thicker end. The lathis were about
1 \ inches thick, and they were plied mercilessly
on the backs, heads and other parts of the
person including the private parts. Professor
Jodh Singh, M. A., lately Principal, Guru
Nanak Khalsa College, Gujranwala, (a Moder-

408

ate gentleman) also witnessed the beating on
this occasion, and he says in his Daily
Gurmukhi paper, the Ehalsa (September 4) :
" It lasted for about twenty minutes and, on
a signal being given with a flag, the cavalry
was ordered to advance forward. The whole
column came up close to the Jatha, but only
three horsemen advanced and passed over
the Akalis,' and hurt some of them with the
hoofs of their horses. Many spectators were
weeping and crying aloud and were shocked."
He further writes, on the strength of the
Doctor's report, that out of those wounded
at Gumtala Bridge, there was one serious
case. He was probably hit on the private
parts and, as he could not pass urine for a
considerable time, his bladder had to be
evacuated by artificial means. In two cases,
wounds were produced probably by the hoofs
of horses. There were several cases in which
the injuries were inflicted on the private
parts.

(b) Eaja Sansi.

The next day the scene of beating was
shifted to Eaja Sansi, six miles from Amritsar,
on the road to Guru-ka-Bagh. Pandit Madan
Mohan Malaviya came upon the spot
immediately after the beating had taken
place, and while most of the men were still
lying in an unconscious or disabled condition,

409

on either side of the road, like so many
corpses, as he himself described the sight.
The Senior Superintendent of Police and two
other European Officers were present. The
representative of the Associated Press and
one other European were also there. As
soon as the Jatha reached a point on the
road close to the village of Kaja Sansi, a body
of lathi police led by two European officers
rushed on them from the side and after
asking them to disperse, which they refused
to do, charged them. The sight was one of
the most frightful witnessed in connection
with the Guru-ka-Bagh. The Sikhs stood with
folded hands singing hymns. As soon as the
Policemen came near, they sat down on the
ground with their heads bending forward, still
singing, " Wahiguru, Wahiguru, Wahiguru Ji,
Satnam, Satnam, Satnam Ji." This they
continued till they all became unconscious or
exhausted by severe beating. A shower of
lathis and kicks fell on them to the accompani-
ment of a drum, which the police had brought
with them and which now began to beat. It was
a frightful sight and was witnessed by several
thousand persons who also uttered prayerfully
" Wahiguru, Wahiguru, Wahiguru Ji" Soon
some of the Akalis lay prostrate. The lathi
blows continued descending vigorously and
quickly on those still sitting, till all lay down
stretched on the ground. Those that lifted

410

up their heads received blows individually.
They were then dragged and kicked, a few
were lifted up by uwo or more Policemen and
thrown from a height of at least three feet
into pits on either side of the road. Here
they received first-aid treatment from doctors
and boy-scouts, who had volunteered their
services, before they were carried on stretch-
ers into motor-lorries which had been
provided by the public and the Gurdwara
Parbandhak Committee. The Police force
on this occasion was partly composed of
Gurkhas and partly of Mussalmans from Sone
Ilaqa of the Shahpur District. Subsequently
Pathans were also added. A lady was abused
and roughly treated while attending to the
wounded. Some on-lookers were also beaten,
but none received severe injuries.

(c) Chhinna Beidge.

On the following day, the police moved
a mile and a half further up the road before
blocking the way for the Jatha. This point
is situated only a short distance from Chhinna
bridge. The police had pitched their camp
here, and up to the 9th September when the
Jatha was allowed for the first time to pass
on without obstruction, this point was, day
after day, the scene of police excesses prac-
tised on a Jatha of about 100 Akalis. Here
the beating (on the 3rd) was even severe

411

than that on the previoue day, and it was
carried on till late after nightfall. Pandit
Madan Mohan Malaviyaji, Sirdar Jogender
Singh, Member, Council of State, and some
twenty other leading Sikh gentlemen, includ-
ing several members of the local Legislative
•Council and the Chief Khalsa Diwan, were
present in the evening, but being assured by
one of the officers present that no beating
would be given to the Jatha during the night
they returned at about 8-30 p. m. As soon
as the police came to know that Pandit
Malaviyaji had gone away,' they rushed
forward and charged the Akalis, who were at
this moment squatting on the ground singing-
hymns. No warning was given and both the
Akalis and on-lookers were rushed upon and
beaten. The Akalis went on chanting V/ahi-
Guru and Satnam, while blow after blow de-
scended upon them. They were then dragged
and kicked. Some of the wounded men were
thrown into a shallow running water-channel
on one side, and afterwards they were dragged
far into the field and left there. Some were
thrown on the low lying ground off the road.
They were struck with lathis and kicked in
all parts of the body. On this, as well as on
other occasions, we noticed kicks being given
on private parts of the Akalis. Some of the
officers not only took part in the beating but
very often they led the way. The drum wa

412

used on the 3rd September as on the previous
day.

The scene on the following five days,,
when the Jathas were stopped at this point
on the road, was equally heart-rending. On
the 4th a novel method was tried. We saw
the crowds of on-lookers being chased into
the fields, and there some of them were
robbed. Numerous complaints were brought
to our notice there and then, including some
from very respectable gentlemen. Some of
us brought a few specific cases to the notice
of the Superintendent of Police and the Naib-
Tehsildar. Certain Policemen were pointed
out and the officers were requested to have
them searched in our presence, but not only
was no heed paid to this request, but one of
the officers gave a threatening reply, saying :
" Go and report at the Thana and see the
result."

On this occasion, the officer in charge
delayed the beating till late at night and then
told Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviya that he
was not going to administer any beating,
adding that if every body left the place, the
Akalis would disperse to their homes. The
officer solemnly assured Pandit Madan
Mohan Malaviya and others, again and again,
that there would be no beating that night, and
that the men would not be molested during
the night. He further said that the Akalis

413

had no heart in the movement, and that, if
they were left to themselves, they would slip
away, one by one, during the night. At
his request the ambulance cars, doctors,
boy-scouts and even the reporters were sent
back half a mile from the scene of action.
Only three press representatives were allowed
to lie down un-observed at a point off the
road some little distance behind the Akali
Jatha, which was squatting on one side of the
road leaviog about half the road free for
traffic. One doctor was also allowed to be
close at hand to send for his assistants in
case of need. The three press representa-
tives first noticed two white-turbaned men
being led away by the Policemen, then an old
man with a black turban, then another white-
turbaned man, and after this several men
being dragged, carried, beaten and kicked.
The men were loudly protesting against the
"Zulum," saying they would rather die than
go back. Several of these men, who were
able to walk, actually returned and rejoined
the Jatha. After this there was a lull for
a short time and every one thought there
would be no more beating. At about 10-15
p. m. Pandit Madan Mohan Malaviyaji, who
was meanwhile waiting at a distance along
with some members of the Chief Khalsa
Dewan, left the place at our request and
only a couple of minutes after his departure,

414

general beating began as on the previous
days. The beating, kicking, dragging, duck-
ing and throwing into the fields went on
as usual, only the beating was much severer,
probably because of exaspertion at the failure
of the " experiment ", or the late hour. This
latter part of beating was witnessed by many
of us, though earlier in the night, while the
officers' experiment of testing the faithful-
ness of the Akalis was in progress, only three
reporters were present. Owing to the great
distance to which the wounded Akalis had been
dragged or carried into the fields on this day,
it took the doctors and the boy-scouts a couple
of hours to search for the men and carry them
to the ambulance cars. They were afraid
lest some one should remain unattended to
during the night.

On the 9th September, the Government
came to the conclusion that there was no
hope of its successfully coercing the Sikhs
into submission and that the public indigna-
tion, which was becoming more articulate, was
doing irreparable harm to its reputation.
The police post on the road to the Gurdwara.
was, therefore, withdrawn and the Jatha of
that day, the Daljit Jatha, as it was appropri-
ately called, was the first to proceed to
Guru-ka-Bagh without molestation on the
way.

415

II. — At Guru-ka-Bagh.

Here four or five small batches, generally
of three, four or five men, proceeded from the
Gurdwara to the " Garden " day after day for
about a fortnight to assert their religious
right to cut fuel for the Gurdwara's free kitchen
and were dealt with by the Police with laihi
blows, kicks, etc. In some cases the beard
was pulled, and at least in one case a Gurkha
Policeman put his heavily booted foot right
across the neck of a fallen man and kept the
man down in that condition for about a minute.
A little while after the foot was removed,
the man got up and faced the Gurkha Police-
man again, only to be thrown and beaten and
kicked more severely than before, till he
became quite unconscious. Almost all the
men were either disabled or became uncon-
scious before they were finally removed on
stretchers from the scene of action. This
was the usual practice day after day. Kicks
in private parts and other delicate parts were
not infrequent, and not much care was taken
as to where the lathi blows fell. Men were
pulled by their hair or the beard. In several
cases the face was covered with blood by cuts
on the head or the face. During the last four
or five days the method of using the lathi
was varied, but the results, so far as serious
injuries are concerned, were but a little better,.

416

•while the kicks were continued as before. In
certain cases strangulation was also adopted.
Hakim Ajamal Khan himself noticed one
such case.

III.— Beating and extortion by the

POLICE IN THE VILLAGES SURROUND-
ING Guru-ka-Bagh.

"We have no personal knowledge of these
excesses, though several of us have seen some
men, who stated that they had been severely
beaten and fleeced by bands of policemen, who
visited the villages all round Guru-ka-Bagh
and, according to our information, terrorised
the villagers. In some villages a good many
men were beaten on suspicion of sending sup-
plies or articles of food to the Gurdwara,
which was blockaded by a cordon of police
pickets. One man of Sansara Kalan had 24
<clear marks of what were apparently lathi
blows on his back, some faint ones on his
chest, and four marks on his loins near the
private parts. These last were examined by
a Vakil friend at our request in a secluded
spot. Another man showed us 18 marks,
while a third bore 21 marks. It is useless to
go into iall the stories that we heard. If these
stories are to be believed, and we say again
that we met so many persons, off and on,
dirom different villages who deposed to having

417

suffered at the hands of the Police that we
do not see any reason to disbelieve them— a
regular reign of terror existed in this area for
about a week. The death of two persons,
Bhai Bhagat Singh and Bhai Tara Singh
(father and son) in the fields near the village
Tera, the details of which have been published
in the papers, is part of this story.

Before closing this statement we would
like to give a brief analysis of the wounded
persons who were admitted into the hospitals
after receiving the beating, to show, at a
glance, the nature of the injuries inflicted by
the Police in " dispersing " the Akali Jathas by
the use, as the Government claims, of the
' minimum force ' necessary for the purpose.
Out of about 1300 persons, more or less, who
received the beating, 269 cases of injuries
above the trunk have been reported by CoL
Gulab Singh, the medical officer in charge
of the hospitals, 300 cases of injuries on the
frontal part of the body and 60 cases of in-
juries to testicles. There are 79 cages of
brain injuries, 19 cases of injuries to prenium
and 7 to teeth. There were 158 contused
wounds, 40 cases of urine trouble, 8 of incised
wounds, 2 of punctured wounds, 9 of fractures,
and 2 of dislocations, an alarming total of 953
cases! It addition to these, there were 180
men who received a beating at Guru-ka-Bagh
and are not taken into [account in the figures

418

given above. Mr. C. F. Andrews visited the
main hospital at Amritsar, provided by the
Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, several
times and saw serions cases of various kinds.

A word may also be said about the snap-
shot photographs that were taken on the
various occasions. Owing to the special con-
ditions prevailing on these occasions, the
photographs do not show— indeed, even in the
best circumstances, they could not show all
that took place ; but there is enough in them
to support our statement, if any support were
needed, of the facts witnessed by thousands
of persons. It is a pity that we have to con-
trovert statements made in a document of
the weight and importance like the one which
has been issued by the Home Member ; but
it will, we hope, be recognised that we are not
only privileged to defend our honour and that
of our profession against undeserved asper-
sions cast on us in the official statement, but
that we owe a duty to the public at large and,
above all, to Truth. This duty became all
the more pressing and imperative, when we
found that S. Man Singh's motion in the Legis-
lative Assembly asking for an adjournment of
the House in order to consider the grave
Akali situation was disallowed by the Presi-
dent on a technical ground, and thus a valu-
able and much needed opportunity for an open

419

discussion of the happenings connected with
Guru-ka-Bagh was denied to the public.
(Sd.) EUCHI EAM SAHNI, m. a.,
Trustee and Eepresentative of the Tribune,

(Lahore).
(Sd.) GIAN CHAND EAMPAL,
Joint Editor, Bande Matram, Lahore.
(Sd.) G. A. SUNDEAM, b. a., b. l |
Assistant Editor, Independent, Allahabad.

(Sd.) BALMOKAND VAEMA,
Eepresentative., Swarajya, Madras.

(Sd.) MILKHI EAM.
Eepresentative, Bande Matram, Lahore.
(Sd.) SHAFAAT ULLAH,

Manager, Zamindar, Lahore.
(Sd.) ABDUL MAJID ATIQI,

Eepresentative, Zamindar, Lahore.
(Sd.) UTTAM SINGH, GYANI.
Eepresentative, Ahali-te-Pardesi, Amritsar.
<Sd.) ANAND NAEAIN SEWAL, b.a. ll.b.
Assistant Editor, the Tribune, Lahore.
Lahore, 26th Sept., 1922.

In order to show how the jathas proceed-
ed to Guru-ka-Bagh and how the beating was
delivered, we cannot do better than quote in
full the description given by Mr. C. F.
Andrews of what he saw on September 12 : —

"At 1 p.m. on that day I started for
Guru-ka-Bagh, and after leaving the main
road proceeded along the bank of a canal.
There were three tongas in all. When we

420

had gone some distance along the bank of the;
canal, we saw two Sikhs in black turbans on
the opposite bank waving their hands to us
and pointing to the sky, where a great bird
was circling in its flight towards Amritsar.
Immediately all those who were in the ton-
gas got down and eagerly pointed out the
bird to me and told me that every day, as
soon as the beating at Guru-ka-Bagh began,
the golden hawk rose from the Guru's garden
and took its flight to Amritsar to tell those
who were serving at the Golden Temple what
was taking place. They asked me if I had
seen the bird, and I answered that I had
seen in the distance the great bird which
they had pointed out, but that I could not
say whether it was a golden hawk or not.
They said to me, " That was the bird. It was
the golden hawk. It has gone to tell at the
Durbar Sahib about the sufferings of the
people." There was a light in their faces as
tbey spoke to me, which betokened joy. I
was especially struck by the look of devotion
in the face of a Sikh lady of middle age who
accompanied us. I can only describe it by
saying that she looked, in her quiet devotion,
like a picture of the " Madonna." The whole
scene — the intense faith of my companions,
the look of reverence in their faces, the
solemn awe mingled with joy, moved me
very deeply. It was the first event which-

421

really gave ine the religious atmosphere of
all that I was afterwards to experience in the
later scenes. It put me in touch with the
Akali reform movement in its spiritual as*
pect as perhaps nothing else could have
done.

x\fter leaving the bank of the canal we

had to pass across open ground for a long

distance which was covered with water in

certain places. Our progress wTas naturally

slow in the tongas. We met on the route a

band of hundred Akalis in black turbans, who

had marched that morning from Amritsar

after having taken the vow at the Golden

Temple that they would not commit one

single act of violence, either by word or deed.

I was to see, later on, how faithfully they

kept that vow. On subsequent days I had

opportunities of witnessing the scene at the

Golden Temple itself, as they came out with

religious joy written on their faces and a tiny

wreath of white flowers placed on their black

turbans which dedicated them to the sacrifice.

I was able to see also, in the city, the crowds

of spectators, Hindus, Musalmans, and those

of every religion, welcoming and encouraging

them, as they inarched solemnly and joyfully

forward calling upon the name of God as their

protector and saviour. There, in the city,

they were at the very beginning of their

pilgrimage. Mile after mile of mud-stained,

422

water-logged road lay before them. When I
saw them on this first day of my visity as
they drew near to the end of their march,
they were bespattered with mud and dirt and
perspiration was streaming from them 'f but
their garlands of white flowers were still en-
circling their black turbans, they were still
uttering with triumphant voices their prayer
to God for protection, and the light of reli-
gion was still bright upon their faces. There
were som<) who were young lads among them,
and a very few old men with grey beards who
had insisted on being taken and would not be
denied ; but the great majority were of mili-
tary age and it was easy to guess that out of
these stalward bearded men there had been
many who had served in the army. I had
an opportunity later of getting accurate
statistics, and it would appear that at least
one in three of the Sikhs in these Akali
Jathas (as they are called) had been a soldier
and had served during the Great War.

We got down from the tongas and went
along with them for some distance. I was
dressed in my English dress, with a sun hel-
met on my head, but even before they knew
my name they returned my greeting without
the slightest trace of bitterness in their faces.
There was a halt to drink water and they got
to know who I was and came forward. Then
one who was serving water with a brass ves-

423

sel came to me and offered the water to me
also to drink. I put my hand forward to re-
ceive it, but he said to me, ' Please take the
vessel itself/ and I took it in my hands and
drank from it. The act had a strongly reli-
gious aspect to me. It was as if I was
sharing in a sacrament of consecration before
the suffering was to begin.

At any place where water could be re-
ceived along the road there were villagers,
both men and women, who waited eagerly
each day to fulfil this small act of service by
giving water to the Akali Jathas. Again, I
noticed the extraordinary devotion of the
women. Their faces were full of motherly
tenderness towards those who were going
forward, in the name of their religion, to re-
ceive suffering without retaliation.

After very great difficulty and many
halts at impassable places we reached Guru-
ka-Bagh at last. The first sight that met
our gaze was that of eight motor lorries, such
as usually carry passengers for hire which
were now being used as a substitute for
ambulance wagons. When I looked at them,
I could picture vividly the acute suffering to
those who would be carried in them for more
than fourteen miles to the base hospital in
the city. Here and there the motors would
almost certainly get stuck in the deep mud.
The jolting in other places would be difficult

424

to bear even for a man who was quite well.
What must it have been to men who were
suffering from many contusions and wounds?

There was one act of humanity which
might at once have been thought of on the
part of the officials, but no one among them
seemed to have noticed it or suggested it.
The public road along the canal was almost
worse, from the point of view of jolting, than
the open track beyond. But on the other
side of the canal was a private road, kept for
officials, along which the motor lorries with
the wounded persons might have passed
smoothly and quickly. It would have been
an inexpressible relief to them on that terri-
ble journey back from Guru-ka-Bagh, if the
lorries had been allowed to use it. But the
subordinate Government officials who were
approached time after time by the doctors
and attendants refused altogether to allow
them. I am quite certain that if the higher
officials had been approached they would not
have refused. But one of the greatest hard-
ships in India at the present time is the ten-
sion which exists on both sides, the open gulf
which grows day by day wider and wider, the
almost complete distrust with which Indians
have learnt, by bitter experience, to regard
the official world.

When I reached the Gurdwara itself, I
was struck at once by the absence of excite-

425

ment such as I had expected to find amoug
so great a crowd of people. Close to the
entrance there was a reader of the Scriptures
who was holding a very large congregation of
worshippers silent as they were seated on the
ground before him. In another quarter there
were attendants who were preparing the
simple evening meal for the Gurdwara quests
by grinding the flour between two large
stones. There was no sign that the actual
beating had just begun and that the sufferers
had already endured the showrer of blows.
But when I asked one of the passers-by, he
told me that the beating was now taking
place. On hearing this news I at once went
forward. There were some hundreds present
seated on an open piece of ground watch-
ing what was going on in front, their faces
strained with agony. I watched their faces
first of all, before I turned the corner of a
building and reached a spot where I could see
the beating itself. There was not a cry raised
from the spectators, but the lips of very many
of them wrere moving in prayer. It was
clear that they had been taught to repeat the
name of God and to call on God for deliver-
ance. I can only describe the silence and
the worship and the pain upon the faces of
these people, who were seated in prayer, as
reminding me of the shadow of the Cross.
What was happening to them was truly, in

426

some dim way, a crucifixion. The Akalis were
undergoing their baptism of fire, and they
cried to God for help out of the depth of
their agony of spirit.

Up till now I had not seen the suffering
itself except as it was reflected in the faces
of the spectators. But when I passed beyond
a projecting wall and stood face to face with
the ultimate moral contest, I could under*
stand the strained looks and the lips that
silently prayed. It was a sight which I never
wish to see again, a sight incredible to an
Englishman. There were four Akali Sikhs
with their black turbans facing a band of
about a dozen police, including two English
officers. They had walked slowly up to the
line of the police just before I had arrived
and they were standing silently in front of
them at about a yard's distance. They were
perfectly still and did not move further for-
ward. Their hands were placed together in
prayer and it was clear that they were pray-
ing. Then, without the slightest provocation
on their part, an Englishman lunged for-
ward the head of his lathi which was bound
with brass. He lunged it forward in such a
way that his fist which held the staff struck
the Akali Sikh, who was praying, just at the
collar bone with great force. It looked the
most cowardly blow as I saw it struck and I
had the greatest difficulty in keeping myself

427

under control. But beforehand I had deter-
mined that I must, on no account, interfere
by word or deed, but simply watch ; for the
vow, which had been taken by the sufferers,
must be sacred to me also. Therefore pas-
sive silence on my part was imperative, but
it is difficult to describe to those who have
not seen the sight with their own eyes how
difficult such a passive attitude was.

The blow which I saw was sufficient to
fell the Akali Sikh and send him to the
ground. He rolled over, and slowly got up
once more, and faced the same ?)unishment
over again. Time after time one of the four
who had gone forward was laid prostrate by
repeated blows, now from the English officer
and now from the police who were under his
control. The others were knocked out more
quickly. On this and on subsequent occa-
sions the police committed certain acts which
were brutal in the extreme. I saw with my
own eyes one of these police kick in the
stomach a Sikh who stood helplessly before
him. It was a blow so foul that I could
hardly restrain myself from crying out loud
and rushing forward. But later on I was to
see another act which was, if anything, even
fouler still. For, when one of the Akali
Sikhs had been hurled to the ground and was
lying prostrate, a police sepoy stamped with
his foot upon him, using his full weight ; the

428

foot struck the prostrate man between the
neck and the shoulder. A third blow, almost
equally foul, was struck at an Akali when he
was standing at the side of his fallen com-
panion. This blow hurled him across the
body of the fallen man who was unconscious
at the very time when he was being taken up
by two ambulance workers. The intention of
such a blow was so brutally insolent, that I
watched for the Englishman in command, in
this as also in other cases, to rebuke the
police sepoy who did the deed, but as far as I
could see he did nothing to check or to rebuke
his men. I told all these things that I had
seen to the Governor and every officer whom
I met the next day.

The brutality and inhumanity of the
whole scene was indescribably increased by the
fact that the men who were hit were praying
to God and had already taken a vow that
they would remain silent and peaceful in
word and deed. The Akali Sikhs who had
taken this vow, both at the Golden Temple
before starting and also at the shrine of Guru-
ka-Bagh, were, as I have already stated,
largely from the army. They had served in
many campaigns in Flanders, in France, in
Mesopotamia and in East Africa. Some of
them at the risk of their own safety may have
saved the lives of Englishmen who had been
wounded. Now they were felled to the

429

ground at the hands of English officials serv-
ing in the same Government which they
themselves had served. They were obliged
to bear the brunt of blows, each of which was
an insult and humiliation, but each was
turned into a triumph by the spirit with
which it was endured.

It was a strangely new experience to
these men, to receive blows dealt against
them with such force as to fell them to the
ground, and yet never to utter a word or
strike a blow in return. The vow they had
made to God was kept to the letter. I saw
no act, no look, of defiance. It was a true
martyrdom for them as they went forward, a
true act of faith, a true deed of devotion to
God. They remembered their Gurus how
they suffered, and they rejoiced to add their
own sufferings to the treasury of their
wonderful faith. The onlookers, too, who
were Sikhs, were praying with them and
praying for them, and the inspiration of their
noble religion, with its joy in suffering inno-
cently borne, could alone keep them from
rushing forward to retaliate for the wrong
which they felt was being done.

There has been something far greater in
this event than a mere dispute about land
and property. It has gone far beyond the
technical questions of legal possession or dis-
traint. A new heroism, learnt through suf-

430

iering, has arisen in the land. A new lesson
in moral warfare has been taught to the
world. This fact, in the ultimate issue, is
independent of the mere legal question of
trespass decided for or against the Akali Sikhs.
They believe intensely that their right to cut
wood in the garden of the Guru was an im-
memoral religious right, and this faith of
theirs is surely to be counted for righteous-
ness, whatever a defective and obsolete law
may determine or fail to determine con-
cerning legality.

One thing I have not mentioned which
was significant of all that I have written con-
cerning the spirit of the sufferiug endured.
It was very rarely that I witnessed any
Akali Sikh, who went forward to suffer,
flinch from a blow when it was struck. Apart
from the instinctive and involuntary reaction
of the muscles that has the appearance of a
slight shrinking back, there was nothing, so
far as I can remember, that could be called a
deliberate avoidance of the blows struck.
The blows were received one by one without
resistance and without a sign of fear."

After 13th September, when the Gover-
nor paid a visit to Amritsar and was deeply
impressed with what he had heard from
Mr. C. F. Andrews, the beating of jathas
-was stopped and arrests began again.

431

The police, however, continued in other
ways to take exercises in the use of lathi,
which Mr. Macpherson, Superintendent of
Police, by writing a booklet on the subject
has reduced to a regular science. In it we
find laid down how the lathi is to be struck
into the opponent's face, his belly, his throat
and even his ' fork.' The stray Sikhs found
outside the Gurdwara Guru-ka-Bagh, or on
the roads leading to it, were set upon, beaten
and robbed. The robbing, as the beating,was
carried on most publicly in the presence of
hundreds, who can testify to these acts done
by the forces of peace and order.

For a few days only 20 Sikhs ofiered
themselves daily for arrest at Guru-ka-Bagh,
but from 24th September the number was
raised to 30 per day, then to 40 and then to
'60. On the 28th it became 80 and then after
a few days it was raised to 100. From 10th
October one hundred Sikhs went regularly
in batches of four to chop wood for the Guru's
-kitchen from the Guru's land, and were ar-
rested without fail. Seeing the Sikhs coming
in large numbers to court arrest, the Govern-
ment gave out by way of warning that it was
making accommodation for ten thousand
Akalis in Jails. The whole Sikh community
felt it like a challenge, and prepared to make
every sacrifice for the vindication of its-
rights. Military pensioners, graduates, vil-

432

lagers and townspeople, all heard the call
and made themselves ready. It was the
sowing time, but the agriculturists, leaving
their ploughs and the seeds with the younger
brothers or the old parents, came away to
Amritsar to march to Guru-ka-Bagh. The
military Sikhs, who had grown grey in the
service of the Sirkar and had retired in their
old age to live on their hard-earned pensions,,
felt themselves constrained to sacrifice their
all and lay their old bones at the altar of the
Guru. They formed a jatha of hundred and
marched with a band playing before them to
get themselves arrested at Guru-ka-Bagh.
They were arrested on 25th October. On
being tried and convicted 74 of them, includ-
ing their jathadar Sardar Amar Singh who
had 23 years' service to his credit, were
awarded 2 years' rigorous imprisonment with
a fine of Es. 100 each or in default another
6 months' hard labour. The remaining 26,,
classed as old, were given 6 months' simple
imprisonment with a fine of Es. 100 each or
in default another 3 months. The following
written statement was put in by Subadar
Amar Singh on behalf of the whole Military-
Pensioners' Jatha : —

We avail of this opportunity to make it-
clear to the Government how the Sikh mind
feels in regard to the Gurdwara Eeform
Movement generally and the Guru-ka-Bagh.

433

affair especially. The members of this Jatha
are glad that they rendered services to the
Crown of which no loyal heart need feel
ashamed. We fought on the battle-fields of
Tirah, Chitral, Afghanistan, Burma, China,
East Africa, the Sudan, Egypt, Persia, Meso-
potamia, Palestine, Gallipoli, Russia, France,
and innumerable other fields less worthy of
note. This service was done in the extremes
of climate. While in France thousands of
Sikh soldiers stood entrenched for days to-
gether in icy water. They also saw service at
Rumadee, in Mesopotamia, where the thermo-
meter stood at 135° ; and there were no
fewer than 190 deaths from thirst in one
single day. The world seriously doubts if the
on-rushing tide of victorious German hordes
would have been stemmed but for the hand-
to-hand bayonet fight by the Sikhs at Neu
Chapelle and Ypres. At Kut-ul-Amara we
held out when all chances of help became
entirely remote ; when all communications
were cut off and we had no provisions save
the flesh of horses and mules to feed on.
Twenty-four of us were wounded in action,
and, having been incapacitated for further
military service, retired on pension, while oue
lost his leg and two got their eyesight injured
by gas. Almost all of us possess medals of
one distinction or another, in addition to two
I. 0. M.'s, one D. S. M. and one M. S. M.

434

Most of us belong to families whose blood has
seen continuous military service since the
unhappy times of the Indian Mutiny when
the British flag stood tottering on the soil of
India. We did nothing more than what our
duty to the Crown demanded, and that we did
to the utmost of our ability and strength.
But since the Gurdwara Beforrn Movement
began, the official attitude towards it has
given rise to painful misgivings in our mind
which, as the days passed, have acted severe-
ly on our feelings. We have witnessed the
Nankana Sahib massacre, the official sym-
pathy for the aggrieved party in the form of
jails and blots on unsullied lives, and the
justice of a High Court in an unparalleled case
of most barbarous and cold-blooded massacre.
We have seen the Government's solicitude
for the inviolability of their solemn pledges not
to interfere in the religious liberties of their
subjects, in the matter of Kirpan, black turbans
and the Golden Temple keys affair. All this
we have seen, heard and felt ; felt like a Sikh,
felt like a friend rudely disillusioned from his
loving and blind faith in the honesty of others.
On top of all comes the Guru-ka-Bagh affair.
During the two months or so, since this
struggle began, we have seen our brothers
beaten most brutally and illegally, we have
seen their beards and keshas pulled by sacri-
legious hands, heard our holy Gurus spoken

435

of iu terms most insulting and provoking,
seen things done by tli9 police in the name of
law, in a manner most lawless, and all this
anxious concern for law and order having no
real basis for it. Our patience having thus
been tried to the utmost, we have come for-
ward to prove our devotion to the Guru and
the Panth. As if to give us a true idea of
the humiliation to which our brothers are
subjected, the police was good enough to give
us a taste of it. We were first searched
naked like the meanest criminals, then kept
under such severe and close guard as not to
allow us to answer the call of nature or pass
water from 11 p. m. to 6 a. m. the next day.
We shall now be pleased to see hand-cuffs
fastened on our wrists by those whom we
have been considering our friends, for so long
and in whose service we have been so little
calculating of our own interests. We deem
ourselves all the more fortunate that, in at-
tempting to chop wood from land belonging to
Guru-ka-Bagh for the Guru's free kitchen, we
have been arrested and are to-day being sent
to jail— which we have come to regard as
paradise — for the sake of freeing our temples
from vice and corruption."

On November 12, another jatha of a
hundred grey-bearded military pensioners
marched to Guru-ka-Bagh and was arrested.

436

After a few days a jatha of Nirmala Sikhs
also proceeded to Guru-ka-Bagh.

Beside those arrested at Guru-ka-Bagh
scores of people were being arrested in the
same connection in other parts of the coun-
try, so that by 17th November the total num-
ber of arrests made amounted to 5605. Out
of these about 35 were members of the Shro-
mani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee.

The Akalis, when arrested, were kept for
the night at Guru-ka-Bagh in an exposed
place where there was no cover, and made to
sleep on bare ground without blankets in the
cold of the Punjab nights. Consequently
many caught chill and one actually died of
the effects in the Amritsar jail.

Four more deaths have occurred since as
the result of the rigours of jail.

The courts dealing with the arrested
Akalis did not bother themselves with the
usual legalities of procedure. Although the
Akalis were arrested and convicted for the,
same acts, the terms of imprisonment assigned
to them vary widely different, ranging from
simple imprisonment for one day to rigorous
imprisonment for two years. AH convictions
were based upon the evidence of the same
few tutored official witnesses, zaildars, lam-
bardars and men of the Mahant, most of
whom had not been even present at the time
of arrests. In consequence of this, many

437

blunders were committed by the courts. One
such blunder was the double conviction of a
jatha on 12th October. The Government has
admitted this, but has not proceeded against
the witnesses in the second trial for giving
false evidence. The courts generally would
not supply certified copies of prosecution
evidence, even when the accused applied for
them. The usual plea for this refusal was
that the accused wanted to prolong their
cases unnecessarily. In the case of the Mili-
tary Pensioners' 2nd Jatha, who wanted to
defend themselves, the magistrate did not
stop to allow the defence or even to admit
their written statement, and hastened to con-
vict them.

The anxiety of the Government to re-
spect the law is perhaps beet displayed in the
methods employed to realize the fines im-
posed on the convicted Akalis. Those en-
trusted with the realization cared very little
to arm themselves with correct information
as to the particulars of the persons convicted.
If an Akali happened to be absent from his
village for a few days, he was taken by the
village patwari, or other informers of the same
sort, to have gone to Guru-ka-Bagh, been
arrested and convicted. The report is made
to the authorities and the suspected person
is proceeded against. His property or that of
some relative of his is immediately attached.

438

In this connection the following typical cases

will be read with interest :- —

a) Munshi Sadhu Singh issued a war-
rant to attach the property of
Akali Gurbachan Singh s/o Euldu
Earn, (caste Arora, residence Tarn
Taran), to realize the amount of
fine due from him. Great was the
dismay and surprise of the boy's
father when the bailiff was pro-
ceeding to attach his (father's)
property in lieu of his 7 years old
son, who had never gone to Guru-
ka-Bagh or been arrested, chal-
laned, convicted or fined. The
bailiff was confounded to see the
child playing before his father and
had to go away disappointed. It
is noteworthy that no Gurbachan
Singh was convicted on the date
mentioned in the warrant. The
particulars in the warrant were : —
No. of warrant 55 ; Name, Gur-
bachan Singh, s'o Euldu Earn
Arora; residence Tarn Taran; date
of conviction, 25th October, 1922;
date of issue, 9th November, 1922.
(b) Bhai Eandhir Singh of village Burj
Eaika is a nephew of the well-
known Baba Kehar Singh, arrested
in connection with the Guru-ka-

439

Bagh affair. It is two years since
he went to America to prosecute
his studies there, and has not yet
returned. But all the same, his
house was visited by the bailiff
on 15th November, with a war-
rant of attachment. This was
issued by Magistrate Banwari Lai
on 8th November.
(c) Tahl Singh zaildar and Boota
Singh lambardar went with the
bailiff to the house of Bhai Sunder
Singh, village Wegewala, ©n 16th
November, 1922, and forcibly at-
tached his buffalo. The poor fel-
low protested that he had never
been arrested, convicted or fined ;
but the bailiff replied that accord-
ing to the court files he was sup-
posed to be in prison and fined,
and that was enough for his pur-
pose. So the buffalo was taken
away. This warrant again was
issued by Munshi Sadhu Singh
and bore the date of 9th Novem-
ber, 1922.
(d) On the same date, Munshi Sadhu
Singh had issued another warrant
for the realization of fine from
Bhai Jagat Singh of Tarn Taran.
His mother had gone to Jandiala

440

Guru, locking her house. The
lock was broken open by the
bailiff in her absence and what-
ever he could lay his hands on
was attached.
(e) On 19th November, a bailiff from
Tarn Taran Tahsil Head Quar-
ters visited Naurangabad and
for some time went about the vil-
lage in search of the house of
Parsa Singh who, arcordingto the
information emanating from the
Amritsar judiciary with which he
was armed, had been sentenced to
9 months' imprisonment and a
fine of Ks. 200 in connection
with Guru-ka-Bagh. The house
was found out, and the bailiff
found himself face to face with
none else but Bhai Parsa Singh
himself who, if the Govern-
ment agent were to be believed,
should have been either in Attock
or Ambala jail. The bailiff in-
formed Bhai Parsa Singh in all
seriousness that a fine of Rs. 200
(beside imprisonment) had been
imposed on him in connection with
Guru-ka-Bagh and that he had
been ordered by Sarhar to realise
the amount. Bhai Parsa Singh

441

urged that, as he himself was a
free man talking to the bailiff, a
fact than which there was nothing
easier of verification, there was
evidently some mistake some-
where. The bailiff did not, as he
could not, deny that he was talk-
ing to Parsa Singh of Naurangabad
and that the latter was thus not a
convict in some frontier fort but
a free man ; but said, nothing
daunted, that he could not have
been sent by Sarhar for no-
thing. He had been sent to realise
a fine of Ks. 200 by whatever
means he could, and he had not
got the face to go back and con-
fess before his superiors that he
had failed to do it. Accordingly,
having been reinforced by a few
village sweepers, the redoubtable
bailiff took possession of 4 heads
of Parsa Singh's cattle, one bullock
and 3 buffaloes and quietly made
for Tarn Taran. Subsequent fate
of the cattle is not known upto
the moment of writing.

These are but a few out of many similar
cases. There are also instances where pro-
perty has been attached of persons related to

442

the supposed convicts and where objections
urged in courts were not even entertained.

At last when the position of the Govern-
ment became utterly untenable, a ' kind-
hearted' gentleman came forward to rescue
the Government. On November 17, Sir
Ganga Earn, C. I. E., a retired engineer, took
the land of the Gurdwara of Guru-ka-Bagh
on lease from the Mahant and wrote to the
Government that he did not require the pro-
tection of the police. The arrests ceased on
the same day and 170 men who were on trial
were released. The remaining thousands are
still rotting in jail.

CHAPTER XXII.

THE AKALIS.

The term ' Akali', meaning immortal,
has been used, ever since the days of Guru
Gobind Singh, for those Sikhs who dedicate
themselves to the protection of temples and
the preservation of pure ceremonial in them.
They are no sect, for they do not differ from
other Sikhs in any respect about doctrines.

They first appeared as the army of Baba
Fateh Singh, one of the two sons of
Guru Gobind Singh, who were bricked up
alive at Sirhind. Baba Fateh Singh was so
young that once at Anandpur before
sending him out his father had to size
him up by tying a tall conical turban
on his head. His army put on the same
uniform, with quoits and double-edged
swords worn on the head, and the top of the
turban having a piece of cloth sticking out
to serve as a plume or a flag. These people
fought most zealously and came to be called
Nihangs or dragons. As they never cared
for death, they were also called Akalis or
deathless. As a sign of this determination
they wore dark blue clothes. They were
noted for the purity of character. Their
chief work was to protect temples and keep

444

•the ceremony pure. With the aggressive
attitude of the rulers and with the Sikhs be-
ing always in a minority, the Nihangs had no
easy time in discharging the duties assigned
to them. They, however, bore all difficulties
with a spirit ever cheerful and airy. They
developed a peculiar slang among themselves
which denotes an unparalleled humour coupled
with a determination that knows no bending.
A single Sikh was called a lakh-and-a-quarter,
that is a host in himself. When provisions
ran short the kitchen was said to be * tipsy
with joy'. The parched grams were almonds,
the onion shreds were silver pieces, and the
wild berries were apples. A mud hut was
called a crystal palace, the shade of a tree a
green temple, and a coarse blanket a shawl.
The big stick was called a lawyer or a store
-of wisdom. A blind man was called sun-eyed,
and a deaf man was said to be in the upper
storey. Even to take food or bathe was
called carrying a position in the battle-field.

They were respected most highly; for
their sincerity of conviction and the purity of
character. Even Maharaja Eanjit Singh al-
lowed himself to be hauled up by Akali Phula
Singh at the Akal Takht for having done a
forbidden thing. Baba Kehar Singh Akali
corrected Maharaja Narindar Singh of Patiala
in 1859. He would not see the Maharaja
who had come to him at Anandpur, and

445

ordered him to go first to the Takht at Kes-
garh and get pardon for his remissness in
Sikhism. The Maharaja did so, and after
confessing and doing penance he was baptis-
ed.

With the establishment of the Sikh rule,-
when there was not much need for defending
the temples, the Nihangs like the Templars
of the West began to deteriorate in character-
The Maharaja tried to keep them busy by
giving them a chance to fight, but they were
not always amenable to discipline, except
when they were led by such heroes as Baba
Phula Singh. After the Maharaja, most of
them, who were not incharge of temples, be-
came like guns without ammunition. They
kept up the forms and the peculiar vocabu-
liary, but the spirit had undergone a great
change. They did not drink and in this they
kept up the old tradition, but they took to
the use of bhang, which was equally intoxi-
cating. They were forbidden to beg, and
their tradition was to work for their living,
but many of them in the days of idleness did
indulge in begging under a disguise. A Nihang
stopped at the shop of a confectioner and
asked him pre-emptorily to give him some-
thing. The shop-keeper, who understood the
meaning of the order, smilingly laid some
sweet balls before the poor man. But the
Nihang would not have them that way. He:

446

asked the confectioner to place them on the
road, and, when it was done, he " bullied "
over them with his stick and then carried
them away saying as he ran : " The Khalsa
does not beg, but conquers."

When the reform of temples began in
the twentieth century, a new order of Akalis
arose, which was quite distinct from the old
order. The new edition, if we may use the
figure, had nothing in common with the old
one except the title page and the table of
contents. All the Sikhs, who were in favour
of Gurdwara reform and were resolved to
suffer any hardships in the course of it, came
to be called Akalis. Their method was dis-
tinctly non- violent and their instrument per-
sonal purity and pressure of the public opi-
nion. The title 'Akali' was adopted slowly as
the Sikhs showed signs of the old spirit. The
Panch Khalsa Diwan and the Central Majha
Diwan, with their unflinching zeal for the up-
keep of the baptismal vows, had infused a de-
termination in the masses that would brook
no opposition to a genuine reform. These
associations had been in the field for a number
of years and had done much to revive the old
spirit. The fight for kirpan and Bikab Ganj
had rallied the scattered forces of the Panth
and created a readiness to make sacrifices.
The services of the Central Majha Diwan
in connection with the release of Babe-di-Ber

447

at Sialkot, the Akal Takht at Arnritsar and
Panja Sahib at Hasan Abdal, revealed to the
Sikhs the capabilities of a jatha. The
leaders of this Diwan were clad in black and
looked very imposing. They had not yet
adopted the title Akali. The word had already
appeared on the title page of the strong
newspaper Akali at Lahore. In general talk
the word Akali came to be applied to any-
thing high and noble. The word of the Scrip-
ture and the message of the Guru would be
called Akali. Gradually the members of the
Majha Diwan in charge of the Akal Takht,
for their excellent conduct, came to be called
Akalis, especially when the old Akalis or
Nihangs by committing assault on the Akal
Takht had forfeited the confidence of the
people.

When Gurdwara after Gurdwara came
into the possession of the Panth it was felt
that the bodies of Sikhs who took part in the
reform might be demoralised by the addition
of irresponsible and mischievous persons. It
was considered advisable to organize a central
body to which all the scattered jathas should
be affiliated. The Shromani Akali Dal was
founded at. Amritsar on 14th December, 1920, (
and the first jathas to. be affiliated were : the
Central Khalsa Diwan, the Bar Akali Jatha,
and the Malwa Khalsa Diwan of Dhuri. After
the Nankana Sahib massacre other jathas

448

were formed and the whole organization was-
based on a division by districts. The Akali
jathas of the following districts have been
affiliated so far : — Amritsar, Lahore, Skeikhu-
pura, Lyallpur, Sialkot, Gujranwala, Gujrat,
Jhelnm, Shahpur, Abbottabad, Montgomery,
Ferozepore, Gurdaspur, Jullundur, Hoshiar-
pur, Ludhiana, Ambala, Kapurthala Stater
Nabha State and Nahan State. Their object
is to serve the Panth and reform the temples
in accordance with the wishes of the Shro-
mani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee. The
Shromani Akali Dal consists of delegates
drawn from all the affiliated jathas, each of
which is entitled to send 5 representatives
for every 100 members. It has got an Exe-
cutive Committee of 41 members, including
five office-bearers, who have also to serve as
Five Piaras. There are two sources of in-
come : (1) donations from the public, and (2)
contributions of daswandh or l-10th part of
every jatha's income. The members who
attend the meetings are paid their railway
expenses.

In the beginning only a few people wore
black turbans, but afterwards when a Gov-
ernment officer was said to have remarked
that the black-turbaned Sikhs should be es-
pecially cared for, the movement became
general, and the Nankana tragedy followed
by the wholesale arrests of Sikhs literally

449

dyed the Sikhs in black. In May, 1921, the
Shromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee
passed a resolution enjoining on all Sikhs to
wear black turbans up to 15th November,
1921, the day of Guru Nanak's birth. But, as
the sufferings of Sikhs did not cease, the order
was extended indefinitely. The black turban
is not a sign of mourning, for the Khalsa
never mourns, but a grim sign of resolution
to suffer all difficulties and sacrifices in the
way of religion.

The Akalis are no sect, for they do not
differ in belief from other initiated Sikhs.
Any baptized Sikh, who believes in the in-
junctions of the ten Gurus and is ready to
suffer in the Panthic cause, especially in the
matter of Gurdwara reform, can be called an
Akali. There is no ceremony to be gone
through for this purpose, neither is there
any distinctive mark to be adopted except the
black turban, which also may be abandoned
any moment when the Shromani Committee
so decides.

The Akalis in the present movement
have vowed to remain non-violent under all
circumstances. In this they are not incon-
sistent with their past history. Their Gurus
were perfectly non-violent as long as they
believed that by suffering passively they
could soften the callousness of their oppres-
sors and shame them into reason. The

450

sufferings borne by the first five Gurus did
stir up conscience in their opponents, and the
rulers always tried to befriend them. But
when a saint like Guru Arjan was roasfced
alive on heated plates, the Sikhs came to
reconsider their policy in the face of the brute
force run amok. It is perfectly reasonable to
expect a hard-hearted man to get his soul
awakened by witnessing the enormities pro-
duced by his brutal nature. But when by the
constant practice of cruelty his nature is com-
pletely brutalised and the human element in
him is dead, it is quite iutile to present to
him a sight of suffering. We do not willingly
offer ourselves to be gored by a horned beast.
The Sikhs, therefore, after the death of Guru
Arjan took up the sword to defend themselves.
After some time they again put by the sword
and gave a chance to the rulers to recover
their lost soul. The seventh Guru kept with
him armies and wore arms, but he had
resolved never to use hem. He, however,
ceased to co-operat with the Government—,
and refused even to see the face of the Em-
peror. His son, who succeeded him, did like-
wise. The ninth Guru suffered passively,
as did so many. of his Sikhs like Bhai Mati
Das, who allowed himself to be sawn alive
without uttering even a sigh of bitterness.
Under Guru Gobind Singh the policy of
passive suffering was again reconsidered.

451

The Sikhs of the present day are, there-
fore, quite consistent with the policy of their
fore-fathers in deciding to remain non-violent
under all provocations. It is a compliment
to the British Government that it is believed
to possess a soul, or have the fear of public
opinion, which the Sikhs along with their other
countrymen are trying to awaken. The
advancement of the times and the fear of the
world opinion has made it practically im-
possible for the modern governments to
indulge in those barbarities which were
possible in the dark ages.

How far the Sikhs have been success-
ful in carrying out the policy of non-
violence will be evident from their behaviour
at Tarn Taran, Nankana Sahib and Guru-ka-
Bagh. The Government has, however, per-
sistently maintained that the Akali jathas are
nothing but violent, a danger to the peace and
order of the country. The Civil and Mili-
tary Gazette and the Associated Press have
lent themselves freely to depict the Akalis in
as black colours as possible. All the violent
crimes committed in the central districts are
attributed to the Akali movement. It is not
recognised that crime has increased as a result
of the lack of proper surveillance on the part
of police, which is too much pre-occupied
with the harassment of Akalis or with the
reporting of crime more than its suppression.

452

An oft-repeated charge against the Akalier
is that they march in ' military formation.7
The Sikhs do walk in orderly fashion, and
when they wear kirpans they present to the
eyes of the Government officials a spectacle
of ' armed bands'. The Sikhs from the days
of Guru Nanak have been in the habit of
moving to their diwans in parties called san-
gats, singing hymns in chorus ; and when
they do so their robust and disciplinary in-
stinct makes them fall into step. Such a
party of nearly forty Sikhs, while proceeding
to a diwan in Jullundur district, was arrested
and sentenced there and then. What does
the Government want ? Does it think that
loyalty consists in walking in a shuffling,
slouching manner ? Does it like that mobs
should not be arranged in rows of four or five,
and that they should always be huddling and
scampering through the streets for the police
to use their batons ?

An instance or two will show to what
lengths the police would go to connect crimes
with the Akali movement. A Government
communique was issued in May, 1922, alleging
that a double-barrelled breech-loading gun,
some cartridges, melted silver and other
stolen property were found from the house-
search of the Secretary of the Akali Jatha
of Chuhar Kana, near Atari Station in Mont-
gomery District. There was only one Akali

453

Jatha in the whole Montgomery District, and
its Secretary was Bhai Narindar Singh, who
knew nothing of the search or the seizure of
.arms. The fact was that a Sohan Singh was
arrested in Chuhar Kana in the Sheikhupura
District and the objectionable articles were
found in his house by the police. But this
Sohan Singh had got nothing to do with any
Akali Jatha. He was neither an Akali nor a
member of any jatha. There was, however,
another Sohan Singh who was Secretary of
the Akali Jatha of Chuhar Kana, District
Sheikhupura, and the police in their anxiety to
condemn the Akali movement supplied his
name to the Government. This allegation
was withdrawn by Government many months
later, but not before the report had done
much mischief. In September, 1922, it was
reported that nineteen Akalis had committed
a dacoity in Sheikhupura District in March,
1922 ; while the fact was that these nineteen
men had gone under instructions to plough
the land belonging to Nankana Sahib, which
was in possession of the Sikhs. It was also
complained that the Akalis at Kajajang did
not allow the Mohammedans to call the Azan.
The quarrel was a long-standing one and
belonged to the time before the Akali move-
ment had begun. It had got nothing to do
with the Akali movement. The Sikhs of
this place, who were old-fashioned bigots,

454

had never allowed the Azan, which according
to the Government's own admission, was
M only a recent innovation in this village."
This prejudice of the Sikhs, who were not
touched by the Akali movement and had
rather been praised and rewarded for their
aloofness, was a relic of old bigotry which
is happily passing away. Led by the same
spirit the Mohammedans of many villages do
not allow their Sikh fellow-villagers to do
j hatha ; but the Government has never issued
a communique to air this grievance of the
Sikhs. We do not want that it should. The
Shromani Committee placed the matter in
the hands of the Sikh League and the Khi-
lafat Committee to make a settlement.

Even Hon'ble Lala Harkishan Lai, who
should have known better, took some share in
spreading misrepresentations about the
Akalis. In an interview given by him in April,
19*22, to a representative of the "Statesman' of
Calcutta, he is reported to have said : " With
regard to the Akali movement, the Akalis
have worked up a desire to control the des-
tinies of the Punjab over the heads of other
communities." From the frequent talks he
had with the representatives of the Gurdwara
Committee, he must have known that it
was untrue. The Akalis have never demand-
ed a Eaj for themselves. Eather the Gov-
ernment has been taunting them with play-

455

ing into the hands of Congress men. There
is, however, one verse coming down from
olden days, which is recited by Sikhs after the
morning and evening prayers and which is
often misunderstood. It is " Kaj karega
Khalsa ", the Pure One shall rule. It does
not mean that the Sikhs will rule. It is not
an innovation, but has been constantly sung
after prayers. It was freely sung in the
Khalsa College of Amritsar, even in those
days when the Government had got full
control over it. When so many Sikhs
had been butchered at Nankana Sahib, and
their bodies lay mangled and burnt; in
the temple, the Sikhs still sang, "ethe
Pure One shall rule." When hundreds of
Sikhs were arrested and brought in batches
to court, they still sang at the gate of the
court that " the Pure One shall rule." The
Khalsa beaten and wounded and thrown in
the dust still rises and sings that " the Pure
One shall triumph." It is like Job crying out
from ashes that the Kedeemer liveth.

It cannot be asserted that the Akali
movement has stamped out all crime and
that there are no thieves and robbers among
the Sikhs. But it is quite unfair to foist the
stray crimes of villagers on the Akali move-
ment, which has done so much to reduce
crime. In most cases the defaulters are not
members of any Jatha, but irresponsible in-

456

dividuals masquerading as Akalis, which is as
unavoidable as the misuse of any other uni-
form, such as the European hat or the
Khaddar cap. The Shromani Committee has
always condemned any dishonourable be-
havior on the part of Sikhs, as it did when
some Sikhs were reported to have joined with
Hindus and Muslims at Tarkhaniwala Bun-
galow in harassing the Deputy Commissioner
of Lyallpur. Everybody knows that on
account of great congestion and mismanage-
ment on railways some people cannot secure
tickets. There are cheats too, who purposely
travel without tickets, but they are not con-
fined to the Sikh community alone. When,
however, once a few Sikhs were found to
have travelled without tickets, the Secretary
of the Shromani Committee paid out their
fare on the spot. The behaviour of these
Sikhs created a great sensation in the Com-
munity and was condemned by everybody
including the Shromani Committee. When a
few Sikhs, without the knowledge of the
Shromani Committee, took possession of the
Gurdwaras at Anandpur and Kiratpur, they
were at once called off and friendly relations
were restored soon after with the priests.
The Shromani Committee has always con-
demned the misuse of kirpan, and once actu-
ally helped the police in discovering a Sikh
who had made an attack with it on a Moham-

457

medan at Amritsar. Whenever a member
of a recognized Jatha is suspected of having
taken part in any discreditable occurrence,
an enquiry is held by his Jatha and, if any-
thing is proved against him, he is given a
suitable religious punishment. In serious
cases the offender is turned cut of the
Jatha.

The Jathas on the whole have shown a
wonderful spirit of discipline, gallantry and
non-violence. Wherever their organization
is allowed to be strong and is not interfered
with, they have practically stamped out rob-
bery and theft. Their gallantry reminds one
of the days when the Khalsa existed solely for
the purpose of defending the honour of men
and women. A grown up daughter of a Sindhi
widow was forcibly taken away by a Mohamme-
dan from one of the densely populated quarters
of Amritsar. The widow ran about for help, but
nobody would dare to come. She came to the
Akalis, who held a hasty council of war and
decided to send seven of themselves to rescue
the abducted girl. They came upon a body of
Mohammedans who were going to give the girl
in marriage to her abductor, but seeing the
Sikhs they ran away with her to a house and
shut themselves up there. The Sikhs jumped
after them into the house and a hand-to-hand
fight began. They received severe injuries

458

but they succeeded in bringing away the girl,
whom they restored to the bereaved mother.

On April 17, 1921, fifteen dacoits armed
with guns and pistols entered the village of
Kallar, District Eawalpindi, at 11 p. m. and
began to loot the shops. The villagers came
out when they heard the noise, but retired
soon after when the dacoits began to fire
on them. Only the Akalis were left on the
spot to face the robbers. They shouted Sat
Sri Akal, and rallied each othex to save the
village at any cost. The dacoits also chal-
lenged the Akalis to come forward at the
peril of their lives. The Akalis continued
to advance, showering stones on their ene-
mies and receiving bullets in return. The
fight went on for about an hour. When the
Akalis got near enough to use their lathis
the dacoits ran away. The all-vigilant police
reached the spot after the dacoits had made
good their escape, although the whole place
had been ringiog for an hour with the shouts
of Sat Sri Akal and the sounds of bullets at
the dead of night. It is worthy of note that
the police station is just outside the village.
Twelve Akalis received bullet wounds, some
of them getting two or three each.

The following letter, dated 11th March,
1922, sent by Mr. C. A. Macpherson, Superin-

459

tendent of Police, Amritsar, to the Shromani
Committee, will speak for itself : —

" Dear Sir, -A number of men said to be
Akali Sikhs working at the Darbar Sahib
tank performed a very gallant and meritorious
act last evening. They rescued Lala Ishar
Das and his family from the hands of armed
robbers. I have not been able to ascertain
their names, and am thus unable to convey
to them any appreciation of their conduct.
If your Committee can very kindly help me
in this matter, I should be most grateful. I
would also like to draw the attention of the
Shromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee
to the action of one Banta Singh of Dhotian
who boldly tackled a man armed with a re-
volver, a truly lion-hearted and altruistic act.
His services will be duly acknowledged, but I
feel that his name and fame cannot be too
widely known.

With greetings.

Yours sincerely,
(Sd.) C. A. Macpherson, Supdt, Police."

In regard to the temperance reform, the
Akali movement has done in a short time
what hundreds of societies founded for that
purpose could not do in fifty years. Drun-
kenness has been practically stamped out
from all villages where the Akalis are strong.

460 '

It is impossible for an Akali to drink. For
effecting this and other social reforms the
Akalis have organized Panchayats, in which
they co-operate with Non-Akalis, whether
Sikh, Hindu or Mohammedan. For some time
they left off taking even tea, lest it should
become a craving and take the olace of wine
or bhang. They have removed other evils
too, like the holding of nautch parties with
prostitutes. They have made life quite
simple. An Akali would be rarely seen in any-
thing but Khaddar. The Akalis are doing
their utmost to get rid of the curse of untouch-
ability. Eather their whole movement, as
we have seen, began with a contest on this
point with the old priests.

All these reforms have been made possi-
ble by the remarkable awakening among the
Sikh women. They are working shoulder to
shoulder with their husbands and brothers to
justify Guru Gobind Singh's baptism, which
they receive along with men. In the begin*
ning of the present movement an old-fashion-
ed Sikh happened to remark, before an as-
sembly of Sikhs at the Akal Takht, that
women should not be allowed to come upon
the sacred Takht, as they did not show the
same force of character as men. As soon as
these words were uttered, a host of women,
old and young, wearing kirpans, came forward
and demanded of the Sikh to tell them what

461

the men could do which they, the women,
who had received Guru Gobind Singh's Amritr
could not do. They carried children in their
arms, and were not ashamed of being mothers.
Some of them, in their zeal to work along
with men, have taken to tying turbans. The
Akali Jathas of Amritsar, Lahore, Ludhiana^
Ambala and Nabha are in favour of this
practice.

CHAPTER XXIII.

THE KIRPAN.

The Kirpan or sword is one of the five
symbols of the Sikh faith, whose names begin
with the same letter. The other four are :
Kesh (long hair), Kanga (comb), Kara (iron
bracelet), and Kachh (drawers). When a Sikh
is baptised, it is enjoined on him not to part
with any of these. The Kirpan is a symbol
of Power and Dignity *, both of which India
had lost and which Guru Gobind Singh
wanted to restore.

None of these symbols was invented by
Guru Gobind Singh. They were already in
vogue and had been separately used with
much the same significance. The word
1 Kirpan' was used for a sword. Long before it
became a religious symbol with the Sikhs, its
name had been applied to different kinds of
the sword. In the old Sanskrit dictionaries,
like the Amarhosh and the Shabdkalpad-
rumhosh, it is used as a synonym for kharag,
~kar war , asi, chandarhas, and rishti. Guru
Gobind Singh himself in his Book of Instru-
ments, called Shastar- nam- mala, says : —

" Kari, Karantac (elephant-killer), Kasht-
rip (enemy- tormentor), Kalayudh (war-
instrument), Karwar (talwar), Kara and

*" Charity and Kirpan are symbolic of self-
respect."-— Pakhiano Charitra, 322.

463

Choi are different names of the Kirpan."
(11. 41).

In another book, called Pahhiano
Charitra, he uses Bhagauti and Kharag
indifferently for the Kirpan :

" She took Bhagauti in her hand,

And with all her might she struck it at
his head.

As the Kaja cried out, hai ! hai ! !,

She struck the Kirpan again and again."
(302.9).

Here Kirpan and Bhagauti are used
synonymously.

Again : " When the attack on the fort
began, she took out her Kirpan and, coming
to close quarters, plied the Kharag and with
one stroke finished off the enemy." (199.26)

In these verses the Kirpan is synony-
mous with the Kharag. We have seen that
in the old Sanskrit dictionaries, too, it is
described as the same thing as the Kharag.

Guru Gobind Singh did not fix the size
of the Kirpan. It depended on the weilding
power of the Sikhs. But from the samples
preserved at the Akal Takht and other
Gurdwaras we can get an idea of what a
Kharag or Kirpan was. According to old
Hindu books the maximum size of a Kharag
was 50 anguls or about 3*12 feet ; and the
minimum size was 25 anguls or about 1*56 ft.
"A Kharag of 50 anguls is excellent and of half

464

that size is inferior. Shorter than that should
not be worn at all." — Agni Puran.

" The best Kharag is 50 anguls long y
and an inferior one is 25." — Varah Samhita.

The same size is given in the Devi
Puran.

Why did the Guru call the sword Kirpan?
Because it alliterates with the names of the
other four symbols, is a classic and poetical
name, and can be applied to all kinds of
swords. The Kirpan is called a symbol from
the view-point of the religious art or aesthe-
tics- In order that the symbols might
serve their real purpose as a help in the
performance of religion and might not
become a dead weight on religion, the Guru
also emphasized the view-point of utility.
The Kirpan, is, therefore, an active symbol,,
an instrument of offence and defence, and
uot a charm to be tied along with the turban-
ends or stowed away in the back of the comb,,
as it came to be done in the British days*.
It is to be kept in a sheath aud worn in a
belt (Pakhiano Charitra, 52.18)- It can cut
through armour (Shastar-nam-mala, 11.28),,
through men, horses, even elephants. It is
superior to all other instruments (ibid, 11.34).
As long as the Sikhs were free, they
were able to keep their religious liberty in-
tact and did not part with their Kirpan or
sword. They kept it by their side in the dayJt

465

and took it to their bed at night. When
they lost their liberty with the destruction
of their empire, the Kirpan was also taken
away from them. What a scene, that, at the
famous monument of Mankiala, when the
day of the Khalsa was over, and the old Sikh
veterans were ordered to pile their arms at
the feet of Sir Walter Guilbert. How
reluctantly each soldier came forward and,
embracing his sword, uttered a groan, deep
and long, and placed it on the pile in tears.*
Thus was lost one of the five symbols of the
Sikh faith. In jails even other symbols, like
the comb and the bracelet, were not allowed.
And the Sikhs had to struggle hard and long
to get a concession even in regard to these
symbols for their brethren in jail.

We must admit that by the Army
Eegulations, which emphasize the initiation of
a Sikh recruit in Guru Gobind Singh's baptism,
the old tradition of the Khalsa was kept up to
some extent. But in other ways, as we have
seen, the liberty of the Sikhs was controlled.
The Sikhs founded Sabhas and Diwans, purely
religious bodies, whose object was to restore
Sikhism to its pristine glory. They empha-
sized the carrying out of the baptismal vows,
and among other things laid stress on the
wearing of the Kirpan. But the law of the
country stood in their way.

^See Leaves from the Journal of a Subaltern, p. 189.

466

In 1913, one Baba Nihal Singh Nihang
was arrested for wearing a Kirpan. The
different Sikh bodies passed resolutions of
protest and there began a strong agitation, in
response to which the gentleman was released.
The Ramgarbia Sabha sent a deputation to
Sir O'Moore Creagh, the Commander-in-
Chief at Simla, who took a sympathetic view.
The Chief Khalsa Diwan, whose Secretary
was Sardar Sundar Singh Majithia, inter-
viewed several officers in this connection.
The Sikhs of Rawalpindi, through their
Sabha, showed special activity in moving
the Takhts and the general Sikh public ; and
on June 25, 1914, the possessing and wear-
ing of the Kirpan was allowed by law
in the Punjab. After a month it was
allowed in Delhi. Then after some months'
agitation, and after some Sikhs had suffered
arrests, it was allowed in Burma. But
whenever a Sikh was found with a Kirpan
in U. P. or Bengal he was arrested It is
true that law did not allow it in other
provinces, but it was not the fault of Sikhs.
It was an anomaly, which the Government
unreasonably kept up. Why should a Sikh
be required to part with his religious symbol
when stepping out of Delhi and put it on
when landing at Rangoon. In February,
1917, after Chaudhri Shamsher Singh, Secre-
tary of the Singh Sabha of Sitapur, had

467

been punished for wearing a Kirpan, it was
allowed in U. P., and then in the N. W.
Frontier Province. In other provinces it
was still forbidden. The Sikhs have got
their sacred places in U. P., Behar, Bengal,
Deccan, etc., and are found travelling ia
batches to visit these places. One can
imagine what trouble they must have under-
gone in prison and at the hands of the police,
which is none too tender in India. On May
19, 1917, it was allowed throughout India.
In 1918 the exemption was extended to
British Baluchistan and the Residency
Bazars and the Railway lands in Hyderabad
State. But still cases were not rare when,
inspite of this sanction, the police of different-
provinces were found arresting and troubling
the inncent Sikhs for wearing Kirpans.

The representative bodies of the Sikhs
went on agitating, for the Kirpan was still
not allowed in the Army. Look at the
wonder of it ! Those who used the sword,
those whose profession it was to wear arms,
were not allowed to wear the Kirpan. Three
soldiers at Roorkee were punished and
dismissed for wearing it. The whole Sikh
community cried hoarse over the affair, but
they were not taken back. Bhai Mangal
Singh of 34th Sikhs, who was afterwards
martyred at Nankana Sahib, was dismissed
and sentenced to one year's R. I. for the

468

same fault. His sentence was later reduced. It
was in September, 1920, that " in recognition
of the loyal and distinguished services
rendered by the Sikhs in the Great War,"
the Government "was pleased to sanction the
wearing of the Kirpans by Sikh soldiers both
in uniform and plain clothes while serving
on the active list."*

The law, while exempting the Kirpan
from all restrictions, did not fix its size, for
the Sikhs who had applied for it had stated
that its size could be fixed only by Guru
Grobind Singh. Nor was its manufacture for-
bidden. In Schedule II of the x\rms Act,
which provides for exemptions from the
operation of the Act, the Kirpan is declared
to be free from all prohibitions including its
manufacture and sale. For some time the
Sikhs freely enjoyed the right of manufactur-
ing, selling and possessing the Kirpan. But
when the repression of Sikhs in connection

*This right was, however, curtailed later on,
as would appear from the following words in the
'correction' which was made in the Army Regulations
on May 27, 1922 : —

"In Units which elect to adopt the wearing of the
Kirpan by Sikhs it should be worn on all ceremonial
occasions ; the other occasions on which it will or
will not be worn are left to the discretion of officers-
commanding units. Uniformity within the unit as
regards the method of wearing the Kirpan in uniform;
and in plain clothes must be insisted on."

469

with the Gurdwara reform began, those who
wore Kirpans also came in for it. In Feb-
ruary, 1921, the Deputy Commissioner of Jul-
lundur issued an order requiring the local
manufacturers not lo manufacture Kirpans of
greater length than nine inches. A First
Class Magistrate in Lahore psssed an order
on the application of a Kirpan inanufaturer for
license that no license was needed for manu-
facturing Kirpans. But when in March, 1921,
S. Mehtab Singh referred to it in the Council,
S. Sundar Singh Majithia replied on behalf of
the Government that although the Sikhs had
been permitted to wear Kirpan, Section 5 of
the Arms Act did not allow them to manufac-
ture it without license. He also declared that
the Kirpans were in no case to exceed nine
inches in length. Consequent upon this Sikhs
began to be arrested everywhere for wearing
Kirpans which exceeded the length of nine
inches, although there was no specific law or
notification issued on that point. The Maha-
raja of Patiala was, however, more explicit.
He ordered on 19th March, 1921, that Kir-
pans must be bought from the Arms Manufac-
turers of the State, who were instructed to
prepare Kirpans of a fixed size and shape.
All other Kirpans possessed or carried were
liable to confiscation. This order created
much heart-burning among the Sikhs and
was withdrawn on October 5, 1921. The

470

prosecution of Sikhs for wearing Kirpans
went on in the British Districts. Nobody
could understand on what principle the police
or the courts proceeded. Some people were
arrested for possessing Kirpans, while others
were not arrested, even though they carried
as long Kirpans as they could. In the case of
one Hazara Singh, who was tried in April,
1921, the following great moderate leaders
were cited as defence witnesses : — Sardar
Bahadur Mehtab Singh, Bar-at-Law ; Sardar
Trilochan Singh, M.A., LL.B. ; Sardar Sundar
Singh Eamgarhia, President of the Shromani
Committee and ex-Manager of the Golden
Temple ; Sardar Harbans Singh, Secretary of
the Chief Khalsa Diwan, and Vice-President
of the Shromani Committee ; Professor Jodh
Singh, M.A., Principal, Guru Nanak College,
Gujranwala ; Bhai Takht Singh, Manager,
Sikh Girls' School, Ferozepore ; and Sardar
Shivdev Singh Uberoi, Honorary Magistrate
of Sialkot. They declared that the instru-
ment, for carrying which Bhai Hazara Singh
was being prosecuted, was a Kirpan, and that
Kirpan was another name for the sword.
They themselves had with them similar Kir-
pans. And yet the man was convicted under
Section 19 of the Act and sentenced to
6 months' E.I. Bhai Bachittar Singh, Jatha-
dar of the Akal Takht, who had been
picked out of so many Kirpan-carrying Sikhs,

471

was sentenced to 2 years' imprisonment,
which was, however, reduced to 6 months
later on. He appealed to the High Court,
which could not come to any decision as to
what a Kirpan was, and his petition was re-
jected. After proceeding in this uncertain
way for a few months, the Government in
July relaxed its policy of prosecutions, declar-
ing complacently that " the practice of wear-
ing large weapons or ordinary swords appears
to have now much dimini8hed.,, The Sikhs
in reality had never given up their practice of
wearing the so-called long Kirpans.

In March, 1922, the Government and the
Shromani Committee came to an understand-
ing about the Kirpan. It was agreed that
the Government would not interfere with the
Sikhs for wearing " Kirpans or swords" as long
as they ordinarily wore them by the side and
did not unsheath them except for purely re-
ligious purposes. When listening to the terms
of agreement the Sikh representatives had
expressed a fear that the Government might
take advantage of the words "by the side"
and unnecessarily harass the Sikhs. The
Government representative had laughed out
the objection, saying that the Sikhs should
trust the Government, which wanted to finish
the Kirpan trouble once for all. It was,
however, destined to be used, like so many

472

other previous agreements, as a mere stalk-
ing horse.

The ink was not yet dry on the document
when a fresn campaign was started for prose-
cuting Sikhs for wearing Kirpans. The Burma
Government even in February had issued a
notification fixing the size of the Kirpan to
9 inches. We have seen how Sardar Kharak
Singh and others were arrested and sentenced
heavily. The ludicrous way in which ad-
vantage was taken of the words "by the side "
will appear from the following cases. A Sikh
boy in Hoshiarpur district was going running
to his school to avoid being late. As his
Kirpan was hanging down his body, he could
not run freely. So he took the Kirpan in his
hand, though the belt was on his body. The
Commissioner of the Division who saw this
ordered the boy to be disarmed. On the boy
refusing to give up his Kirpan, he was arrest-
ed and, being put before a Magistrate, was
tried and sentenced to pay Es. 55 as fine, or to
go to jail for one month and a half in default.
The brave boy preferred the latter, and was
sent to jail. In a diwan at Samundri the
Superintendent of Police snatched away the
Kirpan from a Sikh while he was leaning on
it. In another place a Sikh was deprived of
his Kirpan while he was cleaning it. Sardar
Earn Singh of Mandi Dabwali (Hissar Dis-
trict), who was found sleeping with his Kirpan,

173

was arrested and sent to jail. A blind musi-
cian was arrested at Mandhra, because his
cross-belt having broken in the way he was
obliged to put his Kirpan in his bed. In a
communique, dated 19th September, 1922, the
Government declared that one " Anup Singh
was present at a meetiDg and was arrested
there for carrying his Kirpan in contravention
to the orders on the subject. He was not
wearing a belt and stated that he would never
wear one.'? Sometimes Sikhs were arrested
for possessing two Kirpans. As a Sikh is
bound to keep his Kirpan always with him, it
becomes sometimes inevitable that he should
have two Kirpans with him. As for axample,
when he buys a new Kirpan to replace an old
one, which he already possesses, he will neces-
sarily have two in his possession when he
walks away from the Kirpan shop; or some-
times when he comes from his village to a
city and buys a Kirpan for his wife or child.
The prosecutions in connection with the Kir-
pan were so manifestly illegal that all disin-
terested newspapers and associations in India
strongly disapproved of the policy of the Gov-
ernment, and the Punjab Provincial Congress
Committee in a general meeting condemned
" the action of the Punjab Government
in prosecuting Sikhs for wearing Kirpans be-
yond certain length which is not provided in
law." Even a Sessions Judge was found to

474

hold that the manufacture of Kirpans was no
offence. The following judgment was de-
livered by Mr. A. H. Parker, Sessions Judge
of Ambala Division on 17th June, 1922: —

" In this case Ganesha Singh, who is ad-
mittedly a Sikh Lobar of the Ambala District,
has been convicted under Section 19 of the
Arms Act for manufacturing Kirpans. The
Magistrate has sentenced him to one year's
rigorous imprisonment with fine. He ap-
peals.

It is admitted on his behalf that he did,
in fact, manufacture Kirpans ; and the only
question which I have to decide is whether
the manufacture of Kirpans by a Sikh is an
offence under the Arms Act. The Arms
Eules of 1920, schedule 2, shows that within
the Punjab the arms, viz., "Kirpans possessed
or carried by Sikhs" are excluded from the
operations of all prohibitions and directions
contained in the Arms Act. These Kirpans,
manufactured by Appellant are clearly, while
in his possession, Kirpans possessed by a Sikh,
and I hold that they are excluded from all
prohibitions under the Act. In section 5 of
the Act there is a prohibition against the
manufacture of Arms, but these Kirpans
are not subject to that prohibition. I,
therefore, consider and hold that G-anesha

475

Singh by manufacturing these Kirpans has
committed no offence-

The learned Public Prosecutor, while
arguing the case before me, laid stress on the
words ' possessed or carried by a Sikh/ and
argues that the prohibition against manufac-
turing is not excluded, since the Kirpans have
to be possessed or carried by Sikhs. I can-
not agree with the argument, since the sche-
dule shows that all prohibitions under the Act
are excluded.

For the above reasons this appeal is ac-
cepted, and Ganesha Singh is acquitted and
released. Fine, if recovered, will be refunded.
The Kirpans, etc., confiscated by the Magis-
trate, will be returned to Ganesha Singh on the
expiry of the term of appeal or the decision
of appeal, if any be made against this judg-
ment."

In fact the Government does not know
its own case about the Kirpan question. The
Government is yet undecided as to whether
the manufacture of Kirpans is an offence
or not. In answer to a question in the
Punjab Council the Hon'ble Sardar Sundar
Singh Majithia said on 31st July, 1922 : " The
manufacture of Kirpans has been treated
as subject to the provisions of the law applic-
able to swords, but doubt has been raised as
to the applicability of these provisions to
Kirpans and the Government is taking steps

476

to obtain a judicial decision on the point."
In the meanwhile Sikhs, like Sardar Kharak
Singh, have to rot in jail. The same member
also stated that upto the beginning of June,
1922, " there had been 68 persons arrested,
66 brought to trial and 40 convicted during the
previous twelve months for keeping, selling or
manufacturing kirpans or weapons passing as
such. Eighteen persons were still under
trial." Eead with this the statement of Gov-
ernment made in the beginning of March,
1922, that " for about 8 months past no Sikh
has been arrested for wearing a sword or
Kirpan," and then say how many have been
punished in this connection anH in how many
months.

CHAPTER XXIV.

CONCLUSION.

We are not yet out of the wood. The
Lathi having failed, the Government has
brought forward a Bill again, and this time
has passed it, too, through the Legislative
Council, inspite of the fact that the whole
Sikh Community with one voice opposed it
and all the Hindu and Sikh Members, sup-
ported by the only Indian Christian and the
most enlightened Mohammedans in the Coun-
cil, voted against it. Even half the Govern-
ment—one Executive Councillor and one
Minister — remained neutral. This was the
only form, short of resignation, that opposi-
tion could take in their case. The Bill is
substantially the same as the first one, pub-
lished in this book, with this difference that
the Board of Commissioners will now consist
of three Sikhs to be nominated, one each, by
Government, the Shromaui Gurdwara Par-
bandhak Committee and Sikh Members of the
Punjab Council. On its merits the Bill could
not be accepted by the Sikhs, because it does
not meet the requirements of reform. But
the Government has made it impossible for
the Sikh Community to consider any Bill at

478

present by keeping in jail thousands of Sikhs
including almost all the great leaders of the
Panth. The Sikhs do want a legislation, but
such as will fulfil the purpose of reform and
is given in a manner honourable for accept-
ance.

The defeat of Sikhs over the Bill and
their sufferings at Guru-ka-Bagh mean a great
moral gain for the movement. The whole
Community has been united, and all concerned
have been deeply impressed by the earnest-
ness of the reformers. The Nirmala Sikhs have
fallen in line with the rest of the Sikhs ; and
the Mahants, too, are rapidly coming to realise
that their right place is by the side of the
Panth. Since the stoppage of arrests at
Guru-ka-Bagh on 17th November, 1922, the
custodians of the following Gurdwaras have
put themselves under the control of the Shro-
mani Committee : -

1. Ramdas (Amritsar), 2. Kot Naina
(Gurdaspore), 3. Naurangabad (Amritsar),
4. Mahal (Amritsar), 5. Dehra Sahib Batala
(Gurdaspore), 6. Bir Sahib (Amritsar),
7. Babek Sar (Amritsar), 8. Garna Sahib
(Hoshiarpore), 9. Bari Lehli (Hoshiarpore),
10. Zahira Zahur (Hoshiarpore), 11. Tahli
Sahib (Hoshiarpore), 12. Damdama Sahib
(Gurdaspore), 13. Gurusar Kaonke (Ludhiana),
14. Tapiana Sahib (Amritsar), 15. Dehra
Sahib of Bughiana (Lahore), 16. Baba

479

Vir Singh Shahid (Lahore), 17. Tham Sahib
of Uddoke (Aruritsar).

We may Dot have gained all the Gur-
dwaras as yet ; but the movement is steadily
progressing, and every check only accelerates
it. It is one of the greatest successes that
the Panth has ever achieved. The Sikhs have
obtained experience in organization and ad-
ministration, which will prove a great
national asset. Under the most trying
circumstances they have been able to do the
Kar Service and carry on the administration
of so many temples. They have organized
Panchayats, Jathas and Committees, and the
experience gained in them has trained them
how to work together. What is most im-
portant, by the removal of drunkenness, un-
touchability and other social evils they have
gained an awakening and an uplift which have
changed the whole outlook of the nation.

This success may be attributed to the
following four causes : —

(1) The aim in this movement has been
quite definite and every average Sikh can see
what his nation is struggling for.

(2) The cause is so just that there has
never been any doubt about its success. Only
it involved sacrifice for which, thanks to the
Sikh tradition not far distant from the
present time, the Sikh nation made itself
ready in a very short time.

480

(3) Coming after a period of diffusion of
knowledge and expansion of energy it has
provided an occasion for a stout-hearted en-
gagement. The Sikhs had tried to reform
their religion, to free their education, tried
as British Subjects to get free access to
British Dominions, and tried even to reform
their temples, but they had failed. Now the
whole awakening got from the different
failures was utilized in effecting one purpose.
The whole attention and endeavour of the
Community came to be concentrated on the
solution of one question ; and the whole
Community rang with one voice.

(4) This movement has called forfch all
the united strength of the Community. Men
and women, old and young, co-operators and
non-co-operators, are joined in furthering,
one national object.

Further success is in the hands of God.

PUBLISHED BY

THE DESH SEWAE BOOK AGENCY,

JULLUNDUR CITY, Punjab (India)

1st Edition.) 2,000 Copies. [Price Bs. 3.

Printed by L. Diwan Chand, at The Mercantile Preee, Lahore.

**> 1

THIS BOOK IS DUE ON THE LAST DATE
STAMPED BELOW

OVERDUE.

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