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<p class="C1">&#65279BH&#256&#298 PHER&#362 MORCH&#256, one of a series of campaigns in the Sikhs' agitation in the 1920's for the reformation of their holy places. Gurdw&#257r&#257 Sa&#7749gat S&#257hib, located in M&#299e&#7749 ke Mau&#7771 in Lahore district, about 15 km from Chh&#257&#7749ga M&#257&#7749g&#257 railway station, dedicated to the memory of Bh&#257&#299 Pher&#363 (1640-1706), a <i>masand</i> or parish leader in the time of Gur&#363 Har R&#257i who was honoured for his devotion by Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh with the titles of Sachch&#299 D&#257h&#7771&#299 (True Bearded) and Sa&#7749gat S&#257hib, was an important shrine, with 2, 750 acres of land attached to it, and was being managed by Mahant Kishan D&#257s. After the Shiroma&#7751&#299 Gurdw&#257r&#257 Parbandhak Committee, a representative society of the Sikhs, had taken over management of some of the major shrines and <i>mahants</i> or priests had started voluntarily handing over Gurdw&#257r&#257 under their control, Mahant Kishan D&#257s, on 28 December 1922, transferred Gurdw&#257r&#257 Bh&#257&#299 Pher&#363 to the Committee. He later went back on the agreement he had signed and petitioned the government to have the shrine and the lands restored to him. On 7 December 1923 the police arrested the manager, Jagat Si&#7749gh, and eleven other representatives of the Shiroma&#7751&#299 Gurdw&#257r&#257 Parbandhak Committee. The possession of the shrine and the estate was restored to the Mahant and his tenants. However, the decision of the deputy commissioner of Lahore on the Gurdw&#257r&#257 lands went in favour of the Shiroma&#7751&#299 Committee and, as its representatives arrived to take charge of these, Mahant Kishan D&#257s and his tenant P&#257l&#257 R&#257m, brother of Mahant Narai&#7751 D&#257s, of Sr&#299 Nank&#257&#7751&#257 S&#257hib, lodged a complaint with police that the Ak&#257l&#299s were forcibly taking possession of his property. Police arrested 34 Ak&#257l&#299s on 2 January 1924. The government revised its earlier decision given in favour of the Shiroma&#7751&#299 Gurdw&#257r&#257 Parbandhak Committee and passed fresh orders declaring P&#257l&#257 R&#257m to be temporarily in possession of the land. Ak&#257l&#299s launched a <i>morch&#257</i> in protest even as the <i>morch&#257</i> at Jaito was still continuing. <i>Jath&#257s</i> or batches of Ak&#257l&#299 volunteers started marching to Bh&#257&#299 Pher&#363 from different parts of the district. On 5 January 1924, the Shiroma&#7751&#299 Gurdw&#257r&#257 Parbandhak Committee took the campaign into its own hands. By 10 September 1925, the number of arrests had reached 6, 372. An unsavoury incident, however, led the local organizer, Arjan Si&#7749gh, to suspend the <i>morch&#257</i> on 20 September 1925. The Gurdw&#257r&#257 and the lands attached to it came under the Committee's control after the Sikh Gurdw&#257r&#257 Act of 1925 was passed by the Punjab Legislative Council, and the court case too was decided in the Committee's favour in June 1931.</p>
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BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1"><li class="C1"> Josh, Sohan Singh, <i>Ak&#257l&#299 Morchi&#257&#7749 d&#257 It&#299h&#257s</i>. Delhi, 1972<BR>
<li class="C1"> Prat&#257p Si&#7749gh, Gi&#257n&#299, <i>Gurdw&#257r&#257 Sudh&#257r arth&#257t Ak&#257l&#299 Lahir</i>. Amritsar, 1975<BR>
<li class="C1"> Mohinder Singh, <i>The Akali Movement</i>. Delhi, 1978<BR>
<li class="C1"> Sahni, Ruchi Ram, <i>Struggle for Reform in Sikh Shrines</i>. Ed. Ganda Si&#7749gh. Amritsar, n. d.<BR>
</ol><p class="CONT">Gulcharan Si&#7749gh <br></p><BR>
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