ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>&#7692URL&#298 JATH&#256</TITLE> <style type="text/css"> .BODY { background-color: #EAF1F7; background-image: url('images/gtbh.jpg'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: fixed; background-position: center; color: #0066CC;} .C1{text-align: justify;color: #0066CC;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} .BIB{text-align: center;color: #000099;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} .CONT{text-align: right;color: #FF0000;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} </style><META NAME="keywords" CONTENT=" URL*,JATH"> <META http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8"></HEAD> <BODY class="BODY" oncontextmenu="return false" ondragstart="return false" onselectstart="return false"> <FONT ALIGN="JUSTIFY" FACE="Tahoma"> <p class="C1">&#65279&#7692URL&#298 JATH&#256 was an impromptu band of Sikh volunteers active during the Jaito agitation, 1923-24, to force their way through in contrast to the Ak&#257l&#299 <i>jath&#257s</i> vowed to a non-violent and passive course. &#7692url&#299 is a meaningless word : whatever sense it possesses is communicated onomatopoetically. At Jaito, on 14 September 1923, an <i>akha&#7751&#7693 p&#257th</i> (non-stop end-to-end recital of the Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib) being said for the Sikh princely ruler of N&#257bh&#257 state, Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 Ripudaman Si&#7749gh, who had been deposed by the British, was interrupted which, according to the Sikh tradition, amounted to sacrilege, and the <i>sa&#7749gat</i> had been held captive, no-one being allowed to go out or come in, not even to fetch food or rations for those inside. Jathed&#257r Dull&#257 Si&#7749gh and Suchch&#257 Si&#7749gh of Ro&#7693e village, in Mog&#257 <i>tahs&#299l</i>, then in F&#299rozpur district, organized a small band of desperadoes, naming it &#7692url&#299 Jath&#257, who collected the required rations and managed to smuggle these in through feint or force. When large-sized <i>shah&#299d&#299 jath&#257s</i> began to be sent to Jaito by the Shiroma&#7751&#299 Gurdw&#257r&#257 Parbandhak Committee from Amritsar, the &#7692url&#299 Jath&#257 also mobilized support and sustenance for them <i>en route</i>. When the first Shah&#299d&#299 Jath&#257, sworn to non-violence, was fired at by government troops on 21 February 1924 resulting in 19 dead and 30 injured, the government in order to justify its action held fake enquiries by two magistrates, first by L&#257l&#257 Amar N&#257th and then by Balvant Si&#7749gh Nalv&#257, who gave the verdict that &#7692urli Jath&#257 personnel who had accompanied the Shah&#299d&#299 Jath&#257 were armed and it was they who fired the first shot forcing the troops to open fire. Twenty-two members of &#7692url&#299 Jath&#257 including Jathed&#257r Dull&#257 Si&#7749gh, Suchch&#257 Si&#7749gh and M&#257&#299 Kishan Kaur were tried in the court of L&#257l&#257 Amar N&#257th, who had meanwhile been elevated to sessions judge, on 17 May 1924. They were sentenced to rigorous imprisonment for seven years each. The &#7692url&#299 Jath&#257, however, remained active until the Jaito <i>morch&#257</i> ended successfully for the Ak&#257l&#299s in August 1925.</p> </font> <p class="BIB"> BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol 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> </ol><p class="CONT">Major Gurmukh Si&#7749gh (Retd.)<br></p><BR> </font> <img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""> </HTML></BODY>