ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>GA&#7770GAJJ AK&#256L&#298 JATH&#256 (ga&#7771gajj = reverberatingly thunderous)</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="GAZGAJJ,AKL*,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">&#65279GA&#7770GAJJ AK&#256L&#298 JATH&#256 (<i>ga&#7771gajj</i> = reverberatingly thunderous) was the name given a dynamic group (<i>jath&#257</i>) of Ak&#257l&#299 reformers, especially active in M&#257jh&#257 region of the Punjab. The Jath&#257 came into being on 19 April 1921, splintering from the parent body Central M&#257jh&#257 <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 D&#299w&#257n. Tej&#257 Si&#7749gh Bhuchchar, Jathed&#257r of Sr&#299 Ak&#257l Ta<u>kh</u>t, then under detention, was elected in absentia its life president. Others associated with the Jath&#257 were Bh&#257&#299 Saran Si&#7749gh, vice-president; Bh&#257&#299 Nirañja&#7751 Si&#7749gh, of Chakk No.46, secretary; Bh&#257&#299 K&#257hn Si&#7749gh, also of Chakk No.46, assistant secretary ; and Bh&#257&#299 Tej&#257 Si&#7749gh, of Pa&#7693h&#257&#7751&#257, treasurer. In the constitution of the Jath&#257 approved on 6 June 1921, however, it was redesignated Ga&#7771gajj Ak&#257l&#299 D&#299w&#257n, although the name Jath&#257 also continued to be used. In the <i>Memorandum on the Ak&#257l&#299 Dal and the Shiroman&#299 Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee,</i> 1921-22, prepared by the Criminal Investigation Department (Political) of the Punjab Government, it is referred to as "The Gargaj Ak&#257l&#299 Jath&#257." According to the Memorandum, it was "the oldest of all the Ak&#257l&#299 Jathas" which is evidently in reference to the parent body, the Central M&#257jh&#257 <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 D&#299w&#257n originally formed in 1904 as <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 D&#299w&#257n, M&#257jh&#257. Of Ga&#7771gajj Ak&#257l&#299 Jath&#257, the C.I.D. Memorandum dated 22 February 1922 records :</p> <blockquote class="C1"><p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Its headquarters are at Tarn Taran but it exercises control over no specified area. Its Jathedar is Tej&#257 Si&#7749gh Bhuchar, one of the conditionally released Gurdwara prisoners. The jatha has considerable influence in the Majha tract, though Teja Singh who is endeavouring to maintain a distinction between politics and religion, has lost most of his authority. Its membership is approximately 1, 500.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</blockquote></p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Activities of the Ga&#7771gajj Ak&#257l&#299 Jath&#257 were confined mainly to opposing the policies of the Shiroma&#7751&#299 Ak&#257l&#299 Dal. Its leader and spokesman, Tej&#257 Si&#7749gh Bhuchchar, under arrest since 15 March 1921, was released in September 1921 on assurance of good behaviour and on the intercession of Day&#257 Kishan Kaul, prime minister of the princely state of Pa&#7789i&#257l&#257. Kaul secured Bhuchchar's consent to preside over a factional Ak&#257l&#299 conference proposed to be held at Pa&#7789i&#257l&#257 on 12-13 December 1921 at which the Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 of Pa&#7789i&#257l&#257 was to be proclaimed the leader of the Sikh Panth. The plan, however, aborted owing to the Ak&#257l&#299 agitation launched in Amritsar in November 1921 for the retrieval of the keys of the <i>tosh&#257<u>kh</u>&#257n&#257</i> of the Golden Temple seized by government. Bhuchchar launched his own paper <i>Ga&#7771gajj Ak&#257l&#299</i> printed in a press financed by Pa&#7789i&#257l&#257 state. Ga&#7771gajj Ak&#257l&#299 Jath&#257 supported Gur&#363 k&#257 B&#257<u>gh</u> agitation but later renewed its opposition to the Shiroma&#7751&#299 Gurdw&#257r&#257 Parbandhak Committee. It tried to obstruct <i>k&#257r-sev&#257</i> of the Sarovar, the holy tank (17 June 1923), objecting to the use of gold basins and silver spades to be used by Pañj Pi&#257re chosen to lead the <i>sev&#257</i>. The Shiroma&#7751&#299 Gurdw&#257r&#257 Parbandhak Committee declared Bhuchchar a <i>tankh&#257h&#299&#257</i>, i.e. laid him under penace for what were described as his rebellious activities. The Ga&#7771gajj Ak&#257l&#299 Jath&#257 had also been opposed to the Shiroma&#7751&#299 Gurdw&#257r&#257 Parbandhak Committee decision about boycotting the 1929 Congress session at Lahore and advocated co-operation with the Congress. In 1936, it helped the Bu&#7693&#7693h&#257 Dal to take forcible possession of Burj B&#257b&#257 Ph&#363l&#257 Si&#7749gh. The Jath&#257 which had already become insignificant politically and religiously died with the murder of its leader, Tej&#257 Si&#7749gh Bhuchchar, in 1939.</p> </font> <p class="BIB"> BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1"><li class="C1"> Ashok, Shamsher Si&#7749gh, <i>Shiroma&#7751&#299 Gurdw&#257r&#257 Parbandhak Committee d&#257 Pañj&#257h S&#257I&#257 Itih&#257s</i>. Amritsar, 1982<BR> <li class="C1"> Mohinder Singh, <i>The Akali Movement.</i> Delhi, 1978<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> </ol><p class="CONT">Major Gurmukh Si&#7749gh (Retd.)<br></p><BR> </font> <img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""> </HTML></BODY>