ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>GUJJAR SI&#7748GH (1879-1975)</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="GUJJAR,SIDGH,Person,Person"> <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">&#65279GUJJAR SI&#7748GH (1879-1975), prominent <u>Gh</u>adr leader, was born in 1879, the son of Sh&#257m Si&#7749gh of Bhakn&#257 Kal&#257&#7749, in Amritsar district. He served in the 4th Cavalry for six years. In 1909, he migrated to Shanghai (China) and got himself enlisted in the police. In 1913, the <u>Gh</u>adr party's weekly, the <i><u>Gh</u>adr</i>, came to Shanghai through the <i>granth&#299</i> of the local Gurdw&#257r&#257, who handed over the packet to the police. Somehow a copy came into Gujjar Si&#7749gh's hands. He read it avidly and he read it repeatedly to his friends. The <i><u>Gh</u>adr</i> awakened in him the urge to serve the motherland. He collected 100 dollars and sent them to the Yug&#257ntar &#256shram in San Francisco as his contribution. He arranged to receive the <i><u>Gh</u>adr</i> in a bundle through a Japanese merchant and distributed copies among fellow Indians by night.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Bh&#257&#299 Sundar Si&#7749gh and Dr Mathur&#257 Si&#7749gh travelled to Shanghai to activate the Indian. inhabitants. Gujjar Si&#7749gh, along with B&#257b&#257 Vas&#257kh&#257 Si&#7749gh, took a leading part in organizing a <u>Gh</u>adr group. He started addressing weekly meetings of Indians at the Shanghai Gurdw&#257r&#257. The <i><u>Gh</u>adr</i> paper was read to the audience and they were exhorted to help India get rid of the foreign yoke and establish a system of government based on equality, liberty and fraternity. Because of his work for the <u>Gh</u>adr movement, Gujjar Si&#7749gh was removed from the police department.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; On the outbreak of World War I, Gujjar Si&#7749gh responded to the call of the <u>Gh</u>adr party for Indians to march to India. He bought some pistols in Shanghai and concealed them under false bottoms of buckets and boxes, and succeeded in smuggling these into India via Hong Kong and Penang. He returned to India in October 1914 in the first group which reached Calcutta after the <i>Komagata Maru</i>. He did some preparatory work for the party until the arrival of the main body of the <u>Gh</u>adr group from America. Their first meeting in the M&#257jh&#257 region was held on 13 October 1914 under Gujjar Si&#7749gh's guidance. He was elected a member of the party's central committee in India. Accompanied by Kart&#257r Si&#7749gh Sar&#257bh&#257 and Harn&#257m Si&#7749gh Si&#257lko&#7789&#299, he met Mah&#257tm&#257 G&#257ndh&#299 and asked for help which was denied. He attended the next meeting of the party on the occasion of the am&#257vas fair at Tarn T&#257ran on 17 November 1914. He was arrested at the fair but was soon released.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; He was again arrested at Chhehar&#7789&#257 railway station. The trial court records the date of his arrest as 18 November 1914. He was coerced into revealing the details of political activities of Indians in Shanghai. He was tried in the first Lahore conspiracy case, but was acquitted, re-arrested soon after and again tried in Lahore conspiracy case II (1916). This time he was convicted and sentenced to transportation for life, with forefeiture of property. He was serving his term in Haz&#257r&#299 B&#257<u>gh</u> jail in Bih&#257r, when he in a most daring feat escaped from custody along with 17 of his comrades. He was re-arrested and kept successively in jail in Haz&#257r&#299 B&#257<u>gh</u>, Madr&#257s and Pu&#7751e. In Pu&#7751e jail, he sat afasting to assert his right to wearing <i>kachhahir&#257</i> (drawers) as prescribed in the <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 code. He made a bid to escape from jail, but did not succeed this time. From Pu&#7751e he was shifted to Lahore and was released in 1930 on completion of his sentence. He returned to his village, Bhakn&#257, and continued to take part in social and political activities.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Gujjar Si&#7749gh died on 6 September 1975.</p> </font> <p class="BIB"> BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1"><li class="C1"> Sai&#7749sar&#257, Gurcharan Si&#7749gh, <i><u>Gh</u>adr P&#257r&#7789&#299 d&#257 Itih&#257s</i>, part I. Jalandhar, 1969<BR> <li class="C1"> Jagj&#299t Si&#7749gh, <i><u>Gh</u>adr P&#257r&#7789&#299 Lahir</i>. Delhi, 1979<BR> <li class="C1"> Jas, Jasvant Si&#7749gh, <i>B&#257b&#257 Gurdit Si&#7749gh (K&#257m&#257g&#257&#7789&#257 M&#257r&#363</i>). Jalandhar, 1970<BR> <li class="C1"> Mohan, Kamlesh, <i>Militant Nationalism in the Punjab, 1919-1935 </i>. Delhi, 1985<BR> </ol><p class="CONT">Gurdev Si&#7749gh Deol<br></p><BR> </font> <img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""> </HTML></BODY>