ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>JAITO (30º-26'N, 74º-53'E)</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="JAITO"> <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">&#65279JAITO (30º-26'N, 74º-53'E), now a flourishing market town in Far&#299dko&#7789 district, became in 1923 the scene of a long-drawn agitation launched by the Shiroma&#7751&#299 Ak&#257l&#299 Dal roused by the forced abdication of the Sikh Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 of N&#257bh&#257. The campaign followed the interruption by the N&#257bh&#257 state authorities of the <i>akha&#7751&#7693 p&#257&#7789h</i> or continuous recitation of the Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib started at Jaito, which lay in the deposed Mah&#257r&#257j&#257's territory, to express sympathy for him. Jaito now has three <i>gurdw&#257r&#257s</i> of historical importance.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;GURDW&#256R&#256 GA&#7748GSAR S&#256HIB P&#256TSH&#256H&#298 X, close to the old Jaito village, commemorates the site visited by Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh who arrived here in December 1705 from Ko&#7789 Kap&#363r&#257. The modest old building was replaced by a higher one by Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 H&#299r&#257 Si&#7749gh, N&#257bh&#257 (1843-1911), renovated since through <i>k&#257r-sev&#257</i> by the successors of Sant Gurmukh Si&#7749gh. The Gurdw&#257r&#257 derives its name from the adjacent <i>sarovar, Ga&#7749gsar</i>. Here was interrupted on 14 September 1923 an <i>akha&#7751&#7693 p&#257&#7789h</i> for Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 Ripudaman Si&#7749gh, the deposed ruler of N&#257bh&#257. Successful conclusion of the two-year agitation protesting against the interruption of the <i>akha&#7751&#7693 p&#257&#7789h</i> was celebrated with the holding in the Gurdw&#257r&#257 recital of a series of 101 <i>akha&#7751&#7693 p&#257&#7789hs</i> from 21 July to 6 August 1925. The Gurdw&#257r&#257 is endowed with 70 acres of land and is administered by the Shiroma&#7751&#299 Gurdw&#257r&#257 Parbandhak Committee through a local committee, which also manages the other two <i>gurdw&#257r&#257s</i> in Jaito. A special religious <i>d&#299v&#257n</i> takes place on the 21st of February every year to commemorate the martyrs who fell in the firing on Ak&#257l&#299 volunteers marching peacefully on 21 February 1924.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;GURDW&#256R&#256 &#7788IBB&#298 S&#256HIB is situated on the sandy mound consecrated by Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh's visit in 1705. It was from this vantage point that during the Jaito agitation the peaceful <i>jath&#257</i> of 500 Sikhs was fired upon. Twenty-one of them were killed, besides many wounded. Yet the <i>jath&#257</i> went on undeterred and reached Gurdw&#257r&#257 &#7788ibb&#299 S&#257hib, where it was beaten up by police and taken into custody. The present building constructed during the 1980's by the successors of Sant Gurmukh Si&#7749gh is a high-ceilinged hall inside a walled compound, with the sanctum at the far end.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;GURDW&#256R&#256 A&#7748G&#298&#7788H&#256 S&#256HIB, half a kilometre south of Gurdw&#257r&#257 Ga&#7749gsar S&#257hib, was built on the site where those who fell martyrs in the firing on 21 February 1924 were cremated.</p> </font> <p class="BIB"> BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1"><li class="C1"> T&#257r&#257 Si&#7749gh, <i>Sr&#299 Gur T&#299rath Sa&#7749grahi</i>. Amritsar, n.d.<BR> <li class="C1"> &#7788h&#257kar Si&#7749gh, Gi&#257n&#299, <i>Sr&#299 Gurdu&#257re Darshan</i>. Amritsar, 1923<BR> <li class="C1"> Gi&#257n Si&#7749gh, Gi&#257n&#299, <i>Tw&#257r&#299<u>kh</u> Gurdu&#257ri&#257&#7749</i>. Amritsar, n.d.<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>