ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>JAITO MORCH&#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="JAITO,MORCH"> <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 MORCH&#256, the name given to the Ak&#257l&#299 agitation for the restoration to his throne of Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 Ripudaman Si&#7749gh of N&#257bh&#257, a Sikh princely state in the Punjab. The Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 had strong pro-Ak&#257l&#299 sympathies and had overtly supported the Gur&#363 k&#257 B&#257<u>gh</u> Morch&#257 and donned a black turban as a mark of protest against the massacre of the reformists at Nank&#257&#7751&#257 S&#257hib. His contacts with the Indian nationalist leaders and involvement in popular causes had irked the British government. On 9 July 1923, he was forced to abdicate in favour of his minor son, Part&#257p Si&#7749gh. Although the British officials pronounced his abdication to be voluntary, the Ak&#257l&#299s and other nationalist sections condemned it as an act of highhandedness on the part of the government. Master T&#257r&#257 Si&#7749gh denounced the measure as equivalent to Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 Duleep Si&#7749gh's removal from the throne of the Punjab. The committee set up to have the Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 of N&#257bh&#257 restored to the <i>gadd&#299</i> appointed 29 July 1923 to be observed in all the principal towns of the Punjab as a day of prayer in his behalf. On 2 August 1923, the Shiroman&#299 Gurdw&#257r&#257 Parbandhak Committee sent a telegram to Lord Reading, the Viceroy of India, challenging the official version that the Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 had relinquished his <i>gadd&#299</i> voluntarily, and seeking an independent enquiry to be instituted. Three days later, it passed a resolution asking its executive committee to carry on a peaceful campaign to have Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 Ripudaman Si&#7749gh reinstalled on the throne of N&#257bh&#257. A N&#257bh&#257 government ordinance prohibiting public discussion of the issue was defied by the Sikhs, who began convening meetings to condemn the deposition of the Mah&#257r&#257j&#257. On 25 August, a <i>d&#299v&#257n</i> was held at Jaito, in N&#257bh&#257 territory, following a public march and resolutions were adopted expressing sympathy with the Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 and condemning government action. On 27 August, N&#257bh&#257 state authorities arrested the organizers of the <i>d&#299v&#257n</i> on charges of delivering "political speeches." The <i>d&#299v&#257n</i> was originally scheduled to conclude on 27 August, but the arrests made by police provoked the Ak&#257l&#299s to continue it indefinitely and to inaugurate a series of <i>akha&#7751&#7693 p&#257&#7789hs</i> or unbroken recitations of the Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib. The police made more arrests and introduced at an <i>akha&#7751&#7693 p&#257&#7789h</i> on 14 September 1923, their own reader, &#256tm&#257 Si&#7749gh, displacing the <i>granth&#299</i> sitting in attendance and reading the holy text. The sacrilege thus committed created a great commotion among the Sikhs. On 29 September the Shiroma&#7751&#299 Gurdw&#257r&#257 Parbandhak Committee condemned the official action. It simultaneously declared its determination to have the Sikhs' right to free worship reaffirmed. The government denied that the <i>akha&#7751&#7693 p&#257&#7789h</i> had been interrupted. Yet the <i>jath&#257s</i> kept pouring in. The Secretary of State directed the Viceroy "to put an effective stop to the Ak&#257l&#299 operation by the arrest and prosecution of all the organizers as abettors." The Punjab Government acting on the directive declared both the Shiroma&#7751&#299 Gurdw&#257r&#257 Parbandhak Committee and the Shiroma&#7751&#299 Ak&#257l&#299 Dal as unlawful associations. All the 60 members of the interim committee of the Shiroma&#7751&#299 Committee were arrested on charges of treason against the King Emperor. Ak&#257l&#299 <i>jath&#257s</i> were stopped on entering N&#257bh&#257 territory, taken into custody and beaten by police. They were then left off in distant deserts without food or water. To intensify the agitation, the Ak&#257l&#299s increased the size of the <i>jath&#257s</i>. On 9 February 1924, 500 Ak&#257l&#299s marched from the Ak&#257l Ta<u>kh</u>t, receiving unprecedented welcome in villages and towns through which they passed. S. Zimand, a <i>New York Times</i> correspondent who witnessed the <i>jath&#257</i> on the march, observed : "The Jatha was moving in perfect order and non-violence with large crowds of public on its right and left, five <i>Nishan S&#257hibs</i> in the front and Guru Granth in the middle."</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;On 20 February 1924, the <i>jath&#257</i> reached Barg&#257&#7771&#299, a village on N&#257bh&#257-Far&#299dko&#7789 border, barely 10 km from Jaito. At Jaito, about 150 metres from Gurdw&#257r&#257 &#7788ibb&#299 S&#257hib, stood the N&#257bh&#257 administrator, Wilson Johnston, with a large force of state constabulary. On 21 February, the <i>jath&#257</i> marched on towards the Gurdw&#257r&#257, refusing to stop or disperse as demanded by Wilson Johnston. The administrator ordered the army to open fire. In two volleys of fire lasting about five minutes, several fell dead. The official estimate of the casualties was 19 dead and 29 injured. The Ak&#257l&#299 figures were much higher. The firing on the peaceful <i>jath&#257</i> of Ak&#257l&#299s caused resentment throughout the country. On 28 February 1924, another 500 strong Sh&#257h&#299d&#299 <i>jath&#257</i> left Amritsar for Jaito where it was taken into custody on 14 March. Thirteen more 500-strong <i>jath&#257s</i> reached Jaito and courted arrest. Sikh <i>jath&#257s</i> also came from Canada, Hong Kong and Shanghai to join the campaign. The Governor of the Punjab, Sir Malcolm Hailey, tried the policy of creating a schism in the community by having parallel Sikh Sudh&#257r Committees representing moderate and pro-government sections. A 101-strong <i>jath&#257</i> was allowed to perform an <i>akha&#7751&#7693 p&#257&#7789h</i> at Jaito. But this did not conciliate the general Sikh opinion, nor did it affect the tempo of the agitation. On the issue of the Ak&#257l&#299s being allowed to perform an <i>akha&#7751&#7693 p&#257&#7789h</i> at Jaito, the government was prepared to start negotiations through Pa&#7751&#7693it Madan Mohan M&#257lv&#299ya and Bh&#257&#299 Jodh Si&#7749gh, but it was adamant on the question of making restitution to the deposed Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 of his state. In the meantime, the Punjab Government introduced in the Legislative Council the Sikh Gurdw&#257r&#257 Bill which was unanimously passed on 7 July 1925. After the bill was passed, Sir Malcolm Hailey, Governor of the Punjab, announced during his speech in the Punjab Legislative Council that the Administrator of N&#257bh&#257 would permit the bands of pilgrims to proceed for religious worship to Gurdw&#257r&#257 Ga&#7749gsar at Jaito. The announcement was followed by the release of most of the Ak&#257l&#299 prisoners arrested in the course of the restrictions on the performance of <i>akha&#7751&#7693 p&#257&#7789h</i> and the Ak&#257l&#299s starting a series of 101 such recitations which was concluded on 6 August 1925.</p> </font> <p class="BIB"> BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1"><li class="C1"> Ganda Singh, <i>Some Confidential Papers of the Akali Movement</i>. Amritsar, 1965<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 Singh. Amritsar, n.d.<BR> <li class="C1"> Harbans Singh, <i>The Heritage of the Sikhs</i>. Delhi, 1983<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"> Josh, Sohan Si&#7749gh, <i>Ak&#257l&#299 Morchi&#257&#7749 d&#257 Itih&#257s</i>. Delhi, 1972<BR> <li class="C1"> Ashok, Shamsher Si&#7749gh, <i>Shiroman&#299 Gurdw&#257r&#257 Prabandhak Committee d&#257 Pañj&#257h S&#257l&#257 Itih&#257s</i>. Amritsar, 1982<BR> </ol><p class="CONT">Mohinder Si&#7749gh<br></p><BR> </font><img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""></HTML></BODY>