ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>SHAH&#298DGAÑJ AGITATION (1935-40)</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="SHAH*DGAÑJ,AGITATION,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">&#65279SHAH&#298DGAÑJ AGITATION (1935-40) marked culmination of the tussle between Sikh and Muslim communities in the Punjab for the possession of a sacred site in Lahore upon which stood Gurdw&#257r&#257 Shah&#299dgañj (<i>shah&#299d</i> = martyr, <i>gañj</i> = hoard, treasure or mart) in memory of Sikh martyrs of the eighteenth century and which the Muslims claimed as having been the location of an historic Islamic site. The Gurdw&#257r&#257 is located in La&#7751&#7693&#257 B&#257z&#257r midway between the Lahore railway station and the Delhi Gate at the site known earlier as Na<u>kh</u>&#257s (Persian <i>na<u>khkh</u>&#257s</i>, meaning a marketplace for the sale of captives, horses and cattle taken as war prize). This was the place where thousands of Sikhs, including the celebrated Bh&#257&#299 T&#257r&#363 Si&#7749gh, and about 3,000 captives of the Chho&#7789&#257 Ghall&#363gh&#257r&#257 campaign (1746) were executed or tortured to death. Here Mu'in ul-Mulk (M&#299r Mann&#363, in Sikh chronicles), governor of Lahore during 1748-53, raised a building shaped like a mosque sitting where the <i>muft&#299s</i>, Muslim judges, gave their summary judgements after giving their victims a straight choice between conversion to Islam and death. Almost invariably the victims chose the latter. Close by was the place where Sikh women and children were kept in narrow cells to meet slow death through hard labour and starvation. The Na<u>kh</u>&#257s, long soaked with the blood of martyrs, became for the Sikhs a sacred spot and, after they came into power in Punjab during the 1760's, they established a <i>gurdw&#257r&#257</i> there which they named Shah&#299dgañj. Since then it had remained in the possession of the Sikhs as a sacred place. Soon after the annexation of the Punjab to the British empire, one N&#363r Muhammad filed a case in 1850 for the reversion of the "mosque" to him as its rightful owner, but it was turned down as the court was not convinced of the genuineness of the claim. Similar claims raised in 1854 and 1883 were also dismissed on the ground that the place was no longer a mosque but a <i>gurdw&#257r&#257</i>. According to the Punjab Government Gazette Notification No 275, dated 22 December 1927, the shrine was listed as Gurdw&#257r&#257 Shah&#299dgañj Bh&#257&#299 T&#257r&#363 Si&#7749gh. The Muslims again contested the Sikhs' claim to their "mosque" but the Sikh Gurdw&#257r&#257 Tribunal, established under the Sikh Gurdw&#257r&#257s Act, 1925, in its judgement dated 20 January 1930 determined that the place was the property of Gurdw&#257r&#257 Bh&#257&#299 T&#257r&#363 Si&#7749gh. The Muslims went in appeal, but the Lahore High Court in 1934 upheld the verdict of the Gurdw&#257r&#257 Tribunal. The local Gurdw&#257r&#257 Prabandhak Committee, Lahore, got possession of the Shah&#299dgañj in March 1935 and decided to replace the old mosque-like building with a new one. The bulk of the clearing work having been completed by 7 June 1935, the demolition of the old building was taken in hand on 8 June. It continued uninterrupted for 20 days, but on 29 June a Muslim mob tried to enter the premises and, although they were successfully checked by the inmates, the Deputy Commissioner of Lahore, Mr S. Prat&#257b, stayed further demolition. The political climate in the country was already charged with communal passions aroused by the Communal Award of 1932. The Sikhs, considering that, after the decision of the courts in their favour, the reconstruction of the Gurdw&#257r&#257 was their natural and legal right, resumed the demolition on 8 July despite the stay order. This was resented by the Muslims, but the government did not use force to prevent the demolition, forth a reason that the "Sikhs in taking this action were not committing any criminal offence." In fact Sikh leaders had asked many Ak&#257l&#299s to leave the city and sent out instructions to different centres not to send any more volunteers to Lahore. The tension did mount, but Lahore remained free from any communal incidents. On 2 December the government passed a general restrictive order under Arms Act, 1878, banning the carrying of swords and <i>kirp&#257n</i>. The Sikhs resented the restriction on <i>kirp&#257n</i> which was one of their religious symbols, and launched an agitation against the ban on 1 January 1936. The ban was withdrawn on 31 January 1936.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Meanwhile, the Muslims had filed, on 30 October 1935, a fresh suit for the possession of the Shah&#299dgañj "Mosque". Though the suit was dismissed on 25 May 1936, an appeal was filed in the High Court. The Shah&#299dgañj issue temporarily receded into the background partly owing to the impending elections to the Punjab Legislative Assembly under the Government of India Act, 1935. In April 1937 the Unionist party representing sections of Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs formed the ministry under Sir Sikandar Hay&#257t <u>Kh</u>&#257n, who claiming his ministry to be neutral in character, made it clear to the Muslims that their claim in the Shah&#299dgañj case could not be accepted arbitrarily. He promised to strive for an amicable settlement of the problem and appealed to the parties to the dispute not to do anything which might worsen the communal situation in the Punjab. The Shiroma&#7751&#299 Gurdw&#257r&#257 Parbandhak Committee, an elected body representing the Sikh people, unanimously passed a resolution at its meeting held on 10 11 March 1938 affirming that no compromise was possible on what it considered a vital religious issue. Meanwhile, the legal battle continued. The Muslims' appeal filed in the High Court was dismissed on 26 January 1938, and a further appeal to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council met with the same fate on 2 May 1940. This virtually ended the dispute.</p> </font> <p class="BIB"> BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1"><li class="C1"> Ganda Singh, ed., <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"> Tuteja, K.L., <i>Sikh Politics</i>. Kurukshetra, 1984<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 Singh, <i>Shiroma&#7751&#299 Gurdw&#257r&#257 Prabandhak Committee d&#257 Pañj&#257h S&#257l&#257 Itih&#257s</i>. Amritsar, 1982<BR> </ol><p class="CONT">K. L. &#7788u&#7789ej&#257<br></p><BR> </font><img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""></HTML></BODY>