ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>TEJ&#256 SI&#7748GH SAMUNDR&#298 (1882-1926)</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="TEJ,SIDGH,SAMUNDR*,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">&#65279TEJ&#256 SI&#7748GH SAMUNDR&#298 (1882-1926), a leading figure in the Gurdw&#257r&#257 reform movement, was born the son of Dev&#257 Si&#7749gh and Nand Kaur at R&#257i k&#257 Burj in Tarn T&#257ran <i>tahs&#299l</i> of Amritsar district, on 20 February 1882. On land being assigned to Dev&#257 Si&#7749gh in the S&#257ndal B&#257r tract of <i>tahs&#299l</i> Samundr&#299 of Ly&#257llpur district, he shifted with his family to the newly developed colony. Tej&#257 Si&#7749gh's formal education did not go beyond the primary stage, but he was well-equipped in the Sikh religious and historical texts.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Following in his father's footsteps, he joined the army as a Daf&#257d&#257r in 22 Cavalry. But his army career lasted only three and a half years. He returned to his village, Chak 140 GB, to devote himself to the promotion of religious and social reform in the panth. He became a member of the Chief <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 D&#299w&#257n and helped to establish the <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 D&#299w&#257n Samundr&#299. Later this and other similar societies working in that area were through his initiative knit into a bigger organization called the <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 D&#299w&#257n B&#257r. For the education of children, he established two schools <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 Middle School in his village and Sr&#299 Gur&#363 Gobind Si&#7749gh <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 High School at Sarhal&#299 in Amritsar district. Some more schools were opened under the auspices of the <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 D&#299w&#257n B&#257r.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Tej&#257 Si&#7749gh started taking interest in the Ak&#257l&#299 movement. He was one of the founders of the Sikh daily newspaper, the <i>Ak&#257l&#299</i>. He organized public meetings to protest against the demolition by the government of one of the walls of Gurdw&#257r&#257 Rik&#257bgañj at Delhi and was one of the100 Sikhs who had volunteered to lay down their lives in a bid to have it restored. He was nominated a member of the committee appointed to administer the Nank&#257&#7751&#257 S&#257hib Gurdw&#257r&#257 after the tragic happenings of 1921.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;He was among the founder members of the Shiroma&#7751&#299 Gurdw&#257r&#257. Parbandhak Committee of which he later became Vice-president. He was also Vice-president of the Punjab Congress Committee. From November 1921 to January 1922, he suffered imprisonment for his part in the agitation concerning the keys of the Golden Temple treasury, which had been taken into possession by the government. On 13 October 1923, he was arrested in connection with the Jaito <i>morch&#257</i>. He was among those Ak&#257l&#299 leaders who refused to secure their release by giving government the assurance that they would work by the Sikh Gurdw&#257r&#257 Act passed on 9 July 1925. Sard&#257r Tej&#257 Si&#7749gh died in custody on 17 July 1926 following a heart attack. Among his contemporaries, he was widely esteemed for his qualities of character and dedication and for his talent for organization. The handsome Tej&#257 Si&#7749gh Samundr&#299 Hall in Amritsar, which houses the offices of the Shiroma&#7751&#299 Gurdw&#257r&#257 Parbandhak Committee, today honours his memory.</p> </font> <p class="BIB"> BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1"><li class="C1"> Dard, H&#299r&#257 Si&#7749gh <i>Mer&#299&#257&#7749 Kujh Itih&#257sak Y&#257d&#257&#7749</i>. Jalandhar, 1960<BR> <li class="C1"> Nirañjan Si&#7749gh, <i>J&#299van-Y&#257tr&#257 Master T&#257r&#257 Si&#7749gh</i>. Amritsar, 1968<BR> <li class="C1"> Pi&#257r Si&#7749gh, <i>Tej&#257 Si&#7749gh Samundr&#299</i>. Amritsar, 1975<BR> <li class="C1"> Sahni, Ruchi Ram, <i>Struggle for Reform in Sikh Shrines</i>. Amritsar, n.d.<BR> </ol><p class="CONT">Pi&#257r Si&#7749gh<br></p><BR> </font><img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""></HTML></BODY>