ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>&#7788H&#256KAR SI&#7748GH DOCTOR (1885-1945)</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="lHKAR,SIDGH,DOCTOR,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">&#65279&#7788H&#256KAR SI&#7748GH, DOCTOR (1885-1945), a <u>Gh</u>adr activist who also took part in the Ak&#257l&#299 movement of 1920-25, was the son of Sher Si&#7749gh of Ikul&#257h&#257, a village 6 km southwest of Khann&#257 (30º-42'N, 76º-13'E) in Ludhi&#257&#7751&#257 district of the Punjab. He was an undergraduate at <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 College, Amritsar, when he gave up his studies to go to China. He was employed as a sanitary inspector on the Canton-Kowloon railway where his duties included dispensing medicines to sick employees which earned him the popular title of "Doctor".</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The <u>Gh</u>adr movement which took birth on the west coast of the United States and Canada in 1913 soon spread to Asian countries, collectively known as the Far East. &#7788h&#257kar Si&#7749gh was among the first immigrants to join it. He sailed for India at the end of 1914 with the intention of preparing ground for a revolution in the country. Mev&#257 Si&#7749gh another member of the <u>Gh</u>adr party, who had been chief officer of the French Consular Police at Canton had written a letter to Harchand Si&#7749gh of Lyallpur commending &#7788h&#257kar Si&#7749gh to him. This letter was apparently intercepted by government, for on arrival in India &#7788h&#257kar Si&#7749gh was restricted to his village. No certain evidence coming forth against him he was permitted to go to Hong Kong in May 1915. A letter of his written in November 1915 from Canton and addressed to Gi&#257n&#299 Bhagv&#257n Si&#7749gh, <i>granth&#299</i> or scripture-reader at San Francisco and a <u>Gh</u>adr revolutionary, was intercepted. This letter spelt out a plan for a simultaneous outbreak at Ludhi&#257&#7751&#257 and F&#299rozpur and for establishing a state in which all property would be held in common, all necessities of the people supplied and all men trained for military service. Doctor &#7788h&#257kar Si&#7749gh was arrested at Hong Kong and sent to India where he was interned on arrival in October 1915. He was tried at Ludhi&#257&#7751&#257 and sentenced to five years' rigorous imprisonment and a heavy fine. Soon after his release in early 1920, he joined the Ak&#257l&#299 movement for Gurdw&#257r&#257 reform. He was arrested on 18 February 1922 for joining a demonstration against the visit of the Prince of Wales and sentenced to three years' imprisonment and fine in lieu of which a major portion of his land was attached.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;As he reached Amritsar on 30 December 1924 after his release from the M&#299&#257&#7749v&#257l&#299 jail, Doctor &#7789h&#257kar Si&#7749gh was honoured with a <i>sirop&#257</i> or robe of honour at Sr&#299 Ak&#257l Ta<u>kh</u>t. By this time the Jaito <i>morch&#257</i> or agitation in the princely state of N&#257bh&#257 had come into full swing. The Shiroma&#7751&#299 Gurdw&#257r&#257 Parbandhak Committee and Shiroma&#7751&#299 Ak&#257l&#299 Dal had been outlawed. &#7788h&#257kar Si&#7749gh acted as vice-president of Shiroma&#7751&#299 Ak&#257l&#299 Dal from 7 November 1925 to the end of January 1926. He became head of the District Ak&#257l&#299 Jath&#257, Ludhi&#257&#7751&#257, on 23 March 1926. By the end of 1926, most of the Ak&#257l&#299 leaders were released from jail and the Gurdw&#257r&#257 Reform movement had come to an end. Doctor &#7788h&#257kar Si&#7749gh retired from active politics and went to live in R&#257jasth&#257n. He, however, died in his native Ikul&#257h&#257 on 12 August 1945.</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>adar P&#257r&#7789&#299 Itih&#257s</i>. Jalandhar, 1969<BR> <li class="C1"> Jagj&#299t Si&#7749gh, <i><u>Gh</u>adar P&#257r&#7789&#299 Lahir</i>. Delhi, 1979<BR> </ol><p class="CONT">Harbhajan Si&#7749gh Deol<br></p><BR> </font><img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""></HTML></BODY>