ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>&#362DHAM SI&#7748GH N&#256GOKE (1894-1966)</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="jDHAM,SIDGH,NGOKE,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&#362DHAM SI&#7748GH N&#256GOKE (1894-1966), one of the village triumvirate which grew in importance and influence with the years and left its decisive imprint on the modern period of the M&#257jh&#257 country. It shared with two others its name. The trio were Jathed&#257r &#362dham Si&#7749gh N&#257goke, Mohan Si&#7749gh N&#257goke (1896-1969) and Gi&#257n&#299 Kart&#257r Si&#7749gh (1902-1974). All three of them originally belonged to the village of N&#257goke. Gi&#257n&#299 Kart&#257r Si&#7749gh had from among them migrated to the newly developed canal colony of Lyallpur and almost completely identified himself with its concerns. Yet, all three of them were counted among the proud products of N&#257goke.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The senior among them, &#362dham Si&#7749gh, was born in 1894, the son of Bh&#257&#299 Bel&#257 Si&#7749gh and M&#257&#299 Atar Kaur in the fertile village of N&#257goke in Amritsar district. The broad-chested, six-footer, &#362dham Si&#7749gh N&#257goke was born for a career in the army and the army indeed was his first choice. But he stayed in the army only for a very short time. Irked by the strict army regimen, he took out his discharge in 1920.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&#362dham Si&#7749gh N&#257goke and his friends veered over to an active role in Sikh affairs. The Nank&#257&#7751&#257 S&#257hib tragedy of 1921 opened many new doors and many an ambitious youth sought berth in the political arena. &#362dham Si&#7749gh took a special interest in shrine reform. He participated in the Ak&#257l&#299 agitation for the recovery of the keys of the Goden Temple treasury taken away under the orders of the British deputy commissioner of Amritsar. It was counted a signal victory for the Ak&#257l&#299s when the deputy commissioner's representative turned up at the Golden Temple premises to return the bunch of keys tied in a red piece of cloth. &#362dham Si&#7749gh N&#257goke was sentenced to six months in jail and was among the last volunteers to be released in this case. He also joined the Gur&#363 k&#257 B&#257<u>gh</u> agitation and suffered severe police atrocity. During the agitation at Jaito, in the twenties of the century, &#362dham Si&#7749gh was Jathed&#257r of the Ak&#257l Ta<u>kh</u>t and was scheduled to lead the first Shah&#299d&#299 Jath&#257 or the martyrs' column, to the scene of the agitation. But he was arrested on the eve of its departure, on 8 February 1924, and was sent to jail for two years which period of time he spent in Central Jail, M&#363lt&#257n. On his release in 1926, he was again appointed Jathed&#257r of Ak&#257l Ta<u>kh</u>t. By then the Sikh Gurdw&#257r&#257 Act had been placed on the statute book. In the elections held under this Act, he was elected a member of the Shiroma&#7751&#299 Gurdw&#257r&#257 Parbandhak Committee and continued to be elected or coopted to it till 1954. During this time he was a member of the Darb&#257r S&#257hib Committee from 1930 to 1933, and saw the creation of the monumental building Gur&#363 R&#257m D&#257s N&#299v&#257s, the pilgrims' inn. He was elected president of the Shiroma&#7751&#299 Committee in 1948 and again in 1952.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;In 1929, Jathed&#257r &#362dham Si&#7749gh N&#257goke spearheaded Punjab Peasants' protest against the increase in agrarian taxation and was imprisoned for one year. He participated in the civil disobedience movement started by the Indian National Congress and served another year in custody. In 1935, he was elected president of the Shiroma&#7751&#299 Ak&#257l&#299 Dal. The freedom campaign claimed another four years of his life, 1936-39. Another term in jail awaited him in March 1942 under the Defence of India Rules. In the "Quit India" movement he suffered jail for three years.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;After his release at the end of the Second World War, Jathed&#257r N&#257goke was elected to the Punjab Legislative Assembly in 1946. In 1952 he was appointed head of the Bh&#257rat Sev&#257k Sam&#257j, a front organization of the Congress Party, and was elected to the R&#257jya Sabh&#257 in 1953 as a Congress nominee which position he held up to 1960. He was also a member of the Punjab Pradesh Congress executive during this period.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;In 1960 he joined R&#257jagop&#257lach&#257rya's Swatantra Party and headed its Punjab Branch in 1960-61. He served a term in jail in 1960 in the Punjabi S&#363b&#257 agitation.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&#362dham Si&#7749gh N&#257goke was a sure-footed politician, never resiling from the resolve he had once made. He was famous for his ready wit and repartee and for his strong character.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;In 1947, he rendered a unique service to the city of the Golden Temple by keeping at bay a whole angry mob bent on attack and arson. He lost his wife soon after his marriage in the village of &#7692hilv&#257&#7749, district Kap&#363rthal&#257, but he never married again. In spite of his very stout physique, his health deteriorated because of frequent jail going and he died at the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences at Cha&#7751&#7693&#299ga&#7771h on 11 January 1966.</p> </font> <p class="BIB"> BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1"><li class="C1"> Ashok, Shamsher Singh, <i>Shiroma&#7751&#299 Gurdw&#257r&#257 Parbandhak Kame&#7789i d&#257 Pañjah S&#257l&#257 Itih&#257s</i>. Amritsar, 1982<BR> <li class="C1"> Prat&#257p Si&#7749gh, Gi&#257n&#299, <i>Ak&#257l&#299 Lahir de Mah&#257n Net&#257</i>. Amritsar, 1976<BR> <li class="C1"><i>Gurdw&#257r&#257 Sudh&#257r arth&#257t Ak&#257l&#299 Lahir</i>. Amritsar, 1975<BR> </ol><p class="CONT">Gurdi&#257l Si&#7749gh D&#803hillo&#7749<br></p><BR> </font> <img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""> </HTML></BODY>