MARTYRS OF GURU KA BAGH SAHIB MORCHA, AMRITSAR (AUGUST 8, 2024)                          

At Gurdwara Guru Ka Bagh Sahib which is situated in village Ghookewali, Tehsil Ajnala, District Amritsar about 20 kms north of Amritsar, there are two historical Gurdwara Sahibs within the main complex, commemorating respectively Sri Guru Arjan Dev Ji's visit in 1585 and Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahib's visit in 1664. Guru Ka Bagh Sahib is laid out on the site of a bagh (garden) which gave the place its name. 

Like most other Gurdwara Sahibs, the management of these two Gurdwaras had passed into the hands of Mahants or abbots belonging to the monastic order of Udasi Sikhs. In Morcha

Guru Ka Bagh Sahib the capacity of Sikhs for suffering and resistance was further put to trial. The Singh Sabha movement during the last quarter of the 19th century led the Sikh Community to revolt against the maladministration of Mahants and their immoral activities. The protest of the Sikhs reached its highest point in the opening decades of the 20th century which culminated in the Gurdwara Reform or Akali Movement of 1920-1926.

Gurdwara Guru Ka Bagh Sahib became one of the major campaigns in the Sikh's agitation in the early 1920s for the reformation of their holy places. As mentioned earlier like all other Gurdwara Sahibs the management of these two Gurdwara Sahibs had passed into the hands of Mahants or abbots belonging to the monastic order of Udasi Sikhs. During the Sikh rule the grants and jagirs attached to these two Gurdwaras and the offerings of the devotees made the custodians wealthy and prone to luxury and squander the resources. In 1921, Mahant Sunder Das Udasi was the Mahant of Guru Ka Bagh Sahib. He did not care for his religious duties and was indifferent to his ecclestical duties and lived a dissolute life squandering the resources of Gurdwara Sahib. The reformist Sikhs wanted to save this holy Shrine from being occupied by him. 

On January 31, 1921 under mutual negotiations with the Sikhs, Mahant Sunder Das signed a formal agreement and promised to dissociate himself with the Gurdwara Sahib. He promised to change his way of life and receive the rites of Khalsa initiation. He parted with his mistresses except one whom he honourably married. He made over the shrine to the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee and agreed to serve under the eleven-member committee appointed by the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee. But seeing that the British Government was supporting the Mahants under the fear that if the Gurdwara Sahibs are handed over to the Sikhs they would create a threat to their political power Mahant Sunder Das repudiated part of his agreement and objected to the Sikhs cutting down the firewood for the langer (Community Kitchen). He said that though he had surrendered the Gurdwara Sahib to the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee the piece of land known as Guru Ka Bagh attached to it was still his property. On August 7, 1921, the police willing to oblige him arrested five Sikhs on charges of trespassing. These arrests were not made on Sunder Das' complaint, but on a confidential report received by the police from the Government officials. The next day these Sikhs were hurriedly tried and sentenced to six months rigorous imprisonment. This fact sparked off the agitation and the Shirmani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee decided to send every day a batch of five Sikhs to cut firewood from the grove of the trees on the land of Guru Ka Bagh Sahib and court arrest if prevented from doing so. 

From August 22, 1921, the police began to arrest jathas on charges of theft, riot and criminal trespassing. The British Government was behind the activities of police. These arrests gave a fillip to the movement and more and more Sikhs came forward to join the protest. 

The atrocities on peaceful protesters started on August 25, 1922, The SGPC set up a temporary hospital for the injured near the Guru Ka Bagh Morcha site. 

On August 25, 1921 on Amavas (on Monday), the gathering of Sikhs was so huge that Sam Beatty, Additional Superintendent of Police ordered the police to disperse the gathering by a Laathi Charge (beating with canes). The Government violence led the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee to increase the size of the Jathas. On August 26, 1921 the Deputy Commissioner of Amritsar issued warrants for the arrest of eight members of the Executive Committee of Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee. 

On August 26, 1921 the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee appointed a Council of Action headed by Teja Singh Samundri who took over the charge of Akali Morcha. The British Government banned the assembling of people at Guru Ka Bagh Sahib and police pickets were posted on roads and bridges to intercept volunteers coming towards Amritsar. From August 31, the number of volunteers was raised to 100. Every day a batch of 100 volunteers would start from Akal Takht Sahib, Amritsar pledged to suffer their fate silently. Inspite of this Jathas of Black-turbaned Akalis chanting the sacred hymns reached the spot every day to be mercilessly beaten by the police until they fell to the ground. This happened everyday. Political leaders, social workers and reporters came to witness what was described as an ideally non-violent protest. A.L. Verges an American prepared cinematographer a film of the proceedings of the campaign's, exclusive pictures under the caption 'India's Martyrdom'.

C.F. Andrews (1871-1940) an English missionary and educationist visited Guru Ka Bagh Sahib and saw it and put it as follows: "Hundreds of Christs being crucified". He sent to the Press a detailed note on what he witnessed on September 12, 1922. 

The News Report 

"Close to the entrance there was a reader of Scripture who was holding a very large congregation of worshippers silent as they were seated on the ground before him. In another quarter there were attendants who were preparing the simple evening meal for the Gurdwara Sahib's guests by grinding the flour between two large stones. 

There was no sign that the actual beating had just begun and that the sufferers had already endured the showers of blows, but when I asked one of them he told me that the beating was now taking place. On hearing this news I at once went forward. There were some hundreds present seated on the ground watching what was going on in front, their faces strained with agony. I watched their faces first of all before I turned corner of a building itself and reached a spot where I could see the beating itself. There was not a cry raised from the spectators but the lips of very many of them were moving in prayer. When I reached the Gurdwara at Guru Ka Bagh Sahib itself I was struck at once by the absence of excitement such as I had expected to find among so great a crowd of people.

"...There were four Akali Sikhs with their black turbans facing a band of about a dozen policemen, including two English officers. They were perfectly still and did not move further forward. Their hands were placed together is prayer and it was clear that they were praying. Then, without the slightest protection on their part, an Englishman lunged forward the head of his latha which was bound with brats. He urged it forward in such a way that his first which held the staff struck the Akali said, who was praying, just at the collar bone with great force. They had walked slowly up to the line of the police just before I had arrived and they were standing silently in front of them at about a yard's distance. They were perfectly still and did not move further forward. Their hands were placed together in prayer and it was clear that they were praying. Then without the slightest provocation on their part, an Englishman lunged forward the head of his lathi (staff) which was bound with brass. He lunged it forward in such a way that his fist which held the staff struck the Akali Sikh, who was praying, just at the collar-bone with great force. It looked the most cowardly blow as I saw it struck..."

"It was a sight which I never wish to see again. A sight incredible to an Englishman. There were four Akali Sikhs with black turbans facing a band of about a dozen policemen, including two English officers. They were perfectly still and did not more further forward. Their hands were placed together in prayer and it was clear that they were praying. Then without the slightest provocation on their part, an Englishman lunged forward the head of his lathi which was bound with brass. He lunged it in such a way that his fist which held the staff struck the Akali Sikh, who was praying just as the collar bone with great force. It looked the most cowardly blow I saw it struck." 

C.F. Andrews who visited Amritsar gave a graphic description of the passive resistance of the

Akalis in the accounts he wrote. "When I reached the Gurudwara (Guru Ka Bagh) itself I, was struck at once by the absence of excitement such I had expected to find among so great a crowd of people". "Close to the entrance there was a reader of the scripture who was holding a very large segregation of worshippers silent as they were seated on the ground before him. In another quarter there were attendants who were preparing the simple evening meal for the Gurdwara Sahib's guests by grinding the flour between two large stores. There was no sign that the actual beats had just began and that the sufferers had already endured the shower of blows. 

The blow which I saw was sufficient to fell the Akali Sikh send him to ground. He rolled rover and slowly got up once more, and faced the same punishment over again. Time after time one of the four who had gone forward laid prostrate by repeated blows, now from the English officer and now from the police who were under his control. The others were knocked out more quickly. I saw with my own eyes one of these police kick in the stomach of the Sikh who stood helplessly before him. For when one of the Akali Sikhs had been hurled to the ground and lying prostrate, a police sepoy stamped with foot upon him, using his full weight, the foot struck the prostrate man between the neck and the shoulder. 

The vow they had made to God was kept. I saw no act, no look, of defiance. It was true martyrdom act of faith, a true deed of devotion to God. They believe intensely that their right to cut wood in the garden of the Guru which was an immemorial religious right. 

The police would stop them on the way and stile them with heavy brass-bound stiles and rifle butts. The belabouring continued until the batch lay prostrate to a man. The Sikhs displayed unique powers of self control and resolution, and bore the bodily or meet in a spirit of complete resignation. None of them winced or raised his hand. These arrest were not made on Sunder Dass's complaint but on a confidential report received by the police. 

Undeterred by this action of the government, Sikhs continued the old practice of the hewing word and from Guru Ka Bagh Sahib for the daily requirement of the community kitchen. The process of arrests and convictions providing of little avail, police tried a new technique to terrorize the reformists. Those who came to cut firewood from Guru Ka Bagh were beaten up in a merciless manner until they laid senseless on the ground. 

They were dragged about by their hair and feet contemptuously off when the police thought they had been served well enough. The Sikhs suffered all this stoically and went in larger numbers day by day to submit themselves for the beating. From August 31, the number was raised to 100. Everyday a batch of 100 volunteers would start from the Akal Takht Sahib and pledge to suffer their fate silently. 

The Police would stop them on the way and smite them with heavy brass-bound sticks and rifle butts."

"I saw with my own eyes one of these police kick in the stomach of a Sikh who stood helplessly before him. It was a blow so foul that I could hardly restrain myself from crying out aloud and rushing forward. But later on I was to see another act which was, if anything, even fouler still. For when one of the Akali Sikhs had been hurled to the ground and was lying prostrate, a police sepoy stamped with his foot upon him, using his full weight the foot struck the prostrate man between the neck and the shoulder.." The brutality and inhumanity and the whole scene was indescribably increased by the fact that the new who were hit were praying to God and had already taken a vow that they would remain silent and peaceful in word and deed......."

"There has been something a greater in this event than a mere dispute about land and property. It has gone for beyond the technical questions of legal possession or distrait. A new war heroism, learnt though suffering has arisen in the land. A new lesson in word warfare has seen taught to the world."

"One thing I have not mentioned which was significant of all that I have written concerning the spirit of the suffering endured. It was very rarely that I witnessed any Akali Singh, who went forward to suffer, finch from a blow when it was struck. Apart from the instinct ion and involuntary reaction of the soulless that has the appearance of a slight shrinking back, there was nothing, so far as I can remember, that could be called a deliberate avoiding of the blows struck. The blows were received one by one without resistance of without a sign of fear."

Beating Stopped

Sir Edward Maclagan, Lt-Governor of the Punjab, visited Guru Ka Bagh Sahib on 13 September 1922. Under his orders, the beating of the volunteers was stopped. Mass arrests, imprisonments, heavy fines and attachment of properties were resorted to. 

Here I saw it with my own eyes one of these police kick in the stomach of a Sikh who stood helplessly before him. It was a slow so foul that I could hardly restrain myself from crying out aloud and his forward, But later on I was to the another act which was, it anything even fouler still. For when are of the Akali Sikhs had been hurled to the ground and was lying prostrate, and police sepoy stamped with his foot upon him using his full weight, the foot struck the prostrate between the neck and the shoulder.." ..... "The brutality and inhumanity and the whole scene was indescribably increased by the fact that the new who were hit were praying to God and had already taken a vow that they would remain silent and peaceful in word and deed".

The Morcha Succeeds

Governor of the Punjab, visited Guru Ka Bagh Sahib on 13 September 1922. Under his order, the beating of the volunteers was stopped. Mass arrests, imprisonments, heavy fines and attachment of properties were resorted to. In the first week of October, the Governor General Lord Reading held discussions with the Governor of the Punjab at Shimla to find a way out of the impasse. The good offices of a wealthy retired engineer, Sir Ganga Ram, were utilized to resolve the situation. 

Sir Ganga Ram acquired on lease, on 17 November 1922, 524 canals and 12 marlas of the garden land from Mahant Sundar Das, and allowed the Akalis access to it. On 27 April 1923, Punjab Government issued orders for the release of the prisoners. Thus ended the morcha of Guru Ka Bagh in which, according to Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee records, 5,605 Sikhs went to jail. 

In Sikh religion Ardas has evolved over a long period of time and in this process every new incident relating to sacrifice by the Sikhs is included. The incidents of tortures and martyrdom of Sikhs which occurred during the 18th century have been added in this Ardas (prayer). As such the deeds of heroism and sacrifice of Sikhs are recounted every morning and evening by the Sikhs in their Ardas (prayer) which is recited after Nit Nem (daily prayer) as well as when any task is initiated. Ardas is also recited for the uninterrupted conclusion of this task. Ardas is also recited at the conclusion of family, public and religious functions.

Ardas may be performed, individually or in congregation.

            Earlier the Ardas included:

^"ਜਿਨ੍ਹਾਂਗੁਰਮੁਖਾਂਨ੍ਾਮਿਜਿਆ^, ਵੰਡਕੇਛਜਕਆ^, ਧਰਮਹੇਤਸੀਸਜਿਤੇ^, ਚਰਖੜੀਆਂਤੇਚੜਹੇ^, ਬੰਿ੨ਕਟਵਾਏ^, ਿੁਠੀਆਂਖੱਲਾਂਲੁਹਾਈਆਂ, ਖੋਿਰੀਆਂਉਤਵਾਈਆਂ, ਜਸੱਖੀਜਸਿਕਕੇਸਾਂਸਵਾਸਾਂਨ੍ਾਲਜਨ੍ਬਾਜਹਆ, ਗੁਰਿੁਆਜਰਆਂਿੇਸੁਧਾਰਜਹਤਸਰੀਤਰਨ੍ਤਾਰਨ੍ਸਾਜਹਬਿੀ^, ਸਰੀਨ੍ਨ੍ਕਾਣਾਸਾਜਹਬਿੀ^, ਗੁਰੂਕੇਬਾਗ^, ਸਰੀਿੰਿਾਸਾਜਹਬ^, ਗੁਰਿੁਆਰਾਗੰਗਸਰਜਵਖੇਅਸੈਹਤੇਅਕੈਹਕਸ਼ਟਸਹਾਰਿੇਹੋਏਸ਼ਹੀਿਹੋਗਏ, ਜਤਨ੍ਹਾਂਜਸੰਘਜਸੰਘਣੀਆਂਭੁਝੰਗੀਆਂਿੀਕਮਾਈਿਾਜਧਆਨ੍ਧਰਖਾਲਸਾਸਾਜਹਬਬੋਲੋਿੀਵਾਜਹਗੁਰੂ੩ ^...

 Earlier, in this Ardas we paid tribute to the martyrs of Jaito Da Morcha at Gurdwara Gangsar Sahib Patshahi Dasvin. But more recently, for reasons unknown, the portion of Ardas relating to Gangsar Sahib has been deleted. Now it reads as follows:

^“ਜਿਨ੍ਹਾਂਜਸੰਘਾਂਜਸੰਘਣੀਆਂਨ੍ੇਧਰਮਹੇਤਸੀਸਜਿੱਤੇ^, ਬੰਿਬੰਿਕਟਾਏ^, ਖੋਿਰੀਆਂਲੁਹਾਈਆਂ^, ਚਰਖੀਆਂ ^'ਤੇਚੜਹੇ^, ਆਜਰਆਂਨ੍ਾਲਜਚਰਾਏਗਏ, ਗੁਰਿੁਆਜਰਆਂਿੀਸੇਵਾਲਈਕੁਰਬਾਨ੍ੀਆਂਕੀਤੀਆਂ, ਧਰਮਨ੍ਹੀਂਹਾਜਰਆ, ਜਸੱਖੀਕੇਸਾਂਸੁਆਸਾਂਨ੍ਾਲਜਨ੍ਬਾਹੀ^, ਜਤਨ੍ਹਾਂਿੀਕਮਾਈਿਾਜਧਆਨ੍ਧਰਕੇ^, ਖਾਲਸਾਿੀ^' ਬੋਲੋਿੀਵਾਜਹਗੁਰੂ^!...”

Protesters were sent to different jails across the country. Sikhs would offer langar to prisoners at railway stations. On October 29, 1922, station master of Hasan Abdal railway station declined to stop the train which was carrying 400 Sikh prisoners from Guru Ka Bagh Morcha to Attock. Sikhs decided to sit on rail tracks on which the train was coming with Sikh prisoners. Two Sikhs were killed on the tracks while trying to stop the train. The train was stopped and langar was offered. This became another big chapter in Sikh history as Saka Panja Sahib.

          Morcha Guru Ka Bagh Sahib                                    Morcha Guru Ka Bagh Sahib

Morcha Guru Ka Bagh Sahib 

100^thAnniversary of Guru Ka Bagh Sahib Morcha was observed on August 9, 2022. The Sikh community pays tribute to the Martyrs of Morcha Guru Ka Bagh every year on August 8.

Hail the Martyrs of Morcha Guru Ka Bagh Sahib!

References:

1. Pratap Singh, Giani, Gurdwara Sudhar Lahir, Amritsar, 1975
2. Josh, Sohan Singh, Akali Morchian da Itihas, Delhi, 1972
3. Mohinder Singh, The Akali Movement, Delhi, 1978
4. Teja Singh, Gurdwara Reform and the Sikh Awakening, Jalandhar, 1992
5. Sahni, Ruchi Ram, Struggle for Reform in Sikh Shrines, (Ed.) Ganda Singh, Amritsar, n.d. 
6. Harbans Singh, The Heritage of the Sikhs, Delhi, 1983
7. Giani Bhajan Singh's book Sade Shaheed, (1997)
8. Encyclopaedia of Sikhism published by Punjabi University, Patiala, Parts I, II, III and IV 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998.
9. Mahan Kosh by Bhai Kahn Singh Nabha, (1930)

Dr. Amrit Kaur

Retd. Professor

Punjabi University

Patiala, Punjab

India