JAITO MORCHA(Agitation of Jaiton 21st February)

GURUDWARA SHRI TIBBI SAHIB, GANGSAR JAITO

Jaiton is a small town in Faridkot District of Punjab. It

is located on the Faridkot Bathinda road. Gurdwara

Gurusar dedicated to Guru Gobind Singh is

located towards west of this town. Famous Gurdwara

Tibbi Sahib is located towards east of Jaiton. This

place came to the limelight during the Akali

movement Jaiton da Morcha (agitation of Jaiton). This

movement took place from 1923 to1925.

Ripudaman Singh, Maharaja of Nabha

• Jaiton Morcha was an Akali agitation for the restorationof Maharaja Ripudaman Singh of Nabha (a princely state in thePunjab) to his throne. The Maharaja had strong pro Akalisympathies. He had supported the Guru ka Bagh Morcha. Hestarted donning a black turban as a mark of protest against themassacre of the reformists at Nankana Sahib.

• His contacts with the Indian nationalist leaders had irked theBritish government. He was forced to abdicate in favor of hisminor son, Partap Singh by British Government on July 9 1923.The British officials declared his abdication to be voluntary. TheAkalis and the nationalist leaders condemned it as an act ofhighhandedness of the British Government.

Master Tara Singh

Master Tara Singh denounced the measure and considered it

equivalent to removal of Maharaja Duleep Singh’s from the throne

of the Punjab. A committee was set up to restore the throne of

Maharaja of Nabha. People of Punjab were requested to observe

July 29, 1923 as a day to pray for restoration of the throne of the

Maharaja.

• The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee dispatched a telegram to Lord

Reading, the Viceroy of India on August 2, 1923, challenging the official version

that the Maharaja had voluntarily relinquished his gaddi (throne). The Viceroy was

requested to order an independent enquiry to establish the truth. Three days later,

the committee passed a resolution asking its executive committee to carry on a

peaceful campaign to restore Maharaja Ripudaman Singh back on the throne of

Nabha. A Nabha government ordinance prohibiting public discussion of the issue

was defied by the Sikhs. They started convening meetings to condemn the

deposition of the Maharaja.

• Following a public march, a divan (congregation) was held at Jaito (locatedin Nabha territory) on August 25, 1923. During this congregation, sympathies wereexpressed to the Maharaja and the government action was strongly condemned.Nabha state authorities arrested the organizers of the divan on August 27. Thedivan was originally scheduled to conclude on August 27, but the arrests made bypolice provoked the Akalis to continue it indefinitely. They started a series ofakhand paths (continuous recitations of the Guru Granth Sahib). The police mademore arrests on September 14, 1923. During arrest, the police displaced thegranthi sitting at an akhand path and replaced him with their own reader,Atma Singh. The sacrilege committed by the police created a great commotionamong the Sikhs.

• The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee condemned this action on September 29.The committee declared its determination to obtain the Sikhs’ right to free worship.

• The government denied that the akhand path was interrupted. The jathas (group ofvoluntary Sikhs) kept pouring in at Jaiton. The Secretary of State requested the Viceroy tostop to the Akali operation by arrest and prosecution of all the organizers as abettors. As aresult, the Punjab Government declared both the Shiromani GurdwaraParbandhak Committee and the Shiromam Akali Dal as unlawful associations. All the 60members of the interim Shiromani Committee were arrested on charges of treason againstthe King. Akali jathas were stopped to enter Nabha territory. Volunteers were arrested,beaten by police and left off in distant deserts areas without food or water.

The Martyr’s Group during Jaiton da Morcha

To intensify the agitation, the Akalis increased the size of the

jathas. 500 Akalis marched from the Akal Takht On February 9

1924. They received unprecedented welcome in villages and towns

through which they passed. S. Zimand, a New York Times

correspondent who witnessed the jatha on the march, observed

thatThe Jatha was moving in perfect order and non violence with

large crowds of public on its right and left, five Nishan Sahibs in

the front and Guru Granth in the middle. The jatha reached

Bargari (a village on Nabha Faridkot border, located at a distance

of about 10 km from Jaito) on 20 February 1924.

• The Nabha administrator, Wilson Johnston took position with a large force at a distanceof about 150 meters from Gurdwara Tibbi Sahib. The jatha marched towards the Gurdwaraon February 21. The volunteers refused to obey the instructions of Wilson Johnston to stopand disperse. The administrator ordered the army to open fire. In two volleys of fire lastingabout five minutes, several volunteers died. The official estimate of the casualties was 19dead and 29 injured. The Akali figures were much higher.

• The firing on the peaceful jatha of Akalis caused resentment throughout the country.Another 500 volunteers Shahidi jatha left Amritsar for Jaito on February 28, 1924. It wastaken into custody on March 14. Thirteen more 500 volunteers’ jathas reached Jaito andcourted arrest. Sikh jathas also came from Canada, Hong Kong and Shanghai to join thecampaign.

• The Governor of the Punjab, Sir Malcolm Hailey, tried the policy of creatinga schism in the community by creating parallel Sikh Sudhar Committeesrepresenting moderate and pro government sections. A 101 strong jatha wasallowed to perform an akhand path at Jaito. But this did not conciliate thegeneral Sikh opinion. It also did not affect the tempo of the agitation. Onthe issue that the Akalis were allowed to perform an akhand path at Jaito, thegovernment was prepared to start negotiations through PanditMadan Mohan Malviya and Bhai Jodh Singh. But, it was adamant on thequestion of making restitution to the deposed Maharaja of his state.

• In the meantime, the Punjab Government introduced in the Legislative

Council the Sikh Gurudwaras Bill. It was unanimously passed on July 7,

1925. After the bill was passed, Sir Malcolm Hailey, Governor of the Punjab,

announced during his speech to the Punjab Legislative Council that the

Administrator of Nabha would permit the bands of pilgrims to precede for

religious worship to Gurdwara Gangsar at Jaito. The announcement was

followed by the release of most of the Akali prisoners. The Akalis started a

series of 101 Akhand Path recitations. It was concluded on August 6, 1925.