Today in Sikh History :27th March

27th March

==> WHERE IS JAITO? A village under Nabha, which falls on the Bathinda-Ferozpur railway line. It is 96 miles from Lahore and 17 miles from Bathinda.

WHAT IS THE SIGNIFICANCE OF JAITO? On this place situated near a fort, is a historical Gurudwara of Guru Gobind Singh Patshah. Maharaja Hira Singh constructed the beautiful buildings of this Gurudwara. The sarowar is popularly known as "Gangsar". About a mile and a half north of Jaito is "Tibhi Sahib" Gurudwara, where Guru Gobind Singh Patshah used to organize and participate in the evening recitation of Rehras. Both Gurudwaras have extensive land sanctioned to it by the Nabha rulers. Additionally, extensive financial resources are made available on an annual basis from the Nabha rulers and the surrounding villages. A maela celebration is held every 7th of Pooh month (Dec.-Jan.) and Katak (Oct.-Nov.) Puranmashi. Jaito’s markets are well renowned. People come from far distances to buy and sell their herds.

WHY AKALIS COURTED ARREST? The key issue involved was resoration of Maharaja Ripudaman Singh of Nabha. Maharaja of Nabha, well-known for his pro-Tat Khalsa Proclivities, had a dispute with Maharaja of Patiala, known for this pro-government role. Although Maharaja of Nabha had absolutely no dispute with the government, as a result of mediation, he was forced to abdicate in July 1923. Col. Michin, with the help of troops and armoured cars, took the Maharaja by surprise on July 8, 1923 and taunted him with the query, "Where is that Akali?" The news of deposition by the government raised a strom of protest against the Government’s interefernce in Nabha and was decsribed as a challenge to the Akali movement. As a result tensions mounted. The Akalis, in defiance of state orders, continued to hold diwan indefinitely. The Nabha police in order to arrest all the Akalis, including the one reading the holy Granth Sahib, was said to have disrupted the Akhand Path on Sept. 14, 1923. This dispute took such a tragic shape and got so inflames by Feb. 21, 1924 that several people lost their lives. After sixteen shaheedi jathas apart from one from Bengal and another from Canada, the agitation process was completed two years later, on August 6, 1925, after the concurrent bhog of 101 Akand Paaths.
-Ref. Mahan Kosh
– "The Sikhs in History," by Sangat Singh, 1995

Sir Stafford Cripps in his talks with the delegation spelled out the various stages for minority protection satisfactory to the Sikhs, including "the sub-division of the Punjab into two provinces or the setting up within the provincs of the Punjab of a semi-autonomous district for the Sikhs on the Soviet model," or even a "Treaty which would be negotiated contemporaneously with the framing of the constitution" offering "minority protection caluses in accordance with the definition set out in the document." In the context of "non-accession by plebiscite" in the Punjab, he talked of the Sikhs playing the Congress against the Muslim League and seeking more concessions for withr party including "division of the province or seeting up of a semi-autonomous district." The British could be relied upon to satisfactorily "insist upon protection for the Sikh minority." Cripps also made it clear that the British could practically do nothing once the successor Dominion decides upon non-observance of its treaty obligations. Hence, the need for the Sikhs to seek iron clad guarantees.

Although Crippsoutlined the guidelines on which the Sikhs should seek satisfaction and pursue their future course of action. It was unfortunate that the Sikh leadership because of inherent limitations failed to comprehend, much less appreciate, the originality and positive content of Cripps propositions.
-Ref. "The Sikhs in History," by Sangat Singh, 1995