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28th February |
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| 1712 |
Bahadur Shah died.
A cicil war broke out among his sons. Baba Gurbakhash Singh, alias
Banda Bahadur, took advantage of the situation and appeared once again
in the plains. His first victory was against Islam Khan, the Governor
of Lahore. The next to fall was the zone of Sirhind. But this victory
was again, short lived. |
| 1921 |
Gurudwara Rori
Sahib was forcibly taken over and brought under the control of SGPC.
-Ref. "Babbar Akali Movement, A historical Survey,"
by Dr. Gurcharan Singh, Aman Publications, 1993.
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| 1924a |
2nd Shahidi Jatha
of 500 valiant Akali Satyagrahies, led by Sardar Inder Singh Mirja
(Sialkot), started their march for Gangsar, Jaito from Sri Akal Takhat,
Amritsar. |
| 1924b |
All India Congress
passed resolution, condeming the killings of Sikhs devotees at Gangsar,
Jaito.
==> 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
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| 1925 |
Judgement of Babbar
Akali Case, closely related to the Akali movement was passed. 5 Babbar
Akalis were sentenced to death. |
| 1926 |
7 Babbars are
sentenced to death in the Babbar conspiracy case, supplementary II. |
| 1975 |
Sikhs congregation
from all corners of IK, gathered at the Sikh Temple, Birmigham, protested
against the Anti-Sikhs Policy and passed the following resolution
:
Attention
of the Indian Government, the Defence Minister in particular, and
the Chief of Staff Air/Naval/Army, is drawn to the direct interderence
in the Sikh religion, by court martialing and terminating the services
of persons working in Armed Forces for not tying their beards. The
Sikhs with united beard and leading a sacred and true life according
to their Sikh faith, have a great respect in our society. The Sikhs
never tolerated such discrimination under the Mughal and British
rulers even.
The Indian
Government is requested to stop interference in the religious
matters of the Sikh people in particular, and meet the Sikh demand
that ther services personnel so discharged be re-instated forthwith.
Such likle resolutions
were passed at several Sikh congregations, Sensing the widespread
Sikh resentment, ultimately Government of India agreed to change
its policy to some extent and issed orders directing Sikh recruits
to pledge maintaining unshorn hairs.
-Source. History
of Sikh Struggles, Vol. 1, By Gurmit Singh, Atlantic Publishers
& Distributors, 1989. pp. 62-63 |
| 1982 |
A very strong
police force sieged the border village of Daonke, near Pakistan, in
order to arrest a young Sikh boy. When the boy could not be found,
the sister of the boy was stripped naked and paraded through the streets
of the village. The police threatened that the whole village would
be dealt with in the same way if the boy was not produced the next
day. The next day, before the arrival of the police, all the villagers
crossed the border and entered Pakistan in order to escape the fury
of the brutal policemen of Gharinda police station of the Punjab.
This action was approved by the Punjab Police Chief as well as the
Government of the Punjab. The issue was raised in Parliament. The
villagers returned one week after the incident. |
| 1983 |
More Killings:
At the end of February, 1983, two young Sikhs, Bhajan Singh and Harpal
Singh, were killed by the police in fake encounters. |
| 1993 |
Baba Gurbachan
Singh Manochahal died fighting for Sikh indepedendence. Surrounded
by Indian security forces, this legendary hero preferred death to
surrender.
==> Baba GURBACHAN SINGH MANOCHAHAL: Born on June 6, 1954 at
Manochahal village in Amritsar district, he joined the Indian Army
but left it to join the ranks of Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. After
operation Bluestar he organized an underground Sikh movement for
Khalsitan in the villages around Amritsar and Gurdaspur. In 1986,
he was made the Jathedar of Sri Akal Takhat and in April 1986 he
made a formal anouncement of "Khalistan" from the Darbar
Sahib complex.
baba Manochahal was responsible for the formation of the first
Panthic Committee which guided the underground movement for many
years. In 1987, he formed the "Bhindrawale Tiger Force"
with the cooperation of Bhai Wasson Singh Jaffarwal. However the
two parted ways later and formed separate groups. He had become
a source of terror to the security forces and a refuge to the hopeless
rural folks who suffered atrocities at the hand of police and Government
agencies. He was very popular among the people of Amritsar district
and admired for his humilty and simple living. He lived a stoic
life, always on the move, hounded by India's security forces. The
Government had placed an award of Rs. 25,00,000 on his head.
He scorned Government's offer of surrender saying, "I would
prefer death over surrender." On Feb. 28, 1993, he had his
tryst with destiny on the battlefield - the wish of all warriors.
-Source "World Sikh News," Feb. 28-Mar. 5, 1996.
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