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MASTER TARA SINGH : A POLITICAL PROFILE

A Dissertation Subm itted to THE PUNJABI UNIVERSITY, p ATI ALA

in partia l fulfilm ent of the requirementsfor the degree of

MASTER OF PHILOSOPHYin

HISTORY1 9 8 8

Supervised by : Subm itted byOR, KIRPAL SINGH BIMLA DfcV!Proi (Retd.)

DEPARTMENT Ob HISTORY PUNJAB! UNIVERSITY, PATIALA.

MASTER TARA SINGH : A POLITICAL PROFILE

/

A Dissertation Subm itted to THE PUNJABI UNIVERSITY, PATIALA

in partia l fu lfilm ent o f the requirementsfo r the degree of

MASTER OF PHILOSOPHYin

HISTORY1 9 8 8

Supervised by :DR. KIRPAL SINGH Prof. (Retd.)

Subm itted by BIMLA DEVI

DEPARTMENT OF HISTORY PUNJABI UNIVERSITY, PATIALA.

T his is to c e r t i f y th a t Shxim ati Bimla Devi has w r it te n her d is s e r ta t io n e n t i t l e d "M aster Tara Singh : A P o l i t i c a l P ro f ile " under my s u p e rv is io n .I t i s her bonafide re sea rch work based la rg e ly on o r ig in a l and contem porary so u rc e s . The d i s s e r ta t io n i s f i t fo r e v a lu a tio n f o r th e degree of M aster of P h ilo sophy .

Form erly P ro fe sso r 8. Head Department of Punjab H is to r ic a l S tu d ie s , Punjabi U n iv e rs i ty ,P a t i a l a .

I

C O N T E N T S

CHAPTE R PAGE

PREFACE ( i )

I EARLY LIFE (1885-1920) 1

I I HISTORICAL MILIEU 18

I I I ROLE OF MASTER TARA SINGH IN 25GURDWARA REFORM MOVEMENT (1921-25)

IV MASTER TARA SINGH'S RELATION WITH 52INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS (1925-1940)

V MASTER TARA SINGH AND PARTITION OF 72PUNJAB(1940-1947)

VI MASTER TARA SINGH AND STRUGGLE FOR 88PUNJABI SUBA (1947-1966)

CONCLUSIONS 114BIBLIOGRAPHY 120

***************

( i )

PREFACE

M aster Tara Singh en joys a g re a t re p u ta tio n among th e S ikhs and he has c o n tr ib u te d a lo t in shaping th e h is to ry o f the land of f iv e r i v e r s . He was my childhood id e a l . I was, th e re fo re , a t t r a c te d towards h is l i f e and wanted to w rite my d is s e r ta t io n about h is l i f e . In c id e n tly my S u p e rv iso r , Dr K irpal Singh a lso suggested me t h i s t o p i c .

In the p re p a ra tio n of th i s th e s is many prim ary sources such as autobiography of l a te M aster Tara S in g h , h is p r iv a te p a p e rs , Government G a z e tte s , f i l e s ly in g in th e N ational A rchives of In d ia , volumes of T ran sfe r of Power. Indian Annual R eg is te r and Encyclopaedia of C o n rress , f i l e s of The T rib u n e . A k a li/A k a li P a t r ik a . e t c . have been c o n su lte d .For c o l le c t in g th e re le v a n t m a te r ia l I had to v i s i t many p laces such as New D e lh i, A m ritsa r, Chandigarh e t c . and had to c o n su lt many l i b r a r i e s such as of N a tio n a l A rchives of In d ia ; S ta te A rchives a t P a t i a l a ; Pan ja b U n iv e rs ity , C handigarh; P unjab i U n iv e rs ity , P a t i a l a ;C en tra l S ta te L ib ra ry , P a t ia la e t c .

y

I am deeply indebted to Dr K irp a l S ingh , myesteemed s u p e rv is o r , fo r h is ungrudging h e lp and guidance in the p re p a ra tio n of p re sen t work. He took

( i i )

g re a t pains in g iv ing me h ig h ly u se fu l su g g estio n s and comments. He has gone th rough th e whole of

an th o ro u g h ly . I t was due to h is ever readyguidance th a t t h i s work could be com pleted.

I am a lso g ra te fu l to Dr A.C. Arora and Dr Y .P. B a ja j . They always encouraged and goaded me to com plete my d i s s e r t a t io n . I f e e l p lea su re in acknowledging th e h e lp and encouragement which I rece iv ed from my fam ily members e s p e c ia l ly my husband D r. Tarlok Singh Anand.

In the end I owe my g ra t i tu d e to a l l of th o se who d i r e c t ly or in d i r e c t ly encouraged, guided and helped me in the com pletion of t h i s work.

(BIMLA ANAND)

CHAPTER - I

EARLY LIFE ( 1885 - 1920)

M aster Tara Singh has played a m ajor ro le in shaping the d e s tin y of Punjab and e s p e c ia l ly the Sikhs in tw e n tie th c e n tu ry . His c o n tr ib u tio n to the p o l i t i c s and r e l ig io n is w idely reco g n ized . Keeping t h i s th in g in mind a contem porary of him sa y s , "The honour and g lo ry th a t has come to th e lo t of M aster Tara S ingh , can be claim ed by very few in th eco u n try ." ^

M aster Tara Singh was bom on June 24, 1885 in v i l la g e 2H a riy a l, T eh sil G ujjarkhan (now a D i s t r i c t ) , D i s t r i c t

Raw alpindi (now in P a k is ta n ) . I t was b a s ic a l ly a v i l la g e of Brahminjds, though th e re were a few households of o th e r c a s te s a ls o . The name of h is f a th e r was Gopi Chand, a

3M alhotra K h a tr i . The g re a t g ran d fa th e r of Gopi Chand, a long tim e ago, s h if te d from th e v i l la g e M urid, D i s t r i c t Raw alpindi and s e t t l e d in H a r iy a l. At th e tim e of the b i r th of T ara S ingh , th e re were about 15 households belong ing to t h i s fa m ily . The name of th e mother of Tara Singh was Moolan Devi

4and she was from th e Sehgal fam ily .

1 . D urlab S ingh, The V alian t F ig h te r (A B iograph ica l Study ofM aster Tara Singh (Lahore, 1942J , p . 14.2 . N iran jan S ingh , J e evan Y atra M aster Tara Singh (P u n jab i)(A m ritsa r, n . d . ) 7 pT $ .3 . I b id . . p , 10.

I b i d . , p . l i .4 .

2

Gopi Chand was a p a tw ari by p ro fe s s io n . He and h isfam ily members were p o p u la rly known as B akshi. Gopi Chandwas known as e ld e r or t r u th f u l B akshi. He was a G od-fearingpexson and he never u t te re d a l i e . So much so th a t i f anybody had a d isp u te even w ith Gopi Chand's younger b ro th e r ,the person concerned would g la d ly accep t Gopi Chand as am ediato r and would a lso accept the d e c is io n given by GopiChand as th e re was no p o s s ib i l i ty of him d e l ib e r a te ly

2fav o u rin g h is own b ro th e r . His mother was a lso a very sim ple and pious lad y . Though she was t o t a l l y i l l i t e r a t eyet she had le a rn t by h ea rt the whole of J a p j i , K irtan S o h ila and many o th e r v e rses from the Holy G ran th , the S ikh

3S c r ip tu r e •The fam ily of Gopi Chand was a Hindu fam ily . T herefo re

th ey named th e i r new bom son as Nanak Chand.* Though th ef a th e r h ig h ly revered and worshipped the Sikh Gurus andGuru G ranth Sahib yet he was not in favour of h im se lf o r h issons becoming S ik h s . On th e o th e r hand in th o se days in

6D han-Puthohar v i l la g e s Sikh r e l ig io n , i t s mode of w orsh ip ,

1 .2 .3 .4 .5 .6 .

I b i d . , p . 10. Idem *I b i d . , p , 11.

k Chand w ab S in g h ,

l a t e r on amed inghc i t . , p. l b .

Phan means the a rea of T ehsil Chakwal, d i s t r i c t Jhelum now in P ak is tan ) and Puthohar means th e a rea between r iv e r Jhelum and r iv e r S indh, th e most of i t ly in g ind i s t r i c t Raw alpindi (now in P ak is tan )D han-Puthoha^is thein g h , Gu r Shabad R atnakar (Mahan K-oshX Punj ( P a t ia la , 1981), JU" - - JBhai Kahan S

C o lle c t iv e ly area from Jhelum to A tto ck . See

3

the sweet voice of i t s r e l ig io u s psalms sung in congregationby men, women and c h ild re n to g e th e r has a t t r a c te d manynon-Sikh fa m ilie s tow ards i t s sublime i d e a l s I n th o se daysa w ell known Sikh p re a c h e r , Sant A tta r S ingh ,^ was g iv in g h isd isc o u rse s in Dhan-Puthohar area* The r e l ig io u s c lim ate*genera ted by th i s g rea t s a in t , l a t e r on, to some e x te n t ,became one of the causes of Nanak Chand* s conversion t o S ikhism .

Nanak Chand was adm itted to the school in a nearbyv i l la g e H am al (about l i m iles from H ariy a l) as th e re was noschool in h is n a tiv e v il la g e * A fte r he got h is prim aryschool e d u c a tio n , h is f a th e r sensing h is in te l l ig e n c e sen t

Ahim to M ission S choo l, Raw alpindi fo r f u r th e r s tu d ie s . Onceduring h o lid ay s when Nanak Chand came to h is v i l la g e he usedto l i s t e n to the Katha (an e x p la in a to ry d isco u rse ) ofPanth Parkasn very a t te n t iv e ly ^ The t a l e s of s a c r i f i c eand f ig h t in g s p i r i t of Sikh w a r r io rs , deeply in flu e n c e dNanak Chand and he decided in h is mind th a t he would become

7a S ikh . But h is f a th e r did not a p p re c ia te t h i s id ea and1 . D urlab S ingh , op. c i t . . p . 16.2 . S an t A tta r Singh (1866—1936) was born in v i l la g e Cheema ofe a rs tw h ile P a t ia la S ta te , he served in army fo r sometimebut l a t e r on re s ig n ed and took to r e l ig io u s p reac h in g . Heb a p tise d thousands of people and brought them to the fo ld of S ikh ism .3 . Gyani Gurcharan S ingh, Ankhl Soorma (P unjab i) ( D e lh i ,n .d . ) ,p . 24 •4 . P r i th ip a l Singh Kapoor, J e ewan Maste r Tara S ingh ( I t ih a s a kPakh Ton) (Punja i ) (Am rTtsar, n .d .T T p . § . r5 . A w ell known book about h is to ry of S ikhs w r it te n W S ard arR attan S ingh. '6 . Tara S ingh, Meri_Yaad (P un jab i) (A m ritsa r, 1945), p . 17.7 . I b i d . , p . 18.

4

w ith th e help of a Brahmin te a c h e r he d iscouraged him(Nanak Chand) to do so . On the o th e r hand Nanak Chand,from h is very ch ildhood , was of very strong mind and whatever he thought was p roper he would do t h a t . So when oncehe decided to become a S ikh , no th ing could d e te r him.

S an t A tta r Singh had a dom inating p e rs o n a li ty andh is s a in t ly mode of l iv in g got him love and honour t h a t was

2akin to w orsh ip . When S an t A tta r Singh was in Dera K halsa, T eh sil Kahuta, D i s t r i c t Rawalpindi (now in P ak is tan ) many people used to go fo r h is d arsh an . One day in the y ear 1900 when Nanak Chand was going to Rawalpindi from h is v i l l a g e he met some young men who were going to Dera K halsa f o r see ing Sant A tta r S in g h . He a lso accompanied them and was b ap tised by Sant A tta r S ingh. While g iv ing am rit to Nanak Chand,S a n t j i made a p ro p h e tic u tte ra n c e which in flu en ced and guided him throughout h is l i f e . The holy s a in t s a id , "Young man, you are no more Nanak Chand; you axe now Tara S in g h . You

3w ill sh ine lik e a s t a r ; h e n c e fo rth , may God help you in f in d in g sa lv a tio n fo r y o u rse lf and your community."^ These words of a noble soul had a la s t in g e f f e c t on the course of l i f e of Tara S in g h .

1 . P r i th ip a l Singh Kapoor, op. c i t . . p . 10.2 . D urlab S ingh , op. c i t . , p . 19.3 . ’T a ra ' l i t e x a l l y means a ’s t a r ’ .4 . D urlab S ingh , op. c i t . , pp. 20-21 .

9

when ingh came oacjt to h is v i l la g e ,

a k lrpan (sw ord), h is f a th e r and h is e ld e r b ro th e r , Ganga Ram became annoyed on see in g him and persuaded him not tobecome a S ikh . His f a th e r even th re a te n e d him by sayingth a t i f he p e rs is te d w ith the id ea he would have to leaveth e house. But Tara Singh was a man andd e fie d a l l the o p p o s itio n . He l e f t h is home p e n n ile s s and s ta r te d walking towards Mandra railw ay s ta t io n . At t h i s s tag e h is mother in te rv en ed and persuaded her e ld e s t son, Ganga Ram, to b ring back Tara S ingh . I t req u ired q u ite an e f f o r t on the p a rt of Ganga Ram in persuading Tara

2Singh no t to leave home. But according ira n ja n Singha younger b ro th e r of M aster Tara S ingh, i t was im m ateria lfo r h isan

an

Chand i f h is son was a Hindu or a Sikh annoyance was due to th i s f a c t th a t

seek perm ission of the fam ily b e fo re3becoming a S ikh . At th a t tim e no one knew th a t conversion

of one youncman, Nanak Chand, would change the course of h i s to r y . G radually no t only h is whole fam ily but manyn e a r and d i s t i n c t r e la t io n s a lso embraced S ikhism . 4

When Tara Singh was a s tuden t of n in th c la s s he lo s t h is f a th e r . Now h is e ld e r b ro th e r , Ganga Singh (p re v io u s lyknown Ganga s ta r te d to look a f t e r the fam ilv1 . P r i th ip a l Singh Kapoor, op. c i t . . p . 11.2 . Idem.3 . N iran jan S ingh, op . c i t . , p . 14.4 . Idem. (Prom inent among th o se were h is b ro th e rs : GangaSTngh, Sant Singh and N iran jan S ingh; t h e i r fa m ilie s and t h e i r in - la w s ) .

6

employed in a o f f ic e at lp in d i and was g e t t in g a1meagre s a la ry of t h i r t y rupees per month. Though he had

to look a f t e r q u ite a b ig fam ily , y e t he loved h is younger b ro th e rs very much and wanted th a t th ey should get good e d u c a tio n . Tara Singh passed h is m a tr ic u la tio n exam ination in 1903 g e tt in g an en v iab le p o s itio n in h is sch o o l. He a lso got a sc h o la rsh ip fo r h is co lleg e e d u c a tio n . Ganga Singhwanted (Tara Singh) to become a d o c to r . Tara Singha f te r appearing in E nterance exam ination t r i e d h is luck fo radmt h e r e . 2

in Medical C o llege , Lahore but he was not s e le c te d B esides, he did not f a i r w ell in the E n terance

Exam ination and was unable to get any sc h o la rsh ip . On theo th e r hand, on recommendation of Bhai Ram Rakha Singh and

Sunder san c tio n ed hima sc h o la rsh ip of rupees e ig h t per month fo r co n tin u in g h is

3s tu d ie s a t K.halsa C o lleg e , A m ritsa r. So he jo in e d KhalsaC o lleg e , Amrit fo r h ic h e r s tu d ie s and rem ained th e re fo rfour y ears t i l l he passed h is Bachelor of A rts exam ination in 1907. During h is s ta y a t K-halsa C o llege , he stood f i r s t in h is c o lle g e in F acu lty of A rts exam ination and got c o lle g e

4s c h o la rsh ip .

1.2 .3 .

Tara S ingh, I b id . , p . 34 Idem.

c i t . , pp. 32-33#

4 . Jasw ant Singh ( e d . ) , M aster Tara Singh: Jeevan Sanaarsh TeUdesh (P un jab i) vA m ritsar,

7

He was not only good a t h is s tu d ie s but was a lso a very good p lay er of hockey and f o o tb a l l . The elem ents of f e a r le s s n e s s and d e te rm in a tio n in h is c h a ra c te r were f u r th e r developed in the p la y - f ie ld s of K halsa C o llege , A m ritsa r.He was n o t a f ra id of any type of in ju ry during th e game and i t was no t easy to b ea t him. He was l ik e a s to n e -w a ll in d e fen ce . T h ere fo re , he was nicknamed 'P a th a r ' (s to n e ) by h is fe llo w s tu d e n ts .

During h is e a r l i e r days in c o lle g e , he was p ro -B r i t is hbecause in h is childhood he heard from h is f a th e r about the

2bravery and good deeds of G eneral N icho lson . According to Tara S in g h , every Sikh studen t t i l l the y ear 1906, was p ro -B r i t is h but the s i tu a t io n changed in 1907. At the end of 1906 and in th e beginning of year 1907, th e re was a b ig a g i ta t io n in Bengal about the p a r t i t io n of Bengal which g ra d u a lly tu rned in to a movement in favour of using indigenous th in g s . This a g i ta t io n ga thered momentum and under i t s in f lu e n c e many s tu d e n ts broke down th e i r la n te rn s and s ta r te d study ing in the d im -lig h t of earthen lamps in L ahore.^

2 . G eneral John N ickolson (1822—57) was bom in I r e la n d . Hejo in e d B r i t is h Army in 1839 and fought in Second Anglo—Sikh War and showed examplary courage. He was muchim pressed by S ikh s o ld ie r s . He prayed a t Akal Bunga,Golden Temple, A m ritsa r. He was p o p u la rly known as ’N ikalSingh among the S ik h s . He d ied in D elhi w hile f ig h t in ga g a in s t re b e ls in 1857. In D e lh i, near K ashm iri C ate th e rewas a park named a f t e r him and th e re was a lso a s t a tu t e of him in th i s p a rk .3 . Tara S ingh, op. c i t . . p . 26.

8

A nother a g i ta t io n which made th e Sikh s tu d e n tsa n t i - B r i t i s h was ag a in s t the new law reg ard in g th e lands inthe d i s t r i c t of L ayalpur. Land A lie n a tio n Act of 1901 wasdesigned to p ro te c t the a g r i c u l tu r i s t s from the c lu tc h e s ofthe m oney-lenders. The Act succeeded in safeguard ing thein t e r e s t s of c u l t iv a to r s though i t did not so lve th e problem

2of r u r a l in d eb ted n ess , but th e immediate cause of a g i ta t io n was th e in tro d u c tio n of a B il l a f f e c t in g th e newly co lon ised lan d s opened by the Chenab C anals. The B il l was passed onth e assum ption th a t land was th e p ro p e rty of the government and th e farm er was mere a te n a n t . This was c o n tra ry to p re v a il in g n o tio n s of peasan t p ro p r ie to r s h ip . P ro v is io n s which caused the most h ea rt-b u rn in g were those which r e s t r i c t e d the r ig h t s of c o lo n ise rs to make w i l l s and denied them th e

3r ig h t to cu t t r e e s on th e i r la n d .A d is tre s s e d p easan try made the prov ince a f e r t i l e

s o i l f o r the seeds of re v o lu t io n . P ro te s t m eetings were o rg an ised . The N a tio n a l p re ss a lso supported the cau se . By March 1907, the atmosphere in the c i t i e s and a f fe c te d c o lo n ie s had become te n s e . A song ’Pagri Sambhal J a t ta * (P e a sa n t, guard th in e tu rban) was on the l ip s of every body. S tu d en ts

1 . Khuswant S ingh , A H isto ry of th e S ik h s , Vol. I I(P r in c e to n , 1966), pp. 154-55.

2 . I b id . . p . 156.3 . I b i d . , pp. 156-57.

9

of K halsa C ollege, A m ritsar staged a h o s t i le dem onstration a t the fa re w e ll v i s i t of the outgoing L ieu tenan t G overnor,S i r C harles h iv a z . Tara S ingh, as a s tu d en t le a d e r , was one of th e o rg a n ise rs of t h i s dem onstra tion . This a g i ta t io n was led by S ard ar A ji t Singh (an uncle of Shaheed-e-Azam Bhagat Singh) and L ala L ajpat R a i. Though w ith the a r r e s t and d e p o rta tio n to Burma of A j i t Singh and L ajpat Rai th i s movement was a lso suppressed by the government ye t i t produced some im portan tr e s u l t s . F i r s t l y , the c o n tro v e rs ia l b i l l was ve toed by

2the Governor G en era l, Lord M into; secondly i t boosted the morale of the people and they began to r e a l i s e th a t i t was no t d i f f i c u l t to succeed in the s tru g g le fo r th e i r r i g h t s . I t moulded the mind of young Sikh s tu d e n ts l ik e Tara S ingh .

Another cause which i n i t i a t e d Tara Singh in to p o l i t i c s and made him anti-Governm ent was th e case of the b u ild in g of K halsa C o lleg e , A m ritsa r. Though the foundation sto n e of K.halsa C ollege A m ritsar was la id down by S i r Jam Broadwood L y a ll , th e L ieu tenen t Governor of Punjab on March 3 , 1892, ye t the foundation stone of i t s main b u ild in g was la id by S i r

4C harles Montgomery Rivaz on November 17, 1904. S a rd a r Dharam

1 . Bakhshish Singh N i j j a r , Panlab Lhder th e B r i t i s h R u le ,(1849-1947), V ol. I I (New 'D elhi, 1 W )" , pp. 19-20.-----2 . Khuswant S ingh, op. c l t . , p . 159.3 . Ganda S ingh, H is to ry of Kh a lsa C o lleae , A m ritsar (A m ritsa r,1949), p .20 .4 . I b i d . , p . 60.

10

Singh of G harjakh, d i s t r i c t Gujranwala was appointed . i t s e n g in e e r . He used to work fo r the c o lle g e w ithou t accep tin gany s a la ry or honorarium from the co lleg e management But*Vir. H i l l , an E ng lish member of the managing committee of K halsa C o llege , A m ritsa r, ob jec ted to th i s s e l f l e s s work of Engineer Dharam Singh and sa id th a t he had no f a i t h in the labour of lo v e . Every S ik h , in c lu d in g S ardar Sunder Singh

the management of Khalsa C o llege wasM a jith ia . f e l t i t butin the hands of the Government. So the man e n tru s te dth i s work to an Englishm an. When the new eng ineer came to th e co lleg e on 10th February , 1907, some s tu d en ts behaved ru d e lytowards him. Under le a d e rsh ip of Inder S ingh somes tu d e n ts threw stones a t him. 1 A ll members of s tu d en t* sbody wore b lack-badges and held a f a s t . Tara Singh was the P re s id e n t of th i s s tu d e n t body which showed i t s s tro n g resen tm ent and in d ig n a tio n ag a in s t the in te r fe re n c e of the E n g lisho f f i c i a l s in the management of the Sikh i n s t i t u t i o n . 2

According to P r i th ip a l Singh Kapoorf Tara S ingh, w ith th e help of h is fe llo w -s tu d e n ts did no t allow the E n g lish Engin to e n te r the co lleg e p rem ises. The P r in c ip a l , a t f i r s t th rea ten ed Tara Singh and then t r i e d to persuade him w ithlo v e , v a in . The m atte r took such a tu rn MaharaJof Nabha had to come Amrits He assu red Tara Singh

1.2.

N iran jan S ingh , op. c i t . , p. 27 D urlab S ingh , op. c i t . , p . 27.

11

t h a t Mr. H ill had no in te n tio n to c r i t i c i s e th e lab o u r of love of Sardar Dharam S ingh . T his a g i ta t io n had a n eg a tiv ee f f e c t . Commissioner and Deputy Commissioner of Lahore were made P resid en t and V ice-P res id en t of co lleg e management com m ittee and se rv ic e s of Bhai Jodh Singh and Headmaster N arain Singh were te rm in a ted but th i s a c tio n of Government hardened the a t t i tu d e of Tara Singh ag a in s t the B r i t i s hGovernment.2

Tara Singh was m arried to Tej Kaur, d au g h te r ofMangal Singh of v i l la g e Dhamial of Raw alpindi d i s t r i c t

in 1904 S ik h s ) ,

3 At th e time ira Singh in

An an (m arriage ceremony of j Kaurjbeing an A m ritdhari

(b a p tise d ) o r no t and on knowing th a t she was n o t , he re fu sedto get m arried . T h e re fo re , Punj (Five Beloved) weresummoned from R aw alpindi, Tej Kaur was b a p tise d by them andthen the m arriage performed 4

In those days under the in flu e n ce Raja prom inent Arya S a m a jis t , young A rya-Sam jis were becoming5 tJeewan-Sewaks ( L i f e - v o lu n te e r s ) , ’ and were p ledging t h e i r1. P r i th ip a l Singh Kapoor, op. c i t . . p . 14.2 . Tara S ingh, o p . c i t . . p . 29.3 . Jaswant Singh ( e d . ) . M aster Tara Singh: Jeewan SanqharashTe Udesh (P un jab i) (A m ritsa r, 1972j , p . ’43.4 . I b i d . , p . 44 .

N iran j an S in g h , op. c i t . , p . 2 b .5 .

0

l i f e f o r th e cause of Arya Sam aj. Tara S ingh was a p r a c t i c a l man w ith a ready and d e c is iv e k ind o f i n t e l l i g e n c e . He though t t h a t i f Arya Sam ajis cou ld do l ik e t h a t th en why cou ld not h e . So he decided th a t he would a lso d e d ic a te h is l i f e f o r th e b e tte rm en t of th e S ik h s . T h e re fo re , he dec ided to im part ed u ca tio n to Sikh m asses and keeping t h i s aim in mind h e , a f t e r g ra d u a tin g from K halsa C o lle g e , A m ritsa r in 1907, jo in e d C e n tra l T ra in in g C o lle g e , Lahore f o r doing S.A.V. So even b e fo re p a ss in g h is ex am in a tio n , he in c o n s u l ta t io n w ith Bishan S ingh and Sunder S ingh p lanned to s t a r t a K halsa School because a t t h a t tim e b e s id e s K halsa C ollege S ch o o l, A m ritsa r th e r e was p n ly one o th e r K halsa School a t G u jran w ala . So a l l of

othem w rote to K halsa Diwan Bar thfct they were w i l l in g to worklon a meagre s a la ry of rupees f i f t e e n p e r month f o r one y e a r i f a K halsa School was opened in t h i s a re a . T h is scheme worked and a school- was s t a r t e d in L a y a llp u r . T ara S ingh p assed h is S.A .V . exam ination in 1908^and as t r a in e d S ik h -g ra d u a te s were n o t e a s i l y a v a i la b le in th o se d ay s ,Tara S in g h , a f r e s h e r , was appo in ted as headm aster of th e schoo l on May 15 , 1908.^ Tara S ingh along w ith h i s o th e r

1 . T ara S ingh , op. c i t . . p . 4 1 .2 * l i t e r a l l y means ju n g le . The a re a around Nankana S a h ib ,b i r th p lace of Guru Nanak Dev, was a lso known as B ar. TheB r i t i s h Government persuaded peop le to c u l t i v a t e t h i s a re a and th u s in h a b ite d i t .3 . N ira n jan S in g h , o p . c i t . . p . 27 .4 . Gyani G urcharan S in g h , op, c i t . . p . 31.

12

13

co lleag u es worked v e ry hard and in few years i t became one of the b e s t i n s t i t u t i o n s in th e d i s t r i c t . This was a su c c e ss fu l v e n tu re . T herefore every Khalsa School which was opened in t h i s d i s t r i c t was opened i n i t i a l l y as a branch of t h i s sc h o o l.^

Due to h is hard work and d e d ic a tio n , Tara Singh enjoyed a g re a t re sp e c t from the e l i t e of the d i s t r i c t and p e r s o n a l i t ie s l ik e S ardar Harchand S ingh , S ardar Bishan Singh S in g h p u ria ,Bhai But a S ingh , S ardar Teja Singh Samundri, S a rd ar Maghar S in g h , Babu T rip a t S ingh, Jamadar Sadhu Singh Bahminwala,S a rd a r Hari Singh Chak 41 , M aster Sunder Singh L a y a llp u r , e tc .

2came v e ry c lo se to him. This nearness re s u l te d in form ation of a group which was p o p u larly known as L y a llp u ri group and which l a t e r on, guided the n a tio n in s ta r t in g a d a i ly newspaperAka 1i Akhbar and in managing the a f f a i r s of A kali P a r ty which was formed su b seq u en tly .

G radually Tara S ingh’s in flu e n c e grew so much in t h i s d i s t r i c t th a t B r i t is h Government, which was a lre ad y su sp ic io u s of him, began to co n s id e r him as a n t i - B r i t i s h . His working as headm aster of Khalsa S choo l, L ya llpu r was a lso no t to th e l ik in g of the governm ent. I t was a common p ra c t ic e in those days th a t once a week every p u b lic se rv an t and every headm aster

1 . N iran jan S ingh , op . c l t .> p . 42 .2 . Jasw ant Singh ( e d . ) , op. c l t . . p . 26.

N iran jan S ingh , op. c i t . , p . 36.3.

14

of a school had to go to Deputy Commissioner of th e d i s t r i c tand has to submit h is re p o r t to him about h is (h ead m aste r 's )work. But Tara Singh never went to see him. T h e re fo re ,th e Deputy Commissioner of L y a llo u r , Mr. K itchen , wasdeadly a g a in s t him. He was a lso a f r a id of Tara S in g h 's

2growing p o p u la r i ty . As a r e s u l t K halsa S choo l, L yallpur was not granted the governm ent's g ran t which was given toevery p r iv a te school of the d i s t r i c t Comraiwas of t h i s opinion th a t as long as Tara S inrh was headm aster,

3the school would not get any g ra n t . This put the managing committee of the school in a predicam ent because i t was notp o ss ib le Commissioneror to req u es t Tara Singh to leave the i n s t i t u t i o n .

Meanwhile s tru c t io n of a new b u ild in g of s e c r e ta r i a ts ta r te d a f te r the s h i f t in g of the c a p i ta l of In d ia from C a lc u tta to New D elh i in 1911. This s i t e was n ea r

AGurdwara Rakabganj. The resid en ce of Viceroy was a lso very n ea r from th i s new b u ild in g . Government was w orried about the s e c u r ity of Viceroy of In d ia . T herefore in 1914 Government s ta r te d dem olishing the o u te r-w a ll of Gurdwara Rakabganj and a lso passed the o rd e r th a t no v i s i t o r could s ta y

1. N iran jan S ingh, op. c l t . , p . 36.2 . I b id . . pp. 36-37.3 . I b i d . , p . 37.4 . This gurdwara was b u i l t a t a p lace where Lubana S ikhsperform ed l a s t r i t e s of h ead less body of Guru Tegh Bahadur.

in th e gurdwara w ithou t the p r io r perm ission of p o l ic e .In those days S ard ar Sunder Singh M ajith ia was considered

to be the so le le a d e r of S ik h s. Government did take h isconsen t before s t a r t in g th e work of dem olishing but S ard arHarchand Singh L yallpu r and Bhai R andhir S ingh , a w ell knownSikh s a in t , opposed t h i s move and s ta r te d an a g i ta t io n a g a in s tt h i s ac tio n of the Government. A weekly newspaper Khalsa

2was s t a r t e d , only fo r th i s purpose. Government t r i e d to hush up th i s a g i ta t io n through Chief K.halsa Diwan. I t a lso s ta te d th a t i t did no t want to demolish the w all but wanted only to b u ild a new b e a u tifu l boundry w all of the gurdw ara.

3I t even announced to give 30 muraba land to the gurdwara but a l l th e se e f f o r t s of the Government could not s to p a g i ta t io n

4by S a rd a r Harchand S ingh . Government thought th a t he was no t alone and Tara Singh alongw ith h is L y a llp u ri group

5was a t h is back. I t s su sp ic io n was not unfounded. T herefore a f t e r th i s in c id e n t the a t t t i t u d e of B r i t i s h Government tow ards Tara Singh hardened. I t a lso tig h ten e d the p o s itio n

1 . N iran jan S ingh, op. c i t . , p . 37 .2 . I b id . . p . 38.3 . Muraba was a measure of la n d . In some areas i t was of£6 a c re s w hile a t o th e r p la ce s i t was of 25 a c r e s .4 . N iran jan S ingh, op. c i t . , p . 38 .5 . Idem.6 . Idem.

16

of th e management of K halsa S choo l, L y a llp u r because i t was q u ite a d i f f i c u l t ta s k to in v i t e the wrabh of Government. A fte r g iv in g a deep thought to the wholeof s i tu a t io n Tara Singh was lowed to re s ig n as headm asterof th e school and was persuaded to go to England as aS e c re ta ry of a gurdwara in London. <V«anwhile th e f i r s t World War broke out and government abandoned i t s p lan to dem olishthe w all Rakabganj during the p e rio d of w ar. War a lsopreven ted Tara Singh from going to England. 2

Tara Singh jo in e d Khalsa S chool, K a lla r , T e h s il Guj Ja r khan, d i s t r i c t Rawalpindi (now in P ak is tan ) as i t sheadm aster an fo r about th re e y ears 3 TheL y a llp u r group used to f e e l the absence of Tara Singh and wanted him to be a t L y a llp u r. But {.Tara Singh*s jo in in g th e school a t L yallpur was not p o ss ib le due to the h o s t i l e a t t i tu d e of the Government towards Tara S ingh . T herefore i t was decided by the group th a t some s o r t of b u sin ess might be s ta r te d and Tara Singh might be req u ested to c o n tro l th e same.

'JtAS a r e s u l t a Commission Agency was e s ta b lis h e d fo r TaraAS ingh . I t was named 'Bar Shop* and a l l the f r ie n d s of Tara

4Singh were i t s sh a re -h o ld e rs . But Tara Singh d id no t possess a mind s u i ta b le to b u s in e ss . T herefore he could n o t run the

i .2 .3 .4 .

N iran jan S ingh , i b i d . . pp. 38-39 Ib id . . p . 59.I b id . , p . 60.

c i t . , p . 38

17

shop properly* As a r e s u l t of i t , he sa id goodbye tob u sin ess and Jo ined a school a t Chak 41 , d i s t r i c t L y a llp u r

2as headm aster. A fte r sometime he again s h if te d to Khalsa3S choo l, L y a llp u r.These sm all s t i n t s as headm aster of tw o /th ree schools

a t t r ib u te d a s u f f ix or a surname 'M aster* to Tara Singh and throughout h is l i f e he was known as M aster Tara Singh or M a s te r j i .

His experience during h is c o lle g e days and during h is se rv ic e as a headm aster moulded h is bent of mind q u ite a b i t . This e a r ly l i f e made him more determ ined and he re so lv ed to f ig h t f o r the betterm ent of the country and e s p e c ia l ly of the S ik h s .

1 . N lran jan S ingh , op. c i t . , p . 60 .2• Idem•3 . x-bld *. p . 59.

18

CHAPTER - I I HISTORICAL MILIEU

From the days of h is e a r ly childhood Tara Singh possessed the q u a l i t i e s of le a d e rsh ip yet th e course of h is l i f e was shaped by the c ircum stances a ls o . The p o l i t i c a l and r e l ig io u s c o n d itio n s of h is tim es moulded h is frame of mind. T herefore i t i s n ecessary to re -c o n s tru c t th a t h i s to r i c a l m ilie u which provided Tara Singh w ith a conducive atmosphere fo r h is p o l i t i c a l c a re e r .

At the time of b ir th of Tara Singh (1885), Punjab was p o l i t i c a l l y in fe rm e n ta tio n . S ince i t s annexation by th e B r i t i s h in 1849, the province s tru g g led fo r freedom . Beginning w ith the e f f o r t s of Bhai Maharaj Singh7 a much re sp e c te d r e l ig io u s le ad e r of those days, th e province went through v a rio u s s tru g g le s ; sometimes fo r the freedom of S ikh s h r in e s , a t o th e rs fo r independence of country and s t i l l a t o th e rs fo r the p re se rv a tio n of p o l i t i c a l r ig h ts such as freedom of language , r e l ig io n , c u ltu re e tc .

1» His r e a l name was N ihal Singh though he was p o p u la rlyknown as Bhai Maharaj S ingh . He was a d is c ip le of of Baba Bir Singh of Naurangabad. Like many o th e rs he openly expressed h is sympathy w ith J in d a n , w ife of M ahaiaja R a n jit S ingh . He was a r re s te d by th e o rder of the R esident but escaped from custody . He eluded th e p o lic e and addressed la rg e m eetings in C en tra l Punjab, ex h o rtin g th e people to r i s e and expel the F erin g h ee . L a te r on he s ta r te d a f u l l fledged g u e r i l la war a g a in s t th e E ast In d ia Company, but was cap tured by the B r i t i s h Army and was deported to S ingapore where he was given s o l i t a r y confinem ent in a p riso n t i l l h is death (Ju ly 5 , 1856).

19

The f i r s t m ajor p o l i t i c a l movement in Punjab was th e emergence of the Namdhari sec t* The main p o in ts of Namdhari Movement were:

i ) Boycott of Government s e rv ic e ;i i ) boycott of ed u c a tio n a l i n s t i t u t i o n s run by B r i t i s hGovernment;

i i i ) boyco tt of laws e s ta b lis h e d by the B r i t i s h Government;iv ) boyco tt of fo re ig n c lo th and o th e r fo re ig n goods; andv) d isobed ience of such Government o rd ers which one’sconscience did no t approve. 1Thus the p r in c ip le of b o y c o tt, Swadeshi and non­

co o p era tio n which Mahatma Gandhi used so su c c e s s fu lly in ourfreedom s tru g g le l a t e r on , were expounded by Baba Ram S ingh ,

2the founder of Namdhari movement. But the Namdhari movement, which could have changed the p o l i t i c a l s e t up of th e prov ince and country died a pre-m ature death ^44441444X4 as the

3B r i t i s h Government suppressed the movement m e rc i le s s ly .Baba Ram Singh d ied in 1885 in e x i l e . I t co in c id ed w ith

th e b i r th of Ind ian N a tio n a l Congress as w ell as Tara S ingh.At th a t time Punjab was passing through a p erio d of so c io ­r e l ig io u s reform movements such as th e Singh Sabha, the

1. K arta r S ingh, S ikh I t l h a s . P a r t I I (P unjab i) (A m ritsa r,1961), p . 237.““2 . Khuswant S ingh , op. c i t . , p . 138.3 . Fauja S ingh, Who’s Who Punjab F reedom F ight e r s . Vol. I( P a t ia la , 1972), Forward p . XVl.~4 . Report of th e C iv il Surgeon, M ergui, No. 99, dated November29, 1885. Vide Home Ju d ic ia l-A P rogs. 252-53 of December 1885 as quoted by M.M. A hluw alia in Kukas (Bombay, 1965), p . 169.

« I iW |U\S

JU j ckW7

.S © cjLo - f\JL & j£JL

y^k.

Arya Samaj* the A n jum an-l-Islam ia , e t c . A major se c tio n of e l i t e and a f f l u e n t /p o l i t i c a l l i f e a ls o . I t i s s a id th a t th e se movements proved to be the n u rs e r ie s fo r many a p o l i t i c a l le a d e rs of th e co u n try .

In 1907 a major p o l i t i c a l movement was launched in1Punjab ag a in s t the curbs on p e a sa n try . The movement proved

su c c e ss fu l as the c o n tro v e rs ia l b i l l was vetoed by th e2Governor G en era l, Lord M into. I t a lso boosted th e m orale

of th e people and they began to r e a l i s e th a t i t was no t# Od i f f i c u l t to succeed in the s tru g g le fo r th e i r r i g h t s .

Between 1907 and 1914, Punjab was a ground fo r a c t i v i t i e s of the r e v o lu t io n a r ie s . One o f the m ajor happenings of t h i s period was the murderous a tta c k on the Viceroy Lord Hardinge on December 23, 1912. In 1913, In d ian s s e t t l e d in United S ta te s of America whom were m ostly P u n ja b is , formed the Ghadr P a rty w ith Baba Sohan Singh Bhakna (1870-1968) as i t s founder P re s id e n t and Lala Hardyal (1884-1939) as i t s

4Genexal S e c re ta ry . I t s ta r te d i t s a n t i - B r i t i s h propaganda

1 . S upra , pp. S 'l2 .3 .

5 .C . M it ta l . Freedom Movement in Punjab (1905-29)(D elh i, 1 9 7 6 ),"p , 53.Jag d ish Saran Sharma, In d ia Sin ce the Adven t of the B r i t i s h ( A D esc rip tiv e C hronology), (Del&i , 1970), p . 177.Sohan Singh Jo sh , 3aba Sohan Sinch Bhakhna: L ife th eFounder of the Ghadr P a rty (few D e lh i, 1970), p .

4 .

21

through i t s organ Ghadr which was p u b lish ed in P u n ja b i, Urdu, Hindi and G u jra t i I t c a l le d upon the In d ian peopleto f ig h t fo r freedom a g a in s t fo re ig n r u le . I t t r i e d to c re a te r e b e l l io n in Ind ia and s ta r te d sending i t s members to In d ia .T h is movement was v io le n t lyy e t i t awakened in Punjab a s p i r i t of n a tio n a lism . fosuppress th i s movement B r i t is h Government enacted Acts l ik e

2Defence of Realm Act which fo rced these people to r e t i r e to v i l la g e s and in h id ing they c a r r ie d on th e i r re v o lu tio n a ry work. They a lso gave an impetus to Sikh resu rg an ce .

In 1914, the Komagata Maiu in c id e n t took p la c e . I t was a l l about the hardsh ips and h u m ilia tio n s s u f fe re d by about 500 Ind ian workers (m ainly P un jab is) who had u n su c c e ss fu lly

3t r i e d to get im m igration in Canada. The Government of Canadare fu se d them perm issio r to land in Canada and when th ese workersreached In d ia , they were f i r e d upon and those who su rv ived were4taken p r is o n e rs . The b ru ta l Komagata Maiu in c id e n t though unconnected w ith Chadr movement ye t i t had a la s t in g e f f e c ton the minds of G h a d rite s . Therefore i t was decided to send re v o lu t io n a r ie s to In d ia so th a t a re v o lt could be12

3

p . XX.Fauja Singh ( e d . ) ,I t was passed in 1914 w ith a view to ren d erin g reco u rse tom a rtia l law unnecessary . I t empowered the ex ecu tiv e toex e rc ise a l l such r e s t r a i n t s and a l l such in te r fe re n c e w ithcommon law r ig h t s as might be deemed ad v isab le in thein te r e s t of the s t a t e . Brendon, A D ic tionaxv of B r i t i s h H is to ry (D e lh i, 1983), p . 159. ------------------ ----------------Harbans S ingh , H eritag ep . 262.LKhuswant S ingh , opr. c i t . , p . 181.

the S ikhs (New D e lh i , 1982),4 .

22

o rg an ised in Indian Army. T heir p lan was le a k e d .2 T herefore they had to s u f f e r h e a v ily . The r e b e l l io n was m e rc ile s s ly put down but the attem pt of the G h ad rite s im pressed upon the Sikhs th a t the a u th o r i ty of th e Government

3could be cha llenged .Meanwhile the F i r s t World Wax broke out in 1914.

Punjab i s o ld ie r s fought on a l l the f ro n ts of w ar.4 Due toth e i r c o n tr ib u tio n in men and m a te r ia l to the war; P w ja b isexpected to be s p e c ia l ly rewarded fo r t h e i r s e rv ic e s a f t e rth e war but c o n tra ry to i t they were i l l t r e a te d by th ea u th o r i t i e s . They were t r e a te d as coijmion r u s t i c s and not ash e r^ o es . R e s tr ic t iv e measures adopted during th e war werenot w ithdraw n. Some o th e r f a c to r s a lso added to t h e i rm ise r ie s ! such as:

i ) The summer monsoon f a i le d ;i i ) The cost of liv in g rose h ig h er than ev er b e fo re ;

i i i ) The ra b i h a rv es t was ex trem ely meagre;iv ) Urban popu la tion was h i t by th e im p o sitio n of asp e c ia l incom e-tax ; andv) An epidemic of in flu e n z a took a heavy t o l l of l i f e andby the end of 1918 over 1 ,00 ,000 P un jab is had succumbed to t h i s d is e a s e . 5On the o th e r hand Government 'rew ard ed ' In d ian s by6passing Rowlatt Act which in tended to combat re v o lu tio n a ry 1

1. Harbans S ingh , op. c l t . . p . 204.2 . Khuswant S in g h , op. c l t . . p . 184.3 . K.L. T u te ja , Sik h P o l i t i c s (K urukshetra , 1984), p . 14.D4 . Khuswant S ingh , > p» 160.5 . I b id . « pp. 163-64.6 . The B il l became a law in March 1919.

s p i r i t . The d r a s t ic changes proposed in the b i l l were summed up in the slogan *na d a l l l , na v a k i l , na apeal 1 (no argum ent, no law yer, no a p p e a l) . P ro te s t r a l l i e s a g a in s tt h i s law were held in v a rio u s c i t i e s Punjab G eneralFi.E.H. Dyer was sen t to A m ritsar to curb the d i s s e n t . He proclaim ed a s ta te of emergency and d ec la red a l l th e m eetings i l l e g a l . Meanwhile a meeting had a lread y been announced a t J a llia n w a la Bagh on B aisakhi day. On the B aisakhi day a la rg e number of people gathered in J a ll ia n w a laBagh. W ithout g iving any to the people to d is p e rs e ,

_ IG eneral Dyer opened f i r e and thus k i l le d hundreds of p eo p le . 1People throughout the s t a te became r e s t l e s s . As a r e s u l t of Ucurfew was f i r s t A m ritsar and then in L ahore,

2G ujranw ala, L yallpur and G u jra t . S tr ik e s and b la c k - f la g dem onstra tions took p lace a t various p la c e s . B rid g es , ch u rch es, p o s t-o f f ic e s e t c . were b u rn t. Government p ro p e rty was damaged and w hite men were a s s a u lte d . U ltim a te ly army took o v er. Under the m il i ta ry ru le a t r o c i t i e s were committed on the people and n e a r ly twelve hundred persons were k i l le d

3during the m a rtia l law . While the country was busy in condemning th i s most b ru ta l a c t io n , Arur S ingh, the Governm ent-appointed Sarbrah (Manager) of the Golden Temple,

1.2 .

Khuswant S in g h ,Idem.

. c i t . . p . 164

3 . I b i d . , p . 166.

24

A m ritsa r, honoured the G eneral Dyer by g iv ing a Saropa (Kobe of honour).

The uneasy calm which p re v a ile d a f t e r th i s m assacre gave b i r th to a r e l ig io u s movement. I t was a s tru g g le fo r reform in Sikh sh r in e s under the c o n tro l of a c e n t r a l agency. On O ctober 12,1920 a meeting was c a l le d by the te a c h e rs ands tu d e n ts of K,halsa C o llege , A m ritsar under the au sp ices ofKhal 2B aradari in J a llia n w a la Bagh. Thus the p u b lic ofA m ritsar was roused from i t s p o l i t i c a l slum ber. There p re s e n ta t iv e s of the S ik h s , who su ffe re d a t J a ll ia n w a laBagh were a lso p re sen t in th i s m eeting . The anguish of S ikhs

Government channelised in the form of a reformmovement about Sikh sh rin e s and gurdw aras. In t h i s m eeting speeches were made fo r l ib e ra t in g th e gurdwaras from th e c lu tc h e s of the Mahants.

Thus gurdwara reform movement was s t a r t e d . M aster Tara Singh a lso Jo ined th i s a g i ta t io n . I n i t i a l l y he took s ix months leave from h is school and then l e f t h is Job anddevoted h is whole time fo r Gurdwara Reform Movement. 3

1. Ian C olvin , L ife of G eneral Dyer (London, 1931).2 . S u rinder Singh Jo h a r , The H eritag e of A m ritsar (D e lh i,

1978), p . 104.3 . His ro le in Curdwara Reform Movement w i l l be d iscussedIn the C hapter H I .

25

CHAPTER - I I IROLE OF MASTER TARA SINGH IN GURDWARA REFORM

MOVEMENT t 1921-25.)

Soon a f te r the J a ll ia n w a la Bagh m assacre, a r e l ig io u s movement in Punjab was s ta r te d by Sikhs in 1920 which i s known as Gurdwara Reform Movement. As we have m entioned e a r l i e r , M aster Tara Singh took an a c tiv e p a r t in th i s movement. But befo re we d iscu ss the ro le played by him in the t h i s movement i t w i l l be d e s ira b le to d isc u ss the background.

A Gurdwara (Sikh p lace of w orship) i s an in te g r a l p a r t of r e l ig io u s , p o l i t i c a l and s o c ia l l i f e of the S ikhs because a gurdwara is more than J u s t a p lace of w orsh ip . I t i s a lso a sch o o l, a meeting p lace and a r e s t house. T herefo re the p roper maintenance of gurdwaras is e s s e n t ia l f o r the S ik h s . H is to r ic a l ly speaking th e re has been a continuous quest in th e Sikh panth th a t the p laces of th e i r w orship should remainin the hands of those who are answ erable to the S ikh s an gat (cong rega tion ) as a w hole.

During th e ru le of Maharaja Ran j i t S ingh, th egurdwaras were managed by Mahants who were u su a lly2Udasis and who were under the c o n tro l of lo c a l co n g reg a tio n s .

1 . Gyani P artap S ingh, Gurdwara Sudhar A rtha t A kali Lehar(Punjabi) ( A r r i t s a r , 1951), p . 24. "*2 . ’U dasi’ is a S ikh m issionary o rd e r . I t was founded byBaba S r i Chand, a son of Guru Nanak Dev.3 . K ailash Chander G u la t i , A k alis P ast and P resen t(New D e lh i, 1982), p . 24.

26

A fte r the death of M aharaja R a n jit S ingh, the a d m in is tra tio n of gurdwaras d is jo in te d and g ra d u a lly Mahants became independent of the c o n tro l of s a n q a t. During th e 18th and 19th c e n tu r ie s as more and more lands and J a q ir s were a ttach ed w ith most of the im portan t gurdwaras , th e o f f ic e of the p r i e s t was converted in to a fam ily a f f a i r andthe in s t i t u t i o n of the h e re d ita ry m ahantship had come to

2s ta y . G radually some of th ese p r i e s t s s ta r te d Hindu forms of w orship in gurdw aras; id o ls of Hindu gods were in s ta l l e d in them and the p r ie s t s d id no t s t r i c t l y observed the S ikh

3sym bols. Even com plaints of debauchery, co rru p tio n and ex travagance ag a in s t some of these mahants became common.

Moreover a f te r th e annexation of Punjab in 1849, in o rd e r to in c rease i t s in flu en ce over th e S ik h s , B r i t i s hGovernment took over the a d m in is tra tio n of t h e i r fo u r major gurdwaras (known as T akhts) a t A m ritsa r, Anandpur S ah ib ,

5P atna and Nander. At a m eeting he ld on December 22, 1859 under the chairm anship of Deputy Commissioner, A m ritsa r, i t was decided to e n tru s t the management of the Golden Temple to a committee of n ine members. This committee was dropped1. Bakhshish Singh N i j j a r , op. c l t . . p . 48 .2 . M.L. Ahluwalia (ed » ). S e le c t Documents; Gurdwara ReformMovement: 1919-1925 (New D e lh i, 19857T3. K ailash Chander G u la t i , op. c l t . . p . 24.4 . G.R. S e th i , S ikh S tru g g le fo r Gurdwara Reform(A m ritsar, 19^7), p . 4 .

K ailash ChanderkKhuswant S ingh , clt.,

c i t . , p . 24. 195.

• +

V

in 1881 and in stead* a manager was appointed by th eDeputy Commissioner, A m ritsa r, who became the so le au th o rity .'* -But th e re was no p roper co n tro l manage As ar e s u l t he became ir re s p o n s ib le and began in d u lg in g in immoral a c ts . Therefore the sacred p lace of w orship was soon converted in to a den of Vice and s in . The co n d itio n of many o th e r im portant gurdwaras was not much d i f f e r e n t .The Singh Sabha movement and w estern education brought to the Sikhs the new awakening and they s ta r te d a gurdwara reform movement. There were a number of reaso n s to s t a r t such a movement. F i r s t was the co n g reg a tio n a lc h a ra c te r of the S ik h s . an is suprem e.T herefore the co n tro l of gurdwaras by in d iv id u a ls (m ahants) was n o t accep tab le to S ik h s. Secondly, the bad c h a ra c te r of mahants compelled the S ikhs to l i b e r a t e t h e i r ho ly p laces from th e c lu tch es of such v ice men. T h ird ly , gurdwaras are an e s s e n t ia l p a r t of d a ily l i f e of S ik h s . The c o n tro l of mahants deprived the S ikhs from ta k in g the f u l l b e n e f i t of gurdwaras in t h e i r day to day l i f e . F o u r th ly , p o l i t i c a l awakening brought by w estern education of the S ikhs a lso encouraged them to tak e c o n tro l of t h e i r ho ly p la c e s .

1. S u rin d e r Singh Jo h a r , op. c i t . , p . 102

28

I t no t on ly made them know about th e i r r ig h t s but a lso showed them the way to achieve them. F i f th ly , Sikhism i s a c& teless r e l ig io n but the mahants prevented schedule c a s te s from e n te r in g and w orshipping in gurdw aras.The common Sikhs a lso did no t l ik e th i s a t t i tu d e of the p r i e s t s . I t was a lso thought th a t i f the gurdwaras came under th e c o n tro l of S ik h s, then the income of gurdwaras could be used fo r r e l ig io u s , ed u ca tio n a l and economic u p l i f t of the S ikh m asses.

Besides th ese gen era l causes th e re were a lso some immediate reaso n s which were as under:

Ai ) C o n flic t of Gurdwara FiakabganJ ,i i ) c o n f l ic t of H ansli (A canal) which provided w aterf o r the sacred s arovar (tank) of Golden Tem ple.In s te a d of p rov id ing water to the sa ro v ar from the H ansli b u i l t by Mahatma Santokh Dass and P ritam Dass long before the es tab lish m en t of B r i t is h Government, th e Deputy Commissioner of A m ritsa r, Mr. K ing, decided in A ugust, 1914 to provide w ater to the sa ro v ar through a tu b e -w e ll . The Sikhs were a g i ta te d a q a in s t t h i s ;i i i ) The cond ition of Sikh p r iso n e rs in J a i l s was d e p lo ra b le .They were no t allowed kangha (comb) in s id e the J a i l and weri a lso fo rced to wear caps in s te a d of tu rb a n s . This was a g a in s t the Sikh p r in c ip le s ; andiv ) Though sword i s a r e l ig io u s symbol of the S ikhs yetth ey were no t allowed to wear a sword. A Sikh was im prisoned due to h is w earing of sword in August 1914.

1 . Gyani P artap S ingh , op. c l t . . pp . 18-27.2 . For d e t a i l s , see su p ra , pp. m-is

29

Chief Khalsa Diwan and Sikh Sangat fought h is case and won i t but th e re was not any c le a r - c u t p o lic y of the Government in t h i s re g a rd . A fte r much a g ita t io n Home Department ( J u d ic ia l ) of Ind ian Government issu ed a n o t i f i c a t io n No. 950 on June 25 , 1914. 1In th o se days Bhai Fateh S ingh , Manager, K halsa S choo l,

Chak Dana, d i s t r i c t L y a llp u r went to Burma fo r r a i s in g fundsf o r th e sch o o l. He was a r re s te d fo r wearing a sword and wasfin e d rupees twenty by a lower c o u r t . S ikhs of Burmademanded freedom in wearing of a sword. Indian Governmentconceded t h i s demand v ide i t s n o t i f i c a t io n No. 2248 datedO ctober 27, 1914. S ikhs © continued t h e i r s tru g g le anddemanded th a t S ikhs would be allowed to wear a sword throughout In d ia . In the end the Ind ian Government v ide i t sn o t i f i c a t io n No. 242 dated May 11, 1917 allowed the S ikhs to

2wear sword in a l l of B r i ta in , In d ia and Burma. Though Government1 . T his N o tif ic a t io n was as under?

"In e x e rc ise of the powers con ferred by S ec tio n 27 of the Indian Arms Act 1878 (XI o f 1878), the Governor G eneral in Council i s p leased to d i r e c t th a t the fo llo w in g amendment s h a l l be made in Ind ian Arms R u les , 1909 namely:In schedule I I a f te r the en try r e la t in g to the United P rovinces of Agra and Oudh th e fo llow ing s h a l l be in s e r te d , namely:The Punjab (K irpans possessed or c a r r ie d by S ikhs) a l l .2 . This N o tif ic a t io n was as under:

In e x e rc ise of the powers con ferred by S ec tio n 27 of th e Indian Arms A ct, 1878, the Governor G enera l in C ouncil i s p leased to d i r e c t th a t the fo llow ing Amendment s h a l l be made in Schedule I I of the Ind ian Arms Rule 1909, as subsequently amended to , nam ely:( i ) In item No. 1 (Area B r i t i s h In d ia ) th e fo llow ings h a l l be added in columns (2) and (3) r e s p e c t iv e ly as e n try no . (x i) Kirpan possessed o r c a rr ie dby S ik h s .( i i ) The e n t r i e s r e f e r r in g to K irpans in item No. 9 ,1 0 ,11 and 16 Arms,U .P .,Pun ja b , Burma ,N.w«F.P. and D elh i P rov ince re s p e c tiv e ly s h a ll be d e le te d .

30

has issu ed n o t i f i c a t io n reg a id in g the freedom to c a rry sword y e t in some p laces Sikh Army men were no t allowed to wear swords and many of them were awarded r ig o ro u s im prisonm ent.T h is vague p o licy of Government, even a f te r is s u in g an o t i f i c a t i o n , was of much concern to S ikhs and i t served as a cause of Gurdwara Reform Movement;

Government s ta r te d in te r f e r in g in the management of th e prem ier ed u ca tio n a l i n s t i t u t i o n of th e S ikhs i . e . K halsaC o lleg e , A m ritsa r, t h e i r h e a r t of h e a rt

I t was no t p la ta b le fo r th e S ik h s . Inwanted Government

c o n tro l over the c o lle g e . 1As a r e s u l t of the com bination of above mentioned

v a r io u s f i r s t decade of tw e n tie th cen tu ryabout a g re a t r e l ig io u s an awakening among th eS ikhs and a passion fo r reform . I n i t i a t i v e fo r reform was taken by the Sikh and pro-S ikh new spapers. The prom inent among those being A kali which was s ta r te d by th e a lread ym entioned L y a llp u ri group 3 In r e a l i t y t h i s newspaper wasre sp o n s ib le fo r the s t a r t in g of Gurdwara Reform Movement. 4

1 . Gyani P artap S ingh , op . c i t . . pp . 28-36.2 . Mohinder S ingh , A kali Movement (D elh i: 1978), p . 15.3 . N iran jan S ingh, op . c i t . . pp . 64-65 .

I b i d . , p . 65.4 .

31

Alongwith the Sikh p r e s s , the Chief K halsa Diwan and the Singh Sabhas in d i f f e r e n t areas a lso made a ttem p ts to seek h e lp from the Government in the p u r i f ic a t io n of S ikh s h r in e s .

In 1906 under the p ressu re from the Singh Sabhas and the Sikh p re s s , the Chief Khalsa Diwan passed a re s o lu tio n

king Govern th a t th e ru le s governing th e managementof th e Golden Temple be so changed as to allow th e Panth ther ig h t to appoint i t s manager and o th e r o f f i c i a l s . But no th ing came out even of t h i s .

On the o ther hand v o lu n tee rs of Singh Sabhas formeda K halsa B radari Dal to promote Sikhism in schedule c a s te s .This Dal o rgan ised a Diwan in J a llia n w a la Bagh fromO ctober 10, 1920 to O ctober 12, 1920. O f f ic ia l s of SinghSabhas, Chief Khalsa Diwan and Khalsa C ollege, A m ritsa r

2a lso p a r t ic ip a te d in i t . On O ctober 12, persons of scheduled c a s te s were b ap tised and a l l the p a r t ic ip a n ts in th e Diwan went to Golden Temple to p ray . But th e p r i e s t s of Golden Temple re fu sed to accept the Karah Parshad o ffe re d by scheduled c a s te s . There was a b i t of ten s io n between th e two s id e s . In the end i t was decided th a t m a tte r should be re fe r re d to Guru G ranth S ah ib . The Holy 3ook when opened and 1

1. N iranjan S ingh , o p . c i t . . p . 71.2 . Idem.

32

r e c i te d had a m iracu lous e f f e c t on th e congregation*The passage s tre s se d th a t ’He (God) re c e iv e s th e low ly in to g race and pu ts them in th e path of r ig h te o u s s e rv ic e . I t p e r ta in e d to the m a tte r of d isp u te and the mahants l e f t th e Harmandir Sahib leav in g i t s possession to th e people assembled th e r e . J u b ila n t people in a shape of v ic to r io u s p rocession went to Akal T akht. A ll the mahants

1

ran away from th e re , a ls o . Then anin Temple to S ardar T eja Singh Bhuchar

2of C e n tra l Majha Diwan ♦ A 25-member committee under th eT a r ta r Singh a lso form ed.3

G radually a l l the gurdwaras a t A m ritsar came under th e c o n tro lof S ikh Sanqat . Then gurdwaras a t Punja Sahib and a t TamTaran was a lso brought under the c o n tro l of the Sikh Sa n q a t.Thus th i s movement gathered a mementum. The lo c a l S ikhss ta r te d tak in g the possession of th e gurdwaras a t t h e i r re s p e c tiv e p la c e s .

A fte r tak ing over th e Golden Temple and a few o th e r gurdw aras, the Sikh refo rm ers f e l t a s tro n g need of a c e n tra l r e p re s e n ta t iv e body f o r t h e i r management. T h ere fo re , a Hukamnama was issued from the Akal Takht summoning a genera l

1 . Idem. (This shabad i s a t page 638 of S r i Guru G ranth Sahj2 . Idem.3 . Sohan Singh Jo sh , Akal i Morchon Ka I t lh a s (H indi)(D elh i: 1974), p . 4 $ . --------------------------

33

assem bly of a l l S ikhs to meet a t A m ritsar on November 15,1920 f o r th e purpose of e le c t in g a re p re s e n ta t iv e committee4of the P an th . 1

In the meantime, the Government became su sp ic io u s of the a c t i v i t i e s of the S ik h s , p r im a rily due to th e d ec is io n of the C en tra l S ikh League in favour of Non-Cooperation .Movement in O ctober, 1920. With th i s o b je c t in mind th a t C e n tra l S ikh League might be p revented from tak in g c o n tro l over Golden Temple and o th e r gurdw aras, the Government formed a p ro v is io n a l committee w ith the he lp of M aharaja of P a t i a la fo r the management of Golden Temple and o th e r gurdw aras, Ju s t two days befo re the m eeting which was scheduled to be held a t Akal T akht.^ S ard ar Harbans Singh A t ta r i was made i t s P re s id e n t and i t co n s is ted m ainly of l o y a l i s t Sikhs

But t h i s committee was not accep tab le to th e S ikhs as i t s members were nominated by the Government w ith o u t c o n su ltin g th e P an th . T herefo re , as was a lready announced, a la rg e m eeting was held a t Akal Takht on November 15, 1920 in which more than ten thousand Sikhs p a r t ic ip a te d . A new o rg a n isa tio n

1. F i le No. 203-04, Home P o l i t i c a l , O ctober 1920,N ationa l A rchives of In d ia (h e r e a f te r given as NAI)2 . F ile No. 74, Home P o l i t i c a l , December 1920, NAI.3 . F i le No. 459, Home P o l i t i c a l , February 1922, NAI.4 . Sohan Singh Jo sh , op. c i t . . p . 51.

F i le No. 459, Home P o l i t i c a l , F eb ruary , 1922, NAI.

34

known as Shirom ani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (h e re a f te r r e f e r r e d to as SGPC) was formed w ith the o b je c t of c o n tro l l in g the Sikh gurdwaras and r e l ig io u s in s t i t u t io n s and to p rov ide

had 175 members belonging to a l l shades of S ikhs and a lso inc luded 36 members of th e committee which was c o n s t i tu te d by the Government. This was done, perhaps, due to two re a so n s . F i r s t l y , to avoid d iv is io n in Panth and secondly n o t to in v i te

body. Under i t s c o n s ti tu t io n every b ap tized S ikh of 21 y ea rs

was held on December 12, 1920 and S ard ar Sunder Singh M a jith ia , S ard ar Harbans Singh A tta r i and S ardar Sunder Singh ham garhia were appointed i t s P re s id e n t, V ice-P resid en t and S e c re ta ry re s p e c tiv e ly . Under t h i s pro-governm ent and moderate le a d e rs h ip , government was co n fid en t thatt th e Gurdwara Reform Movement would move on c o n s t i tu t io n a l l i n e s .

When the re fo rm is ts occupied Akal T akht, they decided to cap tu re o th e r gurdwaras by p e rsu as io n . For t h i s purpose they needed v o lu n te e rs . T herefore on December 20, 1920 ano ther Sikh o rg a n isa tio n was formed keeping t h i s o b je c t in mind th a t gurdwaras would be reformed by e x e rtin g th e moral p re s s u re .1» Narain Sinqh ( e d . ) , A kali Morche Te Jhabbar (P u n la b i) .(D elh i, 1961), p . 73.2 . V.N. D a tta , A m ritsar: P as t and P resen t (A m ritsa r, 1967),

f o r t h e i r management on l in e s accep tab le to Sikh n a t io n . I t

the w rath Government. The SGPC was p u re ly a r e l ig io u s

2o r above was given the r ig h t to v o te . I t s in au g u ra l m eeting

p . 8934 #

F ile No. 459, Home P o l i t i c a l , F ebruary , 1922, NAI. Gyani P a rtap S ingh, op. c i t . , p . 103.

35

T his o rg a n isa tio n was named as Shirom ani A kali D a l .1 Though i t was a sep a ra te o rg a n isa tio n yet i t was understoodth a t in the f ie ld of gurdwara refo rm , i t would work under the in s t ru c t io n s of SGPC.1

In fa c t A kalis were a lread y working fo r th ereform s of gurdwaras even before the in cep tio n of SGPC. Theywere o rgan ised in groups known as Ja th a s and t h e i r le ad e rswere known as J a th e d a rs . The f i r s t such J a th a was theS hah id i D a l, which was formed a t the c a l l of S ardu l SinghC aveeshar fo r the re s to ra t io n of the w all of GurdwaraRakabganJ. M aster Tara Singh a lso o ffe red h im self fo r t h i s

2S hah id i D a l. L ater on th ese Ja th a s were converted in to Shiromani A kali D a l.^

Thus w ith the e s tab lish m en t of SGPC and Shirom ani A kali D al, th e a ttem pts f o r reform ing the gurdwaras were a c c e le ra te d .

Gurdwara Reform Movement a t t r a c te d M aster Tara S ingh .As we have seen th a t th i s movement was d i r e c t ly re sp o n s ib le f o r the form ation of SGPC and Shiromani Aka l i D al and g ra d u a lly M aster Tara Singh became the most powerful le ad e r of both these i n s t i t u t i o n s .1 . Shirom ani A kali Dal Da Niyam Te Upnlyam (P un jab i)

(A m ritsar, 1939), pp. 2 -4 .2 . N iran jan S ingh , op . c l t . . pp. 17-18.3 . Idem.

36

Though M aster Tara Singh o ffe red h im self fo r th e Shahid i j_atha to be sen t to D elh i in connection w ith th e c o n f l ic t born out of the d e s t r u c t i n of the w all of Gurdwara Rakabgan j , y e t h is r e a l involvem ent w ith Gurdwara Reform Movement and h is d ed ica tio n to Sikh cause was brought about by the Nankana Sahib trag e d y .

Encouraged by the p ro g ress of Gurdwara Reform MovementBhai Lachman Singh of L y a llp u r d i s t r i d t s i l e n t l y formed aS hah id i J a th a to l ib e r a te gurdwara Nankana S ah ib , the b i r thp la c e of Guru Nanak Dev. I t was planned th a t Sikhs in sm allgroups would reach Nankana Sahib or near by an February 19,1921 and on February 20, 1921 they a l l would assemble in ashape of a Piwan at the gurdwara and would t r y to l ib e r a tegurdwara from the c lu tch es of Mahant Lachman D ass.

But some how or the o th e r , the mahant got th ein fo rm ation about t h i s scheme and he engaged a la rg e numberof c rim in a ls and m ercenaries to dea l w ith the s i t u a t io n . Hea lso befriended the Commissioner of Lahore, Mr. King and

2Deputy In sp e c to r G eneral of P o lic e , Mr. B oring. SGPC a lso got some in fo rm a tio n . M aster Tara Singh was in A m ritsar th o se d ay s. He decided to go to Sheikhupura to persuade Bhai Lachhman Singh and h is co lleag u es n o t to take any s te p in h a s te . But as i t was p re -d e s t in e d , he could no t ca tch th e

1 . Mohinder S ingh , The Aka11 Movement (D e lh i, 1978),pp. 31-32.N iran jan S ingh, op. c l t . , p . 74 .2 .

37

t r a i n fo r Sheikhpura and thus was unable to meet Bhai Lachhman Singh and o th e r members of the S hah id i J a th a .So the Sh ah id i Ja th a reached Nankana Sahib according to i t s programme and en te red th e gurdwara in the e a r ly hours of the morning of February 20, 1921. Aiahant o rdered h ish ire d hoo ligans f i r e and to f in i s h a l l members theJ a th a . One hundred and f i f t y Sikhs were b ru ta l ly murderedby the h ire d goondas 1 S ta t io n M aster of Nankana SahibRailway S ta t io n was a S ikh . When he came to know about th i s grave tragedy he sen t te legram s to d i s t r i c t o f f i c e r s , to Punjab Government, to SGPC and to d i f f e r e n tSingh Sabhas. 2

whole of In d iaThis sad news spread l ik e a w ild f i r e in th e nd e s p e c ia l ly in Punjab. S ikhs from a l l p a r ts

of the country made a bee lin e to Nankana S ah ib . S tuden ts of K halsa College A m ritsar reached Nankana S a h ib , even on

3f o o t , to pay th e i r homage to the g re a t m arty rs who la id downt h e i r l iv e s fo r a noble and common cause . M aster Tara Singh

4a lso reached th e re . There was unprecedented fe e lin g of anguish . Sensing the mood of the peop le , the l ie u te n a n t-Government Punjab, S i r E. Maclagan, along w ith the

5E xecutive Council rushed to Nankana S ah ib . On February 23, 1921

2 .3 .4 .5 .

Indian Annua l R e q is te r 1 “ (h e re a f te r r e fe r r e dN iranjan S ingh , op . c i t . . p . 76.I.A .R . 1922, V ol. I , p . 160.Gyani Gurcharan S ingh, op . c i t . . p . 57 . Sohan Singh Jo sh , op. c i t . . p . 82.

I .A .R .)

38

the pyres of charred bodies of th o se who were k i l le d andbu rn t by the M ahant's men were l i t . People were so mucha g ita te d th a t they were no t w il l in g to l i s t e n to SGPC even.U ltim a te ly the gurdwara was handed over to th e SGPC. Acommittee to c o n tro l the gurdwara was formed and SardarHarbans Singh A tta r i was made th e P re s id e n t w hile S ard arNa*ain Singh B a r r is te r was appointed as the manager of the

2gurdw ara•Mahatma Gandhi a lso v i s i t e d Nankana S ah ib on

March 3 , 1921 and condemning th e m assacre sa id th a t " th e news of Nankana was so s tag g e rin g th a t they would n o t b e liev e i t w ithout co n firm a tio n ."^ A ddressing a m eeting in Lahore, he sa id th a t "E veryth ing I saw and heard p o in ts to a second e d i t io n of Dyerism, more barbarous, more c a lc u la te dand more f ie n d is h tljan the Dyerism of J a l l ia n w a la ." 4

<

The Nankana tragedy and the subsequent p o lic y of re p re ss io n in i t i a t e d by the Punjab Government proved a tu rn in g p o in t in the b r ie f h is to ry of the A kali Movement.5 M aster Tara Singh was g re a t ly p ertu rb ed by the Nankana Sahib trag ed y and decided to d ed ica te h is l i f e fo r the Sikh c a u se .61 . Sohan Singh Josh , op. c i t . . p . 82.2 . N iranjan S ingh , op. c i t . . p . 77 .3 . C ollected Works of Mah a tma G andhi. Vol. XIX, pp. 397-98.4 . Ib id . . p . 401.5 . Mohinder S ingh, op. c i t . . p . 42.6 . P r i th ip a l Singh Kapoor, op. c i t . , p . 82.

39

He took leave fo r s ix months from h is school and came to A m ritsar to work fo r SGPC. He jo in e d S,PC as a paid S e c re ta ry

Meanwhile another ac tio n of the s ta te government a g i ta te d the S ikhs. On November 7 , 1921 the D i s t r i c t M ag istra te of A m ritsar suddenly snatched away the keys of the Toshakhana (T reasure House) of the Golden Temple, A m ritsar from Sardax Sunder Singh Ramgarhia, the V ice-Presidentj& f SGPC.^Now these keys became the bone of co n ten tio n . The A kalis p ro te s te d a g a in s t th is u n ca lled fo r andunwarranted in te r fe re n c e of the government in the m a tte r of S ikh r e l ig io n . As a consequence, pub lic m eetings were held thftaghout P un jab .To suppress the h u rt fe e l in g s Goverrment ap p lied the s e d it io n s

4m eetings A ct. M aster Tara Singh was a r re s te d and was sen tenced to rig o ro u s imprisonment in connection w ith a speech

M aster Tara Singh resig n ed from the headm astersh ip of K halsa S chool, L yallpu r and devoted h im self w h o leh earted ly to the work of SGPC and Shiromani A kali D al.

2 . Gyani P a rtap Singh, op . c i t . . p . 131.3 . I .A .h . . 1922, V o l .I , p . 53.4 . Gyani P a rtap S ingh, op. c i t . . p . 132.5 . Ib id . . p . 136.6 . Gyani G urcharan S ingh, op. c i t . , p . 56 .

and e s ta b lis h e d i t s o f f ic e in A m ritsa r•

d e liv e re d Diwan held a t S ri Akal T ak h t.^I t was fo r the f i r s t time th a t he was a r r e s te d .^ A fte r t h i s

1 . N iran jan S ingh , op . c i t . , p . 77

1

\

On January 11, 1922, government, sen sin g the mood ofS ik h s , re le a se d a l l the p r iso n e rs and re tu rn e d the 'keys*to the S ikhs,^ - and thus M aster Tara Singh was a lso re le a s e d .

But in March, 1922 ano ther b i t te r n e s s was c re a te d .T his time i t was due to w earing of b lack tu rb an s by the A kalisIn the second week of March, 1922 w holesale a r r e s t s of A k a lis^was c a rr ie d o u t in 13 se le c te d d i s t r i c t s of Punjab and inthe Sikh S ta te s of P a t ia la and K apurthala s im u ltan eo u sly .W ithin a fo r tn ig h t about 1,700 b lack turbaned Sikhs were

2-a rx e s te d . M aster Tara Singh was a lso a r r e s te d . A fte r a b r ie f confinem ent he was re le a se d but was soon r e a r r e s te d and before the beginning of Guru-ka-Baah (Garden of the Guru) campaign the e n t i r e working committee of the SGPC was taken4in to custody .

Guru-ka-Baqh i s about th ir te e n m iles from A m ritsa r. A djacent to the sh rin e was a p lo t of land where t r e e s were p la n ted to provide firew ood fo r th e gurdwara l anqar (community k itc h e n ) . Sunder D ass, th e Udasi mahant of th e gurdwara, accepted baptism and subm itted h im self to the a u th o r i ty of

5an e le c te d com m ittee. But in the f i r s t week of A ugust, 1922, 1 2 3 4

1 . Gyani Gurcharan S ingh , op, c i t . . p p . 56-57.2 . Ib id . . p . 57.3 . I b id . . pp. 57-58.4 . Sohan Singh Jo sh , op. c i t . . pp. 174-75.

I b i d . . p . 172.

40

5 .

41

w ithou t any apparen t cause, he lodged a com plaint w ith th e p o lic e th a t A kalis were c u ttin g t r e e s from .h is la n d .-*'The p o lic e a r re s te d A kalis and charged them w ith c rim in a l

2t r e s s p a s s . A kali le ad e rs held a meeting a t th e Guru-ka-Bagh in co n trav en tio n ^ f the oxder under the s e d it io u s meeting A ct. The p o lic e d isp ersed the meeting and a r re s te d the lead ers inc lu d in g M aster Tara S ingh. The SCPC took up the challenge and s ta r te d an a g i ta t io n . J a th a s of 100 A kalis each wereform ed. They were adm in istered an oath a t the Akal Takht to rem ain n o n -v io le n t under any c ircu m stan ces .4 The p o lice stopped therr a t v a rio u s p o in ts f a r removed from thafcand in d is p u te , o rdered them to d isp e rse and on th e i r r e fu s a l to do so , were m e rc ile s s ly beaten by th e p o lice w ith l a t h i s , ja c k -b o o ts

5and f i s t s . For n ineteen days the encounter between th e p o lic e and the passive A kali r e s i s t e n t s co n tin u ed . Many In d ian le ad e rs v is i te d the s i t e . Indian N a tio n a l Congress

•Jappointed a committee of en q u iry . C .I . Andrews was deeply 1 . Sohan Singh Josh , op. c i t . , p . 172.2 . Idem.3 . I b i d . , p . 174.4 . G ian i P artap S ingh, op . c i t . , p . 162.5 . Ib id . , pp. 162-63.6 . Khuswant S ingh, op. c i t . . p . 204.7 . This committee subm itted i t s re p o r t in January 1924which i s known as Report of the Guru K.a Bagh Congress Enquiry Committee. S r in iv a s Iyangar was i t s P re s id e n t , Ruchi Ram Sahni was S e c re ta ry w hile J.M . Sengupta, S .E . S to k es, Muhammad Taqi and M.V. Abhyankar were i t s members.

‘ t

42

moved by the noble C h ris t l ik e behaviour of th e A k a lis . 1He persuaded the L ieu tenan t G overnor, S i r Edward Maclagan to see th in g s h im se lf. S i r Maclagan a rr iv e d a t Guru-ka-Baoh onon September 13, 1922 and o rdered the b e a tin c s to s to p . 2 Fourdays l a t e r the p o lice r e t i r e d from the scen e . By th a t tim e5,605 A kalis had been a r re s te d and 930 were h o s p i ta l iz e d . Government to save i t s face deviced a method. A Hindu

3 The

p h i la n th r o p is t , S i r Ganca Ram, purchased the Guru-ka-Bagh land4and handed i t to the gurdwara. The Ind ian N a tio n a l Congress

a t i t s annual session a t Gaya in December 1921 - January 1922 passed a re s o lu tio n in a p p re c ia tio n of A kali m artyrs andw o rk ers•5

Though Guru-ka-3aqh morcha (a g ita t io n ) was won by non-v io lence but the behaviour of p o lice a t Guru-ka-Bagh fo rced some people to s t a r t underground t e r r o r i s t a c t i v i t i e s These t e r r o r i s t s were la rg e ly ex-members of Ghadr P arty andr e t i r e d s o ld ie r s . 6 These were known as Babbar A k a lis .

Sin and M aster Mota Singhwere the two most a c tiv e members of th e B abbars. Babbars1 . B enarsi Dass and o th e rs , Deen Bandhu Andrews (H indi)(Agra, 1967), p .208 .2 . Harbans S ingh , op. c i t . . p . 276.3 . Khuswant S ingh, op . c i t . . p . 204.4 . K.C. G u la t i , op. c i t . . p . 28.5 . A.M. and S.G. Z a id i, Xhe Encyclopaedia of the IndianN atio n a l C ongress. VoT. VIII 11921-24), p . 542E

Khuswant S in ch , op. c i t . , p . 205.6 .

were not very su c c e ss fu l as they were not s e c re t iv e and a lsowas i n f i l t r a t e d by C .I.D . men* T herefo re , most of them wereapprehended by the Government. During t r i a l , some of them

2became approvers. As a r e s u l t , s ix men, in c lu d in g Kishan S ingh Bidang, were awarded death p en a lty and r e s t were sentenced

3to vary ing term s of im prisonm ent.The trea tem en t metted out to Babbar A k a lis hardened

the a t t i tu d e of A k a lis . They became more u n ru ly and fo rc ib ly4occupied more gurdw aras. One n o tab le tak e -o v e r was of the

h i s to r i c gurdwara a t Muktsar which was taken over on Februarys17, 1923. On the o th e r hand A kali p r iso n e rs were t r e a te d

b r u ta l ly in j a i l s . ° Punjab L e g is la tiv e Council passed a7r e s o lu t io n demanding the re le a s e of A kali p r is o n e r s . As a

r e s u l t L ieu tenan t Governor o rdered the re le a s e of over 1,0000A k alis who were a r re s te d in August and Septem ber, 1922 a t G uru-ka-Baoh. though the t o t a l number of A kali p r iso n e rs was

12

34

Khuswant S ingh, op . c i t . , p . 205 G iani P artap Singh, op . c i t . . ppI b id . , pp. 291-93Khuswant Singh, ci t . , p . 206

289-90.

5 . Gyani P artap S ingh, op . c l t . . p . 297-6 . Khuswant S inch , op . c i t » » P» 206.7 . I bid . . pp. 206-07.8 . I b id . , p . 207.

44

much more•Meanwhile ano ther in c id e n t took p lace on Ju ly 8, 1923,

M aharaja Ripudaman Singh o f Nabha s ta te was fo rced to ab d ica te and subsequently was in te rn e d a t Kodai K an a l.1 I t was g e n e ra lly believed by the A kalis th a t one of th e major reasons of M aharaja’s abd ica tion was h is sym pathetic a t t i tu d e towards Sikhs/ln gen era l and A kalis in p a r t i c u l a r .2 T herefo reon Ju ly 10, 1923 A kalis decided to s t a r t an a g i ta t io n ag a in s t

highhandedness of the Government. SGPC took th e m a tte rt h i sin i t s hand and in the f i r s t week of August, 1923 passed a re s o lu tio n to get the Nabha wrongs undone by every le g it im a te4and peacefu l means. The Sikhs of Nabha o rg an ised anAkhand (Non-stop r e c i ta t io nP o lic e d is ru p ted one Akhand

5

oly Grants} in gurdw aras.a t gurdwara Cangsar in

v i l l a g e J a i to (now in d i s t r i c t F a r id k o t) . Thus a new morchawas s t a r t e d . Batches of p eacefu l and p ass iv e r e s i s t e r s began a r r iv in g every day a t J a i t o . Government, on O ctober 16, 1923, a r re s te d 59 A kali le ad e rs a t A m ritsar in< ludingT eja S ingh Samundri, Teja Singh A karpuri, Bhagat Jaswant S ingh ,M aster Tara S in g h , ingh SinghP ro fe sso r Teja S ingh, P ro fe so r N iran jan S in g h , Sarmukh Singh J h a b a l, Sohan Singh Jo sh , Gopal Singh Qaumi and Sewa Singh1 .2.3 .4 .5 .

Indian Quar t e r ly R e g is te r (I .Q .R .) 1924, V o l .I , p . 4 A kali fe P a rd e s i (P u n ja b i) , September 9 , 1923.I.Q .R . . 1924, V o l.I , p . 4 . Gyani P a rtap Singh,I b i d . , p . 305.

. , p . 312

45

T h ik riw a la . On O ctober 17, 1923 C en tra l S ikh L eague's Annual se ss io n a t Ja lan d h ar was p ro h ib ite d and was stopped by fo rc e .^ On O ctober 18, 1923 SCPC was d ec la red unlaw ful in Punjab .^On O ctober 25, 1923 the t r i a l of Sikh le a d e rs began at4 On November 19, 1923 A kali Sahayak Bureau was formed a t A m ritsar to lead th e J a i to com paign.5

While the J a i to Morcha was going on, an o th er campaign was s ta r te d a t Bhai Pheru in Lahore where the mahant had gone back on h is words and charged the Aka i s w ith t r e s p a s s .6 T h irty -tw o Aka 1 i s were a r re s te d follow ed by a batch of

■ j25 A k alis every day. On January 2 , 1924 Government d ec la red0A kalis un law fu l. A m ritsar p o lic e ra id ed the Akal Takhton January 7 and se ized documents of the SGPC and a r re s te doan o th e r 62 men•

Encouraged by the ac tio n of Punjab Government and p o l ic e , the a u th o r i t ie s of Nabha S ta te became more h a rsh .The p ro p e r t ie s of A kalis were c o n fisc a te d and t h e i rmovement was r e s t r i c t e d . ^ On February 21, 1924 a Shahidi J a th a

1. I .Q .R . . 1924, V o l.I , p . 5 .2 . Idem.3 . Idem.4 . Idem.5 . Idem.6 . I b id . . p . 14.7 . Gyani P a rtap Singh, op. c i t . , pp. 350-51.8 . I .Q .f i . . 1924, V o l.I , p . 14.9 . Gyani P a rtap S ingh, o p . c i t . , p . 352.10. Sohan Singh Jo sh , op. c i t . , p . 321.

46

of 500 v o lu n tee rs was f i r e d upon by th e Nabha a d m in is tra tio nr e s u l t in g in a g rea t lo s s of l i f e . This aroused sympathy

2fo r the A kali cause throughout In d ia . On F ebruary 26, 1924 Golab S in g h 's re s o lu tio n on Sikh g rievances and S ardar K arta r S in g h 's re s o lu tio n on re le a s e of 3aba K.harak Singh were

3passed in P ro v in c ia l Assembly. In House of Commons a lso an adjournment motion of Mr. Lansbury was movedoon March 11, 1924

4concerning the massacre a t J a i t o . P a rliam en ta ry S tandingCommittee on Ind ian A ffa irs was a lso moved in th e House of

5L ords. Meanwhile second and th i r d S hah id i Ja th a a lso l e f tA m ritsar fo r J a i t o . I t fo rced Punjab Government to a u th o r ise G eneral S ir W illiam Birdwood to open n e g o tia tio n s w ith theA kali le a d e rs . 6 In the meantime S i r Malcolm H ailey succeededMr. Mclagan in May 1924. While con tinu ing w ith the re p re ss io n on one hand, on the o th e r he s ta r te d n e g o tia tin g w ith m oderate elem ents among th e S ik h s . He encouraged to s e t up Sudhar (reform ) Committees of the lo y a l S ik h s. P ro v in c ia l S ikh Sudhar Committee held i t s f i r s t gen era l m eeting a tAmrit 30, 1924 and reso lv ed to send a lo y a l

8J a th a to J a i to to complete the Akhand Path and t h i s Ja th a completed the Akhand Path a t Gurdwara Gangsar on O ctober 20,1 .2 .3 .4 .

1 .Q.R. . 1924, V o l.I , p . 104. Khustoant S ingh , op. c i t . . p . 210. I .Q .R . 1924, V o l.I , p . 16.Idem.I .Q.R. 1924, V o l.I , p . 16.I b id . , No. I I , p . XIX.I b id . , p . 200.Ib id . . p . 201.Idem.

47

On November 25, 1924 Punjab Government au th o risedMr. Emerson and Mr. Commissito meet Sikh members of the C ouncil to draw up a Gurdwara B i l l . Through a five-member committee c o n s t i tu te d by the Sikh members of the L e g is la tiv e C ouncil, H ailey p resen ted a d r a f t of a new gurdwara b i l l to the A kali le a d e rs who wereim prisoned in Lahore j a i l . 2 The b i l l met a l l the demands ofthe A k alis and i t was passed in to a law in 1925. 3

Government decided to re le a s e a l l the A k a lis in j a i l s but a lso put a cond itio n th a t only those would be re le a se d

, 4recan ted th e i r p ast deeds. While S ardar Bahadur MehtabwhoSingh and h is group accepted the c o n d itio n a l re le a s e but a la rg e number of A kalis in c lu d in g Baba Kharak Singh and M aster Tara Singh re fu sed to accept any c o n d itio n a l r e le because they thought th a t i t was derogatory to t h e i r s e l fr e s p e c t . 5 This ac t of Tara Singh won him p o p u la r ity in A kalira n k s . U ltim a te ly Government had to y ie ld and they too werere le a s e d . As a r e s u l t Mehtab and h is fo llo w erswere considered as c o lla b o ra to rs and thus lo s t c o n tro l overSGPC. 6

3 .4 .5 .6.

1925, Voo. I I , p . 70 . Khulwant S ingh , o p . c l t . , p . 212

i s l a t i v e Council p . 1304.*^huswant S ingh , op. c l t . , p . 212.

I b id . , p . 213.

48

When the Government, by i t s 1925 Gurdwara Reforms A ct, put the stamp of i t s approval upon the SGPC as the c e n tra l body to manage Sikh s h r in e s , M aster Tara Singh was e le c te d as i t s V ic e -P re s id e n t.

Now the SGPC became not only a s o r t of parliam en t of th e2 rtS ikhs but a lso a government w ith in the governm ent.'3 I t s

c o n tro l became the fo ca l p o in t of Sikh p o l i t i c s . M asterTara Singh became day by day more powerful le a d e r as fo r th ewasfo llow ing fo u r decades S .G .P C /genera lly under th e co n tro l of the fa c t io n led by him.

But befo re we end th i s c h a p te r , i t i s d e s ira b le th a t something must be sa id about the feud between M aharaja of P a t i a l a , S ardar Bhupinder Singh and M aster Tara S ingh. In a way th i s c o n f l ic t was a lso bom out of the s tru g g le fo r th e reform of gurdw aras.

S ard ar Sewa Singh T h ik riw ala , an A kali le ad e r belonging to P a t ia la S ta te , was a lso a r re s te d along w ith o th e r A kali le a d e rs during the J a i to a g i ta t io n and was a lso re le a s e d along w ith them. But when he reached P a t i a l a , he was again a r re s te d by th e P a t ia la S ta te P o lic e . M aharaja wanted him to apo log ise but Sewa Singh refused to do so . On b earin g th e news of the a r r e s t of Sewa S ingh, M aster T ara1.2 .3 .4 .

Gyani Gurcharan S ingh , op. c i t . . khuswant S ingh, op. c i t . . p . 214 Syani Gurcharan S ingh , op. c i t . .Idem.

84.

87. V

49

Singh along w ith Sardar Mangal Singh rushed to P a t ia la and pleaded w ith Maharaja to s e t Sewa Singh f re e but Maharaja was adamant th a t he (Sewa Singh) must ap o lo g ise . I t was a case of p erso n a l v e n d a tta . On the re le a se of Baba Kharak Singh in March, 1927. i t was decided to launch an ac tio n programme fo r the re le a se of Sewa Singh. I t was decided

oto hold a big meeting in the s ta te but i t was not allow ed.On the o th e r hand many A kalis worker and t h e i r sym path isers

3 4were a r r e s te d . The Maharaja s ta r te d an a n ti-A k a li propaganda.A k alis a lso r e t a l i a t e d under the le a d e rsh ip of Baba KharakSingh and M aster Tara S ingh . M aster Tara Singh convened a Panthak m eeting a t Akal Takht in which many speeches were made a g a in s t the Maharaja and he was given a tim e of one month to re le a s e Sewa Singh and o th e r A k a lis , but M aharaja d id n o t concede th e i r demand. As a r e s u l t of i t M aster T araSingh w rote a number of a r t i c l e s in A kali Te P ard esi c r i t i c a l l y£e la b o ra tin g the misdeeds of M aharaja, which began to in f lu e n c e the people of th e S ta te . M aharaja t r i e d to b rib e M aster T ara S ingh throggh an o f f i c i a l of the s t a t e and o ffe re d him rupees 1

1 . Gyani Gurcharan S in g h , op. c i t . . p . 87.2 . Ib id . , p . 88.3 . Idem.4 . I b id . . p. 186.

5 . I b id . , p . 89.6 . Idem.

50

th re e lakhs but Tara Singh re fu sed to succumb to th i ste m p ta tio n . On another occasion he to re a p a r t a blank

2cheque sen t by the M aharaja. Maharaja even t r i e d to g ive poison to M aster Tara S ingh , through S . Jaim al S ingh , who was working as a c le rk w ith M a s te r j i .3 U ltim a te ly M aharaja was fo rced to compromise w ith Master Tara S ingh. Maharaja re le a s e d a l l the A kali p r iso n e rs in c lu d in g Sewa Singh

4T h ik riw a la , bu t a f te r sometime he was again a r re s te d and5was put to g re a t to r tu r e . M aster Tara Singh again s ta r te d

w r it in g a g a in s t the misdeeds of Maharaja so pow erfu lly th a t s ta te -p e o p le * s Conference i n i t i a t e d an in q u iry a g a in s t the M aharaja and he was found g u i l ty . As a r e s u l t Government of In d ia asked R esident of Punjab S ta te s to hold an in q u iry in to misdeeds of M aharaja. In the meantime M aster Tara Singh was a r re s te d in C iv il D isobedience Movement of the C ongress3 and the M aharaja succeeded g e tt in g h im self exonera ted by

ounderhand method. Sewa Singh s ta r te d a f a s t unto death in j a i l and f in a l ly died in 1935. I t was a g re a t shock to

2 .3 .4 .5 .6 .7 .8.

Gyani Gurcharan S ingh, op. c i t . . p . 90.Idem.Idem.I b id . , p . 91.Idem.Idem.I b id . , p. 92.Idem.

31

M aster Tara Singh and he decided not to see the fa c e ofthe M aharaja fo r the r e s t of h is l i f e and he was ab le to c a rryon h is vow.

Thus we played a majin the form ation of SGPC and was one of th e prom inent le a d e rs of the Gurdwara Reform Movement* The Nankana trag ed y made him to d ed ica te h is l i f e fo r the cause of S ikhs and he was a lso la rg e ly re sp o n s ib le fo r the s t a r t of Nabha a g i ta t io n .H is re so lv e no t to get re lea sed a f t e r g iv ing any u n d e rtak in g , made him very popular w ith the Sikh m asses. G rad u a lly , he became the undisputed lead e r of the S ikhs and was p o p u la rly known as 'Uncrowned K ing' of the S ik h s .

e e e 1

1 . Gyani Gurcharan S ingh, op . c l t . , p . 92.

r 52

CHAPTER - IV

MASTER TARA SINCH*S RELATION WITH INDIANNATIONAL CONGRESS (1925-1940)

As mentioned e a r l i e r th e b i r th of M aster Tara Singhco in c id es w ith Indian N atio n a l Congress. And i t i s a lso

«

a co incidence th a t on one hand Indian N atio n a l Congressplayed a lead in g ro le fo r the freedom of In d ia and in th eo th e r hand M aster Tara Singh dominated the p o l i t i c a l l i f e ofPunjab and e s p e c ia l ly the S ik h s .

In December 1919, a f te r the m assacre of J a ll ia n w a laBagh (A pril 13, 1919), th e annual sessio n of A ll In d ia

2Congress Committee was held in A m ritsa r. Almost a t th e3same time C en tra l Sikh League was a lso e s ta b l is h e d .

I t s second sessio n was h e ld 'in Bradley H a ll , Lahore in th e4 ,y ear 1920.” I t was presided over by Baba Kharak S ingh . I t was reso lved in th i s sessio n to oppose th e B r i t i s h ru le and

5a lso to fo llow the path of n an -co o p e ra tio n . Subsequently when in February 1927, Lala L ajpa t R a i, th e P re s id e n t of In d ian N ationa l Congress in Punjab was a r r e s te d , Baba Kharak1 . S up ra , p p .n2 . The Encyclopaedia of Indian N atio n a l C ongress, Vol. VII

1916-20 , p . 451.3 . R.C. Majumdar ( e d .) , S tru g g le fo r Freedom, Vol. XI

(Bombay, 1978), p . 99T5T4 . K.L. T u te ja , t P* 18 .5 . F ile No. 74 , Home P o l i t i c a l , November 1920, NAI.

S ingh , a prominent A kali le a d e r , was made i t s P r e s id e n t .1Thus i n i t i a l l y A kali Dal was in league w ith th e

Congress as f a r as n a tio n a l i n t e r e s t s were concerned .Congress a lso supported A kali s tru g g le fo r th e reform ofgurdwaras and i t s success in the same was d esc rib ed byMahatma Gandhi as the f i r s t d e c is iv e v ic to ry of th e

2freedom s tru g g le .But these c o rd ia l r e la t io n s between th e se two p a r t ie s

got a blow from the c o n s t i tu t io n a l p roposals of the Nehru Committee. Before we d isc u ss th e se p roposals i t would be b e t t e r to t r a c e i t s background.

The Punjab L e g is la tiv e Council was e s ta b l is h e d in 1897 and i t c o n s is te d of n ine members nominated by th e

3L ieu ten an t G overnor. With the Minto—Morley reform scheme of 1909, the e le c t iv e p r in c ip le was in tro d u ced fo r th e f i r s t tim e along w ith nom inations fo r the s e le c tio n of

4re p re s e n ta t iv e s fo r l e g i s l a t iv e b o d ie s . Muslims were given 'w e ig h tag e ' ag a in s t Hindu m a jo rity as Muslims were conceded se p a ra te re p re s e n ta tio n s and w eightage in th e s ta te s in which they were a m ino rity along w ith th e re p re se n ta tio n a t the c e n tre . Chief K halsa Diwan

Baba Kharak Singh Abhinandan C ran th , p . 188.

I b id . , p . 136.5 .

pleaded fo r th e s im ila r concessions fo r th e S ik h s .Though L ieu tenan t Governor of Punjab supported th e demand of Chief K halsa Diwan y e t no n o tic e was taken of i t . R ep resen ta tiv es of Muslim League and Ind ian N ational Congress met a t Lucknow and an agreement was reached according to which Muslims were conceded se p a ra te e le c to r a te s to seven s ta te s in which they were in a m in o rity ; they a lso were a lso given h a lf the e le c te d s e a ts in c e n tra l l e g i s l a t i v e ( to be e le c te d by a p u re ly Muslim e le c to r a te s ) . No Sikh was in v ite d to these t a l k f , nor was the S ikh p o in t

Oof view was given adequate c o n s id e ra tio n . To f o r e s t a l l any p o l i t i c a l change based on the Lucknow P a c t, th e C hief Khalsa Diwan addressed a memorandum to th e L ieu ten an t Governor s ta t in g th a t they would no t accept a c o n s t i tu t io n 'which did no t guarantee to them (th e S ikhs) a share in the p ro v in c ia l and im p e ria l c o u n c i l s . . . c o n s is te n t w ith th e i r p o s itio n and im p o rta n c e '. The Sikhs

eclaim ed o n e - th ird of a l l the s e a t s . The Montagu-Chelmsford R eport of 1918 assured the Sikhs th a t what had been given to the Muslims could not be denied to the S ik h s . Punjab1 . Khus^ant S ingh , op. c i t . . p . 218.2 . I b id . , p . 219.3 . I b id . , p . 220.4 . Idem.

55

Government suggested th a t Sikhs be given 5 s e a ts ou t of26 (19%) of the n o n -o f f ic ia l s e a t s . The F ran ch ise Committeeig n o red th is suggestion and conceded only a ’se p a ra tee le c to r a l p o ll and sep ara te c o n s ti tu e n c ie s fo r th e S ik h s ’and recommended th a t S ikhs be given 8 out of 54 (15%)

2n o n - o f f ic ia l s e a ts . The Government of In d ia Act o f 1919 did n o t give the Sikhs the 33% th a t they had ex p ec ted .In f a c t i t gave them le s s in Punjab than i t gave to the Muslims in those prov inces in which they were in m in o r ity . 3

L ate r on B r i t i s h Government appointed Simon Commission to review the working of the Government of In d ia Act of 1919. Ind ian N atio n a l Congress, A ll In d ia Muslim League and A ll In d ia Hindu Mahasabha reso lv ed to co -o p era te w ith th e

5Commission. S ikhs were in a dilemma. The l o y a l i s t and m oderate Sikhs welcomed the appointm ent of the Commission as th e y did no t expect any favour from the C ongress.” They formed C en tra l Sikh A ssocia tion to re p re se n t th e S ikh case

7befo re the Simon Commission. Chief Khalsa Diwan a lso 11 . Khuswant S ingh, op, c l t . . p . 223.2 . Chief Khalsa Diwan’s communication No. 5075 of December26, 1919, addressed to the Chief S e c re ta ry , Punjab Government.3 . The S ik h s, who formed 12% of the Punjab p o p u la tio n ,rece iv ed 18% re p re s e n ta tio n w hile Muslims, who formed 11% of the p o p u la tio n of B ihar and O rissa rece iv ed 25% re p re s e n ta t io n .4 . I t was appointed on November 8, 1927.5 . K.L. T u te ja , op. c i t . , pp. 139-40.6 . The T r lb u n e . January 27, 1928.

F i le No. 1 , Home P o l i t i c a l (F o r tn ig h tly R ep o rt, Jan u ary , 1928) NAI.

subm itted i t s memorandum and demanded a complete a b o li t io nof communal r e p re s e n ta t io n , but i f i t was no t p o ss ib le then the Muslims should be given only 4C$ s e a ts and the Hindus and S ikhs should get 3QS6 each . Claim was a lso made fo r Sikh re p re se n ta tio n in S indh, D elh i and N orth West F ro n tie r P ro v in ce .

While the Commission was a t work, the Ind ian N atio n a l Congress t r ie d to p resen t the B r i t i s h Government w ith a d r a f t c o n s t i tu t io n ag reeab le to a l l In d ia n s . On February 12, 1928, an a l l p a rty meeting was c a lle d a t D elhi fo r th i s very pu rpose .

I

I |The C en tra l Sikh League appointed a committee c o n s is t in g of Baba Kharak S ingh, Mehtab Singh, M aster Tara S in g h , Gyani Sher

OSingh and Mangal Singh to p a r t i c ip a te in th i s co n fe ren ce .Before th i s an a l l Sikh P a r t ie s m eeting was arranged which unanim ously decided th a t they (S ikhs) would oppose the communal re p re se n ta tio n as i t was harmful fo r the country as a w hole. But in case the communal re p re s e n ta tio n was r e ta in e d , the Sikhs must be given 1/3 share of re p re s e n ta t io n in th e4Punjab L e g is la tiv e C ouncil. A ll p a r t ie s conference c a lle d 1

1 . S tatem ent of Sunder Singh M a jith ia , Ind ian S ta tu to ryCommission. O ral Evidence. P un jab , V ol. l l .2 . Khuswant S ingh, op. c i t . . p . 227.3 . The T ribune . February 3 , 1928.4 . F i le No. 1 , Home P o l i t i c a l (F o r tn ig h tly R ep o rt. January 2 8 ),NAI.

57

by Congress appointed a sm all committee under th e Chairmanship of Moti Lai Nehru. Jaw aharla l Nehru was i t s S e c re ta ry and Mangal Singh G il l was i t s member. Cn August 10, 1928 i tsubm itted i t s I t recommended

puLarly known as 'Nehru R ep o rt' not be any se p a ra te communal

re p re s e n ta tio n in Bengal and Punjab . But in o th e r p ro v in ces , th e Muslims and non-Muslims were given se p a ra te re p re s e n ta tio n in p ro p o rtio n to th e i r population w ith the r ig h t to c o n te s t th e a d d it io n a l s e a ts . In A ll P a r t ie s Conference which was held in Lucknow on August 29, 1928 the recommendation about P tn jab was amended as fo llow s:

There s h a l l be no re se rv a tio n of s e a ts fo r any community in Punjab, and Bengal, provided th a t the question of communal re p re s e n ta tio n w i l l be open fo r re c o n s id e ra tio n , i f so d e s ire d by any community, a f t e r working the recommended system fo r ten y e a rs . 2

M aster Tara S ingh , Gyani Sher Singh and some o th e r A kali le a d e rs s tro n g ly opposed the Nehru R eport. M aster Tara Singh then V ice-P residen t of SGPC, sen t a te legram tc Moti Lai N ehru, worded: " R eg re t, Sikh r ig h ts have been overlooked byNehru Report * 3 I t was considered to be another such pactin w h ic h i n t e r e s t s of the Sikhs had been s a c r i f ic e d . 4 BabaK .h a ra k Singh asked Sikhs to throw the 'Nehru R ep o rt' ind u s tb in . 5

1 .2 .3 .4 .5 .

A ll P a r t ie s Conference: Nehru R ep o rt, p . 123.I b id .M aster Tara S ingh, op. c i t . . p . 101.Khalsa Te K halsa Advocate, August 20, 1928.In h is P re s id e n t ia l Address to the C en tra l S ikh League, Gujranwala S ession 1928,/ in fhe T rib u n e . O ct. 29, 1928.

/

This s i tu a t io n a lso r e s u l te d in a s p l i t of A k a lis . One group of the A kali Dal led by Mangal Singh favoured acceptance o f th e p roposals (made by the Nehru Committee) f o r the sake of n a tio n a lism , even though they d id n o t adequate ly meet the claim of the S ik h s . The o th e r group led by Baba Kharak Singh was tho rough ly a g a in s t the p roposals and vetoed them. M aster Tara Singh took a middle p o s i t io n . Baba Kharak Singh wanted the A kalis to leave Congress whereas M aster Tara Singh was of t h i s opinion th a t resentm ent must be shown but th e re i s no p o in t in leav ing the Congress ’Isince the S ikhs were a m in o rity and th e re was no wisdom in stand ing aloof from the g re a te s t and on ly country wide p o l i t i c a l o rg a n is a tio n . T herefore he condemned the p roposals made by Nehru Committee and a lso demanded th e i r w ithd raw l. He did n o t go ag a in s t the Congress as he was a s trong su p p o rte r of the Congress, no doubt, but on ly upto the l im it th a t i t did no t in te r f e r e w ith th eOle g it im a te r ig h ts of the S ik h s .

The next A ll P a r t ie s Conference was held a t C a lc u tta in December 1928, alongw ith the Congress se ss io n to d iscu ss th e Nehru R eport. About 30 Sikh le ad e rs attended th e C onference.^ A d ep u ta tio n of Sikh le a d e rs , led by M aster Tara S ingh, met Mahatma Gandhi but th e re could not be any compromise. In1 .2 .3 .4 .

Baldev Raj N ayar. (P rin c e to n , 1966; M inority P o l i t ic * i n theD urlab S ingh , op. c l t . . p . 104.Ib id . , p . 93.I b id . , p . 94.The T ribune , August 28, 1928.

59

th e Conference Mehtab Singh on b eh a lf of C e n tra l S ikh Leaguemoved an amendment to the communal p o rtio n of the Nehru Reportto th e e f f e c t th a t 'communalism should not be made th e b a s is ofthe fu tu re p o licy of In d ia in any shape o r fo rm ', but i t wasru le d out by the P re s id e n t of the Conference, Mr.M.A. A n sa ri . 1

C onsequently , S a rd ar Harnam S ingh , the S e c re ta ry of C en tra lSikh League, decided to w ithhold the Sikh support to Nehru

2Report and to q u it the conference* Even an amendment movedby an Indian C h ris tian lead e r from Punjab, R a l l ia Ram, was |

, , 3 Iru le d o u t. Gandhi, while approving the re p o r t remarked th a t Ip e rso n a lly he thought th a t they had not done j u s t i c e to th e |S ik h s . 4 I

On th e i r re tu rn from C a lc u tta , the Sikh le a d e rs o rgan ised I a la rg e number of m eetings ag a in s t the 'Nehru R ep o rt' and Ic o n s id e r e ^ t as th e 'd e s tro y e r of S ikh r i g h t s ' . Baba Kharak | Singh w hile condemning the Congress appealed to S ikhs to Ib o y co tt the next Congress session which was going to be held ■

6 ma t Lahore in December, 1929. But M aster Tara Singh did not isee any wisdom in boyco tting the n a t io n a l o rg a n is a t io n , e s p e c ia l ly !1 )1 . The P roceedings of the A ll P a rty N a tio n a l C onvention, p . 97. r2 . K.L. T u te ja , op. c i t . . p . 146. |3 . I .A .R .. Vol. I I , 1928, p . 134. |4 . The C o llec ted Works of Mahatma G andhi. XXXVIII, p . 315. I5 . The T rib u n e . A p ril 13, 1929. I6 . M aster Tara S ingh, op. c i t . . p . 101 . 1

[I

when the l a t t e r was to tak e major d ec is io n s l ik e f u l lindependence a t Lahore S ess io n . He wanted to f ig h t f o r theSikh r ig h ts by rem aining w ith in the C ongress!

F in a l ly ! a t f the annual sessio n of the C e n tra l SikhLeague in O ctober# 1929, the q u estio n of co -o p e ra tio n w iththe Congress session was taken up. The s e le c t committee of th eLeague decided in i t s favour but as th e re was a s tro n go p p o sitio n from Baba Kharak s in c h , M aster Tara Singh

2adjourned the sessio n sine d ie . However, M aster Tara S ingh,took perm ission of Baba K.harak Singh to a tten d the CongressS ession in h is p e rso n a l c a p a c ity .

The th re a t of boycott of th e Lahore se ss io n by S ikhs3p e rtu rb ed th e Congress a lso because i t was no t d e s ira b le f o r th e Congress to lose the support of th e S ik h s . T h ere fo re , Gandhi and many o th e r congress le a d e rs appealed to the Sikhs

4not to boycott the s e s s io n . Consequently befo re th e beginning of Congress sessio n a t Lahore, G andhi, Moti Lai Nehru and Dr M.A. A nsari met M aster Tara S ingh , Baba Kharak Singh and o th e r A kali le a d e rs and heard th e i r g riev an ces and

1 . D urlab S in ^h , op. c i t . . p . 103.2 . M aster Tara S in g h , op. c i t . , p . 102.3 . F i le No. r{ Home P o l i t i c a l (F o r tn ig h tly h e p o r t ,O ctober, 1929), NAI.4 . The C o llec ted Works of Mahatma Gandhi. Vol. XLI, p . 536.

p-

i ■Jcso r te d out the d if f e re n c e s . As a r e s u l t a re s o lu tio n was passed in the Lahore session of Congress which emphasised th a t ' t h i s Congress a ssu res the S ik h s , the Muslims and o th e r m in o r i t ie s th a t no so lu tio n th e re o f , in any fu tu re c o n s t i tu t io n w ill be accep tab le to the Congress th a t does not g ive f u l l s a t i s f a c t io n to the p a r t ie s c o n c e rn e d .'^

The assurance given to the Sikhs was thus a t a c t i c a l move on the p a r t of the Congress as the l a t t e r wanted to secure th e i r support in the C iv il D isobedience Movement.

I t was soon a f t e r on March 6 , 1930, Gandhi launched the C iv il D isobedience Movement. Baba Kharak Singh was opposed to i t as the sa ffro n colour of the Sikhs was not inc luded in

wanthe N a tio n a l Flag as yet but M aster Tara Singh did not to b o y co tt the C iv il D isobedience Movement as he considered i t s u ic id a l fo r the Sikh community to keep i t s e l f a loo ffrom th e N a tio n a l Movement. 3 Shirom ani A kali Dal under theguidance o f M aster Tara S ingh , re so lv ed to support thel

9movement Und p laced a t the d isp o sa l of Gandhi immediate4s e rv ic e s of 5 ,000 A k a lis . C en tra l Sikh League a lso

decided to p a r t ic ip a te in the movement. 5 M aster TaraSingh was taken as a member of 'War Coun formed by thePunjab P ro v in c ia l Congress Committee to c o -o rd in a te th e C iv ilD isobedience Movement Punjab 6 On the a r r e s t of D r. K .itchlu1 . TheEnc2 .3 .4 .5 .6 .

aed ia of Indian N a tio n a l V o l. IX

K.L. T u te ja , op. c i t . , p. 149. D urlab S ingh, op. c i t .« p . 103 The T rlb u n e» March 14, 1930.b i d . . Mav 14, 1930.N..C. G u la t i , op. c i t . . p . 54.

62

1M aster Tara Singh was appointed d i c t a to r of t h i s body.While lead in g an A kali Ja th a to help the Pathaan S a ty ag rah isa t Peshaw ar, M aster Tara Singh was a r r e s te d . 2

Thus a la ig e number of Sikhs p a r t ic ip a te d in C iv ilbedience Movem There might be fo r the

same but the most im portant of th ese was the news of th e f i r i n g by p o lic e a t S isgan j Gurdwara, D elhi which gave a new tu rn to the movement among th e S ikhs. According to o f f i c i a l r e p o r t , w hile observing ha r t a l in D elhi to p ro te s t a g a in s t the a r r e s t of Gandhi, some workers of the Congress en te red Gurdwara S isgan j and s ta r te d throwing b r ic k b a ts on the

Qp o l ic e . In re tu rn p o lice opened f i r e a t Gurdwara. The SGPCunder the guidance of M aster Tara Singh immediat launcheda campaign to boyco tt and of p ic k e tin g of fo re ig n c lo th shopsin p ro te s t ag a in s t th e f i r in g a t S isgan j Gurdwara. 4

Meanwhile, the Simon Commission subm itted i t s re p o r t on June 7 , 1930. Besides o th e r th in g s i t recommended th a t the re p re s e n ta tio n of the Sikhs in P ro v in c ia l Council cannot be c e r ta in ly reduced though i t would be im possib le to concede them a percen tage of 30 w ithout doing in ju s t ic e to th e o th e rcommunities in the p ro v in ce , even to the moderate S ik h s.

5 This re p o rt was not accep tab le

2 . M aster Tara S ingh , op. c l t . . p . 105.3 . Report on the F i r in g i n to the Gurdwara4 . F i le No. 119, Home P o l i t i c a l , January 1931, NAI5 . Report the Ind ian S ta tu ta ry Commission, Vol. I I ,pp. 60-63.

63

fhe Government of In d ia sen t Government inEngland a fre sh p roposals fo r the fu tu re c o n s t i tu t io n a l reform s on September 22, 1930. I t even reduced th e Sikh se a tsby one 1 The C en tra l Sikh League, Shiromani A kali Dal andS .G .P .C . condemned these p ro p o sa ls . 2

Meanwhil Round openedat London on November 12 , 1930 w ith the o b jec t of o b ta in in g Ind ian opinion fo r the fu tu re c o n s t i tu t io n a l re fo rm s. C en tra l Sikh League re fu sed to p a r t ic ip a te in i t and only m oderates,

al Singh and Sampuran Singh rep re sen ted the Sikh community*UjjA m in o rity committee 3members was formed by theConference to so lve the communal problem but even a f t e r much d e l ib r a t io n , i t could not so lve i t and l e f t i t fo r the nextse ss io n of the Round Table Conference. 4

On March 5 , 1931 G andhi-Irw in Pact was signed and th e CCongress agreed to p a r t ic ip a te in Second Round Table Conference C en tra l Sikh League a lso decided to tak e p a r t in th e C onference. A d ep u ta tio n of Sikh le a d e rs , in c lu d in g the m oderates, led by M aster Tara Singh met Gandhi and p resen ted1. Government of Ind ia Despatch on P roposals fo rC o n s titu tio n a l Reforms, 1930.2 . The T rib u n e . November 21 and 27 , December 27, 1930.3 . R. Coupland, The C o n s titu tio n a l Problem of In d ia n s :The Ind ia Problem (1833-1935) [Madras, 1944) , p . 120.4 . Round T able Confe ren ce , Fi r s t S ession P roceedingsT M inorities Committee R e p o rt) , PP* 315-19.

The T ribune. March 11, 1931.5

64

him a c h a r te r of 17 demands of th e S ik h s , which in c lu d ed a new^ demand fo r t r a n s fe r in g Muslim m ajo rity a reas to F ro n t ie r Province so th a t a communal balance might be produced. I t was probably a re a c tio n to Dr. Mohammed Iq b a l* s scheme of a sep a ra te s ta te com prising P unjab , N .W .F .P ., S ind and B a lu c h is ta n . When Gandhi d escrib ed th e i r demands as communal M aster Tara Singh re p lie d , 'T h e only way to f ig h t communalism i s by counter demands of the same n a tu r e /

Congress Working Committee evolved another form ula which agreed to concede to the Sikhs only 13% re p re se n ta tio n in p ro p o rtio n to th e i r population in the p ro v in ce . A ll SikhP a r t ie s m eeting re je c te d th e Congress p ro p o sa l. 5

During the Second Round Table Conference many p ro p o sa ls were d iscu ssed but no agreement was reach ed . T herefo re the m a tte r was l e f t to the B r i t i s h Government. 6

On August 16, 1932 Ramsay MacDonald announced the communal award in which th e system of sep a ra te e le c to ra te was r e ta in e d and Sikhs were given only 18.85% re p re s e n ta tio na g a in s t 51.42% of Muslims and 27.42% of H indus. 7

123456

7

The T rib u n e , March 22, 1931.I b id .C.H. P h i l l ip s , The E volu tion of Ind ia and P a k is ta n : 1858-1947. S e le c t docum ents, pp.C o llec ted Works of Mahatma Gandhi . Vol. LXV, p . 399 The T ribune. O ctober 9 , 1931.Indian Round Table Conferen ce : Second Committee P ro ceed in cs. pp on: M in o ritie sI .A .h . . 1932, Vol. I I , p . 37 .

%

65

T his Communal Award was s tro n g ly condemned by th e S ikhs and i t was decided to r a is e a A kali ShahidcDal of one lakh S ikhs fo r s t a r t in g an a g i ta t io n a g a in s t t h i s Award. 1

In the meantime Third Round Table Conference was convened in London. Government nominated Tara Singh (not M a ste r) , an ex-member of the Punjab L e g is la tiv e C ouncil, to re p re se n t the Sikhs as no lead in g Sikh le a d e r agreed to go th e r e . 3

Though he o b jec ted s t i l l no change was made and f in a l ly the Communal Award was included in the w hite paper embodying th e p ro p o sa ls of the B r i t is h Government fo r c o n s t i tu t io n a lre fo rm s .

The Congress a t t i tu d e towards the question o f communal re p re s e n ta t io n a lso d id no t s a t i s f y the S ik h s . 3 The Congress in o rd e r to secure the support of the Sikhs in the n a tio n a l s t ru g g le , re p e a te d ly assured them th a t th e i r i n t e r e s t s would be du ly p ro te c te d in fu tu re c o n s t i tu t io n a l reform s^ but d e sp ite re p e a te d re q u e s ts from the S ik h s , th e Congress did no t com plete ly re je c te d the Communal Award and thus i t c re a te d d iscon ten tm ent in the Sikh community.

1 . F i le No. 18, Home P o l i t i c a l , December 1932, NAI.2 . K.L. T u te ja , op. c i t . . pp. 159-60.3 . i b i d . , p . 161.4 . Idem.

Ib id * , p . 162.5 .

66

This Award fu r th e r es tran g ed the communal r e la t io n s inP unjab . The most se rio u s Muslim-Sikh r i o t took p lace over theShahidganj Gurdwara d is p u te . 1 The immediate cause of the r i o t was th e co n tro v ersy over the own the gurdwarou tb reak of the r i o t might be the r e s u l t of s t r a in e d r e la t io n s due to Communal Award.

In the meantime, the Government of Ind ia B i l l got ro y a l a ssen t on August 2 , 1935 and the Communal Award was i t s main p a r t . The Si^hs s tro n g ly c r i t i c i s e d i t , but they did no tco n sid e r i t r e je c t i t o u tr ig h t ly 3

E le c tio n s according to th e new B i l l were announced.S ard ar Jog inder Singh and Sunder S ingh M ajith ia formed K halsa4N a tio n a l P arty to f ig h t the e le c t io n s but the A kali Dal and K halsa Darbar formed another board . I t s m an ifesto was to s t r i v e fo r rep lac in g Communal Award by a ju s t and n a t io n a l s o lu tio n and a lso d ec la red th a t th i s board would n o t jo in anygovernment formed on the b a s is of th e Award. 6 The Congrea lso formed a sep a ra te Congress Sikh P arty fo r e le c t io n s in Punjab which compromised w ith A kali D al.1 . The d isp u te was th a t w hether th e b u ild in g o f the gurdwarawas i n i t i a l l y a mosque or n o t .2 . I .A .R .. 1935. Vol. I I , pp. 311-321.3 . I b id .4 . Gyani Gurcharan S ingh, op. c i t . , p . 110.5 - The T rib u n e . June 16, 1936.6 . I b id . , June 20 , 1936.

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In the e le c t io n s , which were held in the beginning of 1937, the U hion ist P a rty got 96 out of 175 thus secu rin g a m a jo r i ty . Congress got 18, Khalsa N ational P a rty 14, A kali Dal 10 and C o n g ressite Sikhs 5 . Sunder Singh M a jith ia a lso Jo in ed the m in is try formed by S i r S ikander Hayat Khan of U n io n is t P a r ty .

Sunder S ingh M ajith ia and o th e rs of Khalsa N a tio n a lP a rty in c lose c o lla b o ra tio n w ith the U nion ist P a rty en te redth e f ra y of Gurdwara e le c t io n s hoping th a t they would ro u t

2A kali Dal but A kalis won w ith over-whelming m a jo r ity . I t was a p e rso n a l v ic to ry fo r M aster Tara S ingh.

W ithin an year of th e i r coming in to power the U nion ist walked in to the p a rlo u r of Muslim League. In O ctober 1937 an agreement was reached between S ikander and Jinnah which i s known as S ik an d ar-J in n ah P ac t. Shiromani A kali Dal re a c te d sh a rp ly to the new development. In a m eeting of i t s ex ecu tiv e i t was reso lv ed th a t th e Akali members of th e L e g is la tiv e Assembly should jo in the Congress P a rty to

4s tre n g th e n th e fo rc e s of n a tio n a lism . U nion ist P a rty 5had convened a conference of a l l the p a r t ie s in Ju ly 1937 but 11 . The T rib u n e , March 3 , 1937.2 . M aster Tara S ingh , op. c i t . . p .3 . 'The 1937 E le c tio n and S ik an d er-Jinn ah P a c t ' by K hizrHayat Khan Tiwana in The Panlab P ast and P re s e n t ,Vol. X, O ctober, 1976, pp. 356- 385. “4 . K.C. G u la t i , op. c i t . . p . 77 .5* Gyani Gurcharan S ingh, op. c i t .» P. 117.

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m ainly due to M aster Tara Singh i t did not take anyheadway andft c o lla p se d . In November 1938, th e A kalisheld an A ll- In d ia A kali Conference a t Rawalpindi under the

2P re s id e n tsh ip of Baldev S ingh . A kali and Congress f la g s were flown sid e by s id e . He d ec la red th a t he considered the Congress to be the t ru s te e of our n a tio n a l honour and n a t io n a l s e l f - r e s p e c t . A fte r t h i s Congress and A kali Dal came more c lo s e .

meanwhile H i t le r dec lared war in Poland on September i , 1939 and g rad u a lly the Second World War s t a r t e d . U nion ist P a rty of Muslims and Akali P arty of Sikhs decided to help the

OB r i t i s h Government during th i s c r i s i s . As a r e s u l t both th e se p a r t ie s had an agreement which i s known as S ikander-B aldev Singh P ac t. Baldev Singh was taken as a m in is te r in U nion ist Government.

In March 1940 the Muslim League held i t s annual se ss io n a t Lahore and passed th e re P ak istan re s o lu t io n and d e c la re d th a t Muslims were a sep a ra te n a tio n and demanded th a t the areas where they were in m a jo rity be c o n s ti tu te d in to a sovereign Muslim S ta te . Sikh opposition to the

Cyani Gurcharan S ingh, op. c i t . . p2 . K.C. G u la t i ,

L»A.R. 1939. Vol. I I , pp. 31 , 33. I«A.R. 1940. Vol. I I , pp. 243-45.4 .

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P ak is tan scheme was more b i t t e r because an overwhelmingm a jo r ity of the Sikh popu lation was m ostly confined toP un jab . Sunder Singh M ajith ia sa id th a t i t would be theh e ig h t of audacity fo r any one to imagine th a t the Sikhswould to le r a te fo r a s in g le day the u n d ilu ted communal r a j ofany community in Punjab which i s no t only th e i r homelandbut a lso th e i r holy land . M aster Tara Singh sa id th a tP a k is ta n could be only in troduced in Punjab a f t e r p lay ingw ith the blood of S ik h s. The land of fiv e r iv e r s i s sacred

2to the Sikhs as to no body e l s e .On December 1 , 1940, an a n ti-P a k is ta n Conference was

convened a t Lahore which was addressed by M aster Tara Singh and many o th er le a d e r s . I t passed a re so lu tio n opposing th e

3fo rm ation of P a k is ta n .Some am bitious S ikhs and newspapers even suggested

th a t S ikhs should ask fo r a sep a ra te Sikh s ta te in oppo sitio n to th e P ak istan demand. But M aster Tara Singh was a g a in s t i t . 1

1 . I .A .R .. 1940. V o l.I , p . 357.2 . The T ribune . A p ril 18, 1940.3 . K.C. G u la ti , op. c i t . . p . 88.4 . The T ribune , A p ril 14, 1940 (V.S. B h a tti put forwardfo r a b u ffe r s ta te and Khalsa Sewak a lso preached fo r a sep ara te S ikh S ta te .

He s a id :While opposing the P ak istan scheme some Sikhs have lo s t t h e i r heads and they a re preaching the es tab lish m en t of Sikh r u l e .. . . Swaraj i s th e only so lu tio n of our c o u n try 's m isfo rtu n e . 1

However, the th r e a t of Muslim ru le forced the Sikhs to2seek more f r ie n d s . They had depended upon the Congress in

tim es of c r i s i s . But the Congress ta lk s w ith Jinnah crea ted g re a t su sp ic io n amongst the A kalis as they apprehended Hindu— Muslim rapproachm ent a t the co st of the Sikh i n t e r e s t .3

T h ere fo re , A kali s ta r te d e n l i s t in g persons fo r A kali4Sena which was to oppose the p roposal of P a k is ta n . Gandhi

w rote to M aster Tara Singh on August 1940 about th i s campaignfo r re c ru itm e n t and sa id :

You(Master Tara Singh) have nothing in common w ith the Congress nor th e Congress w ith y o u . . . th a t being in the C ongress, you weaken your community and weaken the C o n g ress ... . 5M aster Tara Sinch and h is su p p o rte rs s tro n g ly

re se n te d t h i s . As a r e s u l t of i t M aster Tara Sinch resig n ed7from the Congress Working Committee. But he did not ask o th e r A kalis to re s ig n from the Congress.1 . The T ribune. A p ril 18, 1940.2 . K.L. T u te ja , op. c i t .« p . 193.3 . Jasw ant Singh ( e d . ) , o p . c i t . . pp. 168-70.4 . F i le No. 4 /1 /4 0 , Home P o l i t i c a l , NAI.5 . The C ollected Works of Mahatma G andhi. Vol. LXII, pp. 395-96.6 . Jasw ant Singh ( e d . ) , op. c i t . , p . 171.7 « F i le No. 1 8 /9 /4 0 , Home P o l i t i c a l , NAI.

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In s p i te of h is r e la t io n s w ith the Congress, M aster Tara Singh conducted a campaign a g a in s t Muslim League.He held a number of A kali conferences in the prov ince and o f fe re d h is se rio u s opposition to the scheme. He was a lso c a l le d upon to p re s id e over the A n ti-P ak is tan C onferences held a t K arachi and sevexal o th e r p la c e s . I t i s q u ite r ig h t to say th a t the country looked upon Master Tara Singh w ith the hope and confidence as a man who could o ffe r a t e r r i b l e f i g h t a g a in s t th i s scheme. He was jo in ed in th i s ven tu re by K.M. Munshi of th e Akhand Hindustan F ro n t.

Thus ended a c ru c ia l chap ter in the l i f e of M aster Tara S ingh . He supported the Congress ag a in s t the w ishes of Baba Kharak S ingh, th in k in g th a t Congress would he lp th e S ikh cause but i t s stand proved c o n tra ry to h is b e l i e f .

• • •

1 . D u r la b SinQb# ^P* c i t * f p# 133«

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CHAPTER V

MASTER TARA SINGH AND PART IT ICN OF PUNJAB(1940-1947)

In d ia became f re e on August 15, 1947 but i t had to pay a heavy p r ic e in the form of p a r t i t io n of th e co u n try . In th e p rocess Punjab was d iv id ed in to two p a r t s . West Punjabgoing to newly c rea ted independent country of anE ast Punjab remained w ith In d ia . This p a r t i t io n of th e

Pun j i s unique in the h is to ry ofIn d o -P ak istan su b -co n tin en t because i t was fo llow ed byunprecedented cross mass m ig ra tion of popu la tion and

«

m assacre of ^housanjds of man, women and c h i l d r e n A s a*

r e s u l t of i t E ast Punjab as w ell as West Punjab not only su ffe re d a lo t but a lso w itnessed many s o c io - re l io u s and p o l i t i c a l up h eav a ls .

P a r t i t io n a ffe c te d a l l the Punjabis but i t a ffe c te d th e S ikhs the most because they were a t the c ro ss -ro a d s what to do. M aster Tara Singh ptovf&l made the p a r t i t io n of Punjab as h is p o l i t i c a l o b je c t iv e . 2 Lord M ountbatten has a lso

1 K irpal S ingh, Punjab, 1947* 'M aster Pun Tara SinghJo u rn a l of2

July-D ecem ber, 1986, p.^s-I b id .

and P a r t i t io n of P o l i t i c s . Vol. 10, No. 2,

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commented on t h i s w hile answering a question in h is P re ss Conference of 4 June 1947 he remarked:

I must p o in t out th a t the people who asked fo r the p a i t i t i o n were the S ik h s .The Congress took up th e i r req u es t and framed the re s o lu tio n in the form they w a n te d .. . They wanted the Punjab to be d iv id ed in to predom inantly Muslim and non-Muslim a re a s . I have done e x a c tly what the S ikhs req u ested me to do throughC ongress. 1But S ikhs were not the f i r s t to demand the p a r t i t io n of

P un jab . Lai a L a jp a t Rai was the f i r s t person to t a lk about2p a r t i t i o n of Punjab. There were communal r i o t s in 1923 and

1924 in K ohat. L a la j i wrote a number of a r t i c l e s about th e se r i o t s . While suggesting rem edical measures to con tro l th i s menance, he gave an idea to d iv id e Punjab in to E ast Punjab and West Punjab and argue^L th a t i f democracy was to work s u c c e s s fu lly and e f f e c t iv e ly under the system of communal e l e c to r a te s , the p a r t i t io n of Punjab was e s s e n t i a l . S im ila r ly in 1929 Dr. S ir Mohammad Iqba l advocated the ex c lu sio n of Ambala D iv is io n (a s iz e a b le p o rtio n of Punjab) from Punjab .^I t was no th ing e ls e than the demand fo r p a r t i t i o n . A fterw ards S ir G eoffrey C o rb e tt, S e c re ta ry of the Ind ian D elegation1» Tra n s fe r of Power. Vol. X I, p . 117.2 . The T rib u n e . December 21, 1924.

Speeches and S tatem ents of Iq b a l , compiled by Shamloo (Lahore, 1944), p . 13.

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to the F i r s t Round Table C onference, London (1930) endorsed the id ea put forw ard by I q b a l • The clim ax of th i s demand came i n

*th e Lahore re s o lu tio n of Muslim League in 1940. I t demanded the Muslim S ta te (P ak is tan ) to c o n s is t of g eo g rap h ica llycontiguous u n i t s , demarcated in to reg ions w ith such a

ot e r r i t o r i a l read justm en t as may be n ecessa ry . T e r r i to r i a l read ju stm en t meaning no th ing e ls e but the s p l i t t i n g of Punjab because the whole of the Punjab could no t ap p aren tly be inc luded in P a k is ta n , as i t had areas where Muslims were not in a m a jo rity and some of them had no geograph ical c o n tig u ity w ith the Muslim m a jo rity a re a s . 3 Mr. Coupland a s s e r t s th a t th e words 't e r r f c r ia l re a d ju s tm e n t’ were p a r t i c u la r ly added fo r the s p l i t t i n g of the Punjab and to exclude Ambala D iv ision as th e re were not any geographical c o n t ig u i ty w ith Muslim m a jo rity a re a s .

M aster Tara Singh jo in e d th i s is su e q u ite l a t e .In the year 1942 B r i t i s h Government sen t S ir C ripps to In d ia to seek agreement of le a d e rs to a c o n s t i tu t io n a l accord

1 . S ir G eoffrey C o rb e tt, The Communal Problem in P u n ja b ',hound T ab le Conference. Vol. I l l , Appendix No. XI, p . 1431.u_2 . Khuswant S ingh, op , c i t . , p . 241.

3 . K irp a l S ingh, The P a r t i t io n of the Punjab ( P a t i a l a ,1972),p . 7 .R. Coupland, ’The F uture of I n d i a ' , The C o n s titu tio n a l P ro b lem in In d ia , 1944, V o l.I I , p . 8. -----------------------------------------

4 .

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f o r In d ia - both p resen t and fu ture.'* ' A Sikh d e leg a tio nc o n s is t in g of S ardar Baldev S ingh , S ard ar U jja l Singh,M aster Tara Singh and S ir Jogendra Singh met S i r C ripps andp resen ted to him a memorandum regard ing th e Sikh po in t ofview . S ir C ripps in h is no te of March 27, 1942 w ro te:

A fte r read ing through the document w ith some e x p la n a tio n , they (th e Sikh le a d e rs ) n a tu r a l ly ra is e d im m ediately the qu estio n of p ro te c tio n of the Sikh m ino rity and the p o s s ib i l i t y of having some r e d is t r ib u t io n of p ro v in c ia l power between the e a s te rn and west Punjab in o rd e r to carve out a province in which the Sikhs would jt/i£ have the d e c is iv e vo ice as a la rg e balancing p a rty between the Hindu and Moslem. 2M aster T ara Singh d ism issed th i s m a tte r w ith

Mr O g iliv e , who in tu rn rep o rted i t to Mr. P in n e tt on March 30, 1942. He w ro te:

He (M aster Tara Singh) sa id th a t thefinly th in g th a t would s a t i s f y the S ik h s . . . was th a t the Punjab should be d iv ided and th a t the whole area south of S u tle j p lus the d i s t r i c t s of Lahore ( le s s Lahore c i t y ) , A m ritsa r, G urdaspur, J u l lu n d u r , H oshiarpur and Kangra should be made a se p a ra te p ro v in c e . . . He was e q u a lly convinced th a t the Sikhs would never to le r a te Muhammadan r u l e , open or d i s g u i s e . . . He sa id th a t the whole qu estio n of th e trea tem en t of m in o r itie s was much too vague and would not s a t i s f y the S ik h s .3 1 2 3

1 . P e rc iv a l S p ear, The Oxford H isto ry of Modern In d ia(London, 1965), p . 382.2 . T ra n sfe r of Power. V o l.I , p. 496.3 . I b id . , p . 564

W 4

But the d r a f t d e c la ra tio n prepared by Cripps fo rd isc u ss io n w ith Indian le a d e rs had a gloomy e f f e c t on S ik h s .M aster Tax a Singh wrote a l e t t e r to Cripps on March 31, 1942which sp e lle d c le a r ly the stand of A k a lis . He w ro te:

We have lo s t a l l hope of re c e iv in g any c o n s id e ra tio n s . We s h a ll r e s i s t , however, by a l l p o ss ib le means sep a ra tio n of Punjab from an a l l In d ia Uhion. 1A ccording to B reacher, the d ra f t d e c la ra tio n im plied accep tance of th e demand of P ak istan by th e B r i t i s h .Muslim League a lso considered i t as the acceptance of the

odemand of P ak is tan of th e i r concep tion .T his g re a t ly alarmed th e Sikhs because Punjab was a

Muslim m a jo rity province and i t could any tim e secede from th e Ind ian Union and thus acq u ire the s ta tu s of a Uhion.In such a case Sikhs would have to liv e under the dominance o f Muslims.

So Shiromani A kali Dal lodged a v igorous p ro te s t a g a in s t t h i s and subm itted a memorandum to Cripps saying th a t the

4p o s it io n of the Sikhs in Punjab had been f i n a l l y l iq u id a te d . 11 . T ra n sfe r of Power. V o l .l , pp. 582-83.2 . B reacher, op. c i t . . p . 278.3 . Chaudhary Khaliquzzman, Pathway to P a k is ta n (Lahore, 1961)p . 227.4 . T ransfer of Power. V o l.l , p. 588.

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Sikhs a lso suggested the fo llow ing safeguards a g a in s t t h i s s i tu a t io n :

By d e lim itin g the p resen t p ro v in c ia l boundaries of the Punjab , a new province com prising of Ambala and Ju llu n d e r D iv is io n s w ith the th re e d i s t r i c t s of A m ritsa r, Gurdaspur and Lahore be c o n s titu te d *2 . The Sikh m in o rity in the provinces be given the samew eightage and measure of p ro te c tio n as the Muslim m inority*3 . So long as communal e le c to ra te s e x i s t , p ro v in c ia lc a b in e ts should be formed on a c o a l i t io n b a s is .4 . The S ikhs should be given 5 per cen t re p re se n ta tio n inth e C en tra l L e g is la tu re .5 . A Sikh should always be given a sea t in the cab ine t ofth e C en tra l Government.6 . A Defence Advisory Committee should be se t up fo rad v isin g th e Ind ian Defence M in iste r and a Sikh should be given a se a t on th e com mittee.7 . The p o s itio n of the Sikhs in the Defence fo rc e s of In d iashould be m aintained in keeping w ith t h e i r p as t t r a d i t io n s and s tre n g th in those fo rc e s .8 . The share o f the Sikhs should be fixed in P ro v in c ia land A ll- In d ia se rv ic e s on the l in e s i t has a lread y been provided fo r the Muslims.9 . R e lig io u s laws of Sikhs enacted may only be amendedby the v o tes of m a jo rity of the Sikh members in th e l e g i s l a t u r e .10 . No r e s t r i c t i o n s should be imposed by the s ta te in th ee x e rc ise of the r e l ig io u s r ig h ts of the Sikhs in the m a tte rs of e a ta b le s and r e l ig io u s perform ances. 1111. The s ta te should provide fo r the teach in g of Punjabiin Gurmukhi s c r ip t where a c e r ta in fix ed number ofsc h o la rsh ip s i s forthcom ing. 1

T ran sfe r of Power. V o l.I , pp. 587-88.1 .

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In ano ther l e t t e r of May 4 , 1942 which M aster TaraSingh wrote to S i r C rip p s , he fu r th e r e la b o ra te d h is

proposa l fo r a se p a ra te p ro v in ce . He w rote:The only p a rty which w il l o b jec t to the d iv is io n of the Punjab as proposed by the Sikh re p re s e n ta t iv e s w i l l be th e MuslimLeague. I f the B r i t is h Government be p repared to accept th i s proposal of th e S ik h s , th e re i s a lik e lih o o d of the f i n a l so lu tio n of the communal problem . In th a t case I may be ab le to persuade the Congress and the Hindu Mahasabha to agree to the communal so lu tio n o u tlin ed in your ^ p ro p o sa ls , as amended by the Sikh p ro p o sa l.

But th e re was no v is ib le change in the a t t i tu d e of B r i t i s h Government. Once again Sikhs began to pin t h e i r hopes on the Congress but meanwhile Rajgopal Acharya gave a new form ula in 1944 th a t i f Muslim League would support th e demand fo r immediate independence, a Commission would beappointed to demarcate those contigous area in the North-W est

and E ast o f In d ia where Muslims were in an absolute m a jo r ity .

In these areas a p le b is c ite would be held to determ ine whether2

the people wanted a separate s ta te or to remain in In d ia .

R a ja j i also leaked out th a t th is was the view o f Gandhi.

So S ikhs did and were bound to assume 1 Congre

1 . Tra n s fe r of Power. Vol. I I , p. 27.2 . S .D . I .S . . Vol. I I , p . 549.

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accepted P a k is ta n . I t d e jec ted them. On August 2 , 1944S ir B. Glancy w rote to F ie ld M arshall Viscount W avell:

AhAQngst S ikhs Congress advances to the Muslim League have tended to meet the g en era l d isap p ro v a l and th e re have been loud com plaints th a t Gandhi in s p i te of h is prom ises has ignored the Sikh community. 1A m eeting was held on August 20, 1944 of a l l Sikh P a r t ie sa t A m ritsar* in which Gyani K arta r Singh rem arked:

Let us give up now the p ra c tic e of looking upto Gandhi fo r the p ro te c tio n of our i n t e r e s t s . 2

M aster T ara Singh was much d is tu rb ed and fo r theOf i r s t tim e /^ s ta ted th a t Sikhs were a sep a ra te n a t io n .

As a consequence on A ll Sikh P arty Conference was held which empowered M aster Tara Singh to organize Sikh o p p o sitio n

4and 3rd of Septem ber, 1944 was fixed as the p ro te s t day. M aster Tara S ingh appointed a sub-committee to c re a te e f f e c t iv e l ia s io n w ith o th e r Sikh groups to form a un ited f r o n t . Meanwhile S i r T e j Bahadur Sapru and Mr. Jayakar made an attem pt to so lve the communal issu e but to no av a il as Muslims re fu sed to cooperate w ith the Sapru Committee. 1

1 . T ransfer o f Power, Vol. IV, p . 1148.2 . C iv il and M ili ta ry G aze tte . August 21, 1944.3 . I.A .R . 1944. V o l.I , p. 298.4 C iv il and M ilita ry G a z e tte . August 20, 1944.

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However, a Sikh d e leg a tio n c o n s i s t in g ^ M aster Tara S ingh, Sampuran S in g h , Gyani T a r ta r S ingh, Ish a r Singh M ajhail and Udham Singh Nagoke argued Sikh case b efo re the SapruCommittee. i In o rder to make th e i r p o s itio n c le a r theShirom ani A kali Dal put forward Punjab scheme. 2

T his was a lso to co u n te rac t the Muslim League demand fo r3a sovereign Muslim S ta te . According to t h i s scheme, a

new Punjab was to be carved out a f te r se p a ra tin g them a jo rity I t was argued

i t was to bej«}n id e a l province w ith about an equal p ro p o rtio n4lim s and S ik h s , In a way i t was to be a

Sikh homeland f o r the S ik h s . 5A fte r the end of Second World War Lord W avell, the

V iceroy, in v i te d twenty-one Ind ian le a d e r s , in c lu d in g M aster Tara Singh to meet him. Leaders met him a t Simla in the l a s t week of June 1945 but the Conference broke down on thein s is te n c e o f Jinnah th a t only members of Muslim League should re p re se n t Ind ian Muslims on the E xecutive C ouncil. 6

1 .2 .

Khuswant S ingh, op. c i t . , p . 253.M aster Tara S ingh , Congress Te Sikh (P u n ja b i) , pp. 3-4

3 . Ganda Singh in D ic tio n a ry of N ationa p . 324. , Vol. IV,

4 . K irpal S in g h , The P a r t i t io n of Punjab, p . 10.5 . J u s t ic e H a r n a m Singh, Ihe Idea of Sikh S t a t e , pp. 27-46 .6 . T ransfer of Power, Vol. V, p . 1263.

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Jinnah*s stand convinced many Congress le a d e rs th a tMuslim Leaguers would have to be given the r ig h t tosecede i f they so d e s ire d . But M aster Tara Singh putforw arded h is own o p in ion . He sa id th a t i f Muslim demandedP a k is ta n , h is community wanted a sep ara te s t a t e fo rthem selves. P ak is tan was a g re a te r danger to the Sikhs

2than to th e o th e r com m unities. But the a t t i tu d e of Congress meant th a t Punjab (and Bengal a lso ) would have to be d iv id ed . Thus the ca rv in g kn ife was firm ly placed on the Sikhs*J u g u la r .

In the w in te r of 1945-46, the e le c t io n s were held a l l over In d ia . The Congress won a sp e c ta c u la r v ic to ry but f a i l e d to d is lo d g e the Muslim League's hold over the Muslim m asses. The League went to the p o ll on the is su e of P ak is tan and won every s in g le Muslim sea t w ith an o v e ra l l Muslim

, 4v o tin g o f 90Po. On the o th e r hand the S ikhs had gone to th e p o l ls to r e g i s t e r th e i r opposition to P ak is tan and an A ll P a r t ie s (except the Communists) Board c a lle d the P an th ic P ra t in ld h i Board was c o n s ti tu te d to f ig h t th e e le c tio n s 1

1 . The T rib u n e . August 30, 1945.2 . T ran sfe r o f Power. Vol. V, p . 1246.3 . Khusjwant S ingh , op. c l t . . p . 254.

I b id . , p . 256.4 .

* *d

The Sikhs won a l l th e i r s e a ts and the Communistth e only to support the form ation of P ak is tan were com pletely

1e lim in a te d . A ll n e g o tia tio n s between the Muslim League, Ind ian N a tio n a l Congress and the S ikhs f a i le d m ainly onth e an 2 Meanwhile S ir K hizr Hayat formed

Punj the support of Congre andP an th ic P ra t in id h i Board. 3

In the sp rin g b f 1946, a Cabinet M ission was appointedby A tt le e to v i s i t Ind ia fo r g t of

am andIn d ian le a d e rs towards P a k is ta n . The Sikhs were rep resen ted by M aster Tara S ingh, Gyani K arta r S ingh, Harr l a t e r on by Baldev S ingh . This d e leg a tio n of S ikhs was

4u n ited in i t s o p p o sitio n to P a k is ta n . M aster Tara Singh s a id th a t he was fo r a United In d ia . But he a lso made i t c le a r th a t i f P ak is tan was conceded, he was fo r a se p a ra teS ikh S ta te w ith the r ig h t to fe d e ra te an o r

5In d ia . While Gyani K arta r Singh described i t (Sikh S ta te ) as a ’p rov ince of th e i r own where they would be in a dominant o r alm ost dominant p o s it io n * • But the way S ikhs worded t h e i r1 . Khusjwant S ingh , op. c i t . . p . 256.2 . I b id . . p . 257.3 . Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, In d ia Wins Freedom, pp. 128-30.4 . Khus[want S ingh, op. c i t . , p . 258.5 . T ran sfe r of Power. Vol. V II, p . 138.6 . I b id . , p . 139.

.

demand robbed i t of any chance of se rio u s co n sid era tio n * They made i t sound not as something in h e re n tly d e s ira b le bu t only as a p o in t in an argument ag a in st P ak istan* The r e s u l t being th a t Cabinet M ission took no n o tic e of Sikh S ta t e , K h a lis tan or Azad Punjab and tre a te d the idea as one put up by the Indian N atio n a l Congress to thw art Muslim a s p i r a t io n . One of the main o b s ta c le s fo r the Sikh le a d e rs as w ell as B r i t i s h Government was th a t the Sikhs were no where in a m a jo r ity , not even in a s in g le d i s t r i c t of P u n jab .^

The p ro p o sa ls subm itted by the Cabinet M ission waso u tr ig h t ly r e je c te d by the S ikhs and they re fu sed to bepersuaded w ith c le v e r manoeverings th a t they could hold

2th e balance o f power in Punjab . M aster Tara Singh sen t a l e t t e r to S e c re ta ry of S ta te s , Lord PethiaX * Lawrence to In d ia on May 25, 1946. Commenting on the C abinet M issionp ro p o sa ls he w ro te :

Wave of d e je c tio n , resentm ent and in d ig n a tio n had run through the Sikh community. I f in the c o n s id e ra tio n s of t h e i r cab ine t m ission recommended to g ive p ro te c tio n to the Muslims why should the same co n sid e ra tio n no t to be shown to the S ik h s .3 1

1 . T ra n sfe r o f Power, Vol. V II, p . 138.2 . I b id . . p . 485.3 . I b id . , p . 6^)6

84

Baldev Singh a lso wrote to the S e c re ta ry of S ta te fo r In d ia who re p l ie d to him t e l l i n g him th a t the scheme could n o t be a l te re d to s u i t the S ikhs and they should safeguard t h e i r i n t e r e s t s by e le c t in g th e i r re p re s e n ta t iv e s to the C o n stitu en t Assembly and by c o lla b o ra tin g in the d ra f t in g o f the C o n s titu tio n of In d ia .

On Ju ly 29 , 1946 Council of Muslim League passed a r e s o lu t io n r e t r e a t in g i t s acceptance of Cabinet M ission P la n , and ano ther c a l l in g fo r ’d ire c t a c t io n ’ . Working Committee c a lle d upon Muslims throughout In d ia to observe 16 August as 'D ire c t A ction Day’ . T his c a l l r e s u l te d in th e outbreak of v io len ce in d i f f e r e n t p a r ts of th ec o u n try . 2

On th e p th e r hand, though the Congress had fa i le d to win over Muslim League y e t i t was able to persuade the Sikhs to

3g ive up t h e i r id e a of p a r t i t i o n . A meeting of P an th ic Boardwas he ld ion August 14, sponded to the Congressa p p e a l, but w ithou t g iv ing up a strong re s e rv a tio n s to th e

3C abinet M ission p ro p o sa ls . The Board a lso advised th e S ikhs to e le c t t h e i r re p re s e n ta t iv e s to the C o n stitu en t

4Assembly. As a r e s u l t of i t jo in ed as DefenceM in is te r on Septem ber 1946 in th e In te rim Government.5

1

2345

C.H. P h i l ip s and Mary Doreen W ainright ( e d s . ) , The Pa r t i t i o n of In d ia (Pol i c i e s and Pe r s p e c t iv e s : T935-1947 P.I .A .h . 1946. Vol. I I , pp. 66-67 The P a r t i t io n of I n d ia , p . 575.I .A .R . . 1946, Vol. I I , p . 15,I b i d . , p . 23.

85

The even ts were happening f a s t . So on February 29,1947, B r i t is h Prime M in is te r , A ttle e announced in B r i t is h P arliam en t th a t B r i t i s h Government would re l in q u is h powerin In d ia by June 1948, but i t happened much e a r l i e r and In d ia

2got the freedom on August 15, 1947, although paying a heavy p r ic e fo r i t in the shape of p a r t i t i o n . Thus estab lishm en t o f P ak is tan l e f t S ikhs much d isap p o in ted , d is i l lu s io n e d and d e je c te d . S ikh p o l i t i c i a n s , e s p e c ia l ly M aster Tara S ingh, waged a lo s in g b a t t l e ag a in st the movement fo r the form ation o f P ak is tan but th e Muslims won and th e S ikhs had to abandon t h e i r homes, lands and sh rin e s and had to m ig ra te .

Before we conclude th i s chap ter few words about Jinnah and p a r t i t io n o f Punjab would not be out o f c o n te x t. I t i s g e n e ra lly b e liev ed th a t during those days Jinnah advised th e S ikh le a d e rs to have a s ta te of th e i r own w ith in P a k is ta n .Even th e B r i t i s h Government was w ill in g to concede the demand fo r a se p a ra te Sikh S ta te but the Sikh le ad e rs and e s p e c ia l ly M aster Tara Singh p re fe rre d to remain in In d ia . But th i s i s n o t t r u e . According to Dr R ajin d er Kaur, daughter of M aster Tara S ingh , "Mr. Jinnah n e i th e r e n te r ta in e d th e p ro p o s itio n fo r an independent Sikh S ta te nor d id he ever adv ise the Sikh le a d e rs to demand one." 3

1 . tQiuswant S ingh, op. c l t . . p .2 . Satya M. R a i, P a r t i t io n of the Punjab, p . 19.

' k * M y ^ \ <\ & %

86

Although the Sikhs demanded a sep a ra te s t a te fo r them "b u t the d e s ire of the Sikhs could not m a te r ia l is e because th e d iv is io n of the country was done on num erical s tre n g th of the popu la tion and th e re were only th ree t e h s i l s in B r i t is h Punjab where th e S ikhs were in a m a jo rity . These t e h s i l s ,Tarn T aran , Moga and Jagraon were a lso not co n tig u o u s." 1But i t i s a f a c t th a t Jinnah t r i e d to win over th e Sikhs and th e r e f o r e , he o ffe re d c e r ta in p ro p o sa ls , i f the Sikhs decided to remain in P a k is ta n . One p roposal was th a t o u t of the two execu tive heads, the C hief M in is te r and th e Governor of the Punjab P ro v in ce , one would be a S ikh .The A kalis wanted to have a balancing power in the numberof M.L.As in Punjab This was not beingagreed to . 2

In ano ther proposal Jinnah agreed to concede a semi-autonomous Sikh S ta te w ith in the p o l i t i c a l boundaries o f P ak is tan whereas A kalis demanded a s e l f determ ined s ta tu s f o r a S ikh S ta t e . Mr. Jinnah was not p repared to acceptt h i s demand. 3 There were two fa c tio n s of Shirom ani A kali

GyaniD al a t th a t time headed by Ja th e d a r Udham Singh and K a rta r Singh re s p e c t iv e ly . Both these fa c t io n s were ag reeab le to th e proposal of Jinnah but M aster T ara S ingh ,1

2

R ajin d er Kaur (D r), ’J innah and Punjab P a r t i t i o n ' , The T rib u n e . May 9 , 1988.Idem.

3 .

87

th e u ltim a te le a d e r of the S ikhs was s c e p t ic a l and was notp repared to t r u s t the Muslim League un th e re was fo o lp roof guaran tee f o r the independent p o l i t i c a l ex is ten ce of th e S ik h s . He was r ig h t in no t t r u s t in g Muslims because the S ikh h is to ry i s f u l l of such in c id e n ts which r e f l e c t s the a t r o c i t i e s committed by the Muslims on the S ik h s . Even the d a i ly S ikh p ra y e r , Ardaas h ig h lig h ts such in c id e n ts . T h ere fo re , the S ikh psyche i s b a s ic a l ly anti-M uslim .

When we analyse the whole s i tu a t io n , we come to the co n c lu sion th a t a t th i s c r i t i c a l Juncture the Sikh le a d e rsh iple d by M aster Tara Singh was put in somewhat awkward

y \ orVs i t u a t i o n . I t was in favour of Uhited In d ia and i t d id .w ant the p a r t i t io n of In d ia but i t a lso decided th a t i f the country was p a r t i t io n e d , then the S ikhs would remain in In d ia .U ltim a te ly th e p a r t i t io n took p lace anS ikhs had to m igrate to In d ia in s u f f e r a heavy lo s s of l i f e and

a r e s u l t of i t the umber and had to

p ro p e rty . M aster Tara Singhplayed a key ro le in p rep arin g the Sikhs to r e s i s t th e tem p ta tio n of s id in g w ith Muslim League and thus saved a la rg e p a r t of Punjab from going to P a k is ta n . 1

1. H.V. Hodson, The G reat D ivide (London, 1969), p . 212.

88

CHAPTER- VI

MASTER TARA SINGH AND STRUGGLE FOR PIN JAB I SUB A(1947-1966)

In d ia became independent in 1947 a f te r paying a heavyp r ic e in th e shape of p a r t i t io n country* A new phasein th e p o l i t i c a l c a re e r of M aster Tara Singh s ta r te d in f re e In d ia . Before independence he almost c a re e r kept v e ry c o rd ia l r e la t io n s w ith Indian

through out h is p o l i t i c a lN a tio n a l Congress

But a f t e r independence Congress became th e m aster of th e d e s tin y of Ind ian p eo p le . P r io r to independence Indian N a tio n a lCongress S ingh , both were on th e same sid e as

were f ig h t in g fo r the freedom from th e B r i t i s h buta f t e r independence t h e i r r e la t io n s h ip became te n se and th eyp a r te d company m ainly due to the demandc re a t io n of P un jab i S'uba, a l in g u is t ic s t a t e . M aster Tara Singh was s tru g g lin g f o r i t s c re a tio n but the Congress Government atth e C entre was u n w illin g and did not concede t h i s demand, re lu c ta n c e to do so fo rced M aster Tara Singh to move apart from th e Congress and to s t a r t a long s tru g g le f o r th e c re a t io n of P un jab i Suba.

But befo re d e sc rib in g the s tru g g le fo r the c re a tio n

I t s

of P un jab i and ro le Singh in t h i s s t ru g g le ,i t w i l l be d e s ira b le to b r ie f ly re c o n s tru c t th e idea of r e d i s t r ib u t in g In d ia fo r a d m in is tra tiv e convenience in accordance w ith l i n g u i s t i c g roups. The idea of th e l i n g u i s t i cs t a t e s was bom and d iscu ssed in th e 1921 se ss io n of Indian

89

N atio n a l Congress which was he ld a t Ahmedabad, Mahatma Gandhi was g re a t ly in favour of t h i s idea th a t th e c o rrec t b a s is fo r the dem arcation of d i f f e r e n t p rov inces o r s ta te s was the l i n g u i s t i c b a s is . T h e re fo re , th e Congress P arty b efo re 1947 had very o ften made a demand f o r r e d is t r ib u t io n of In d ia in to l in g u i s t i c s ta te s p rim a rily f o r th e promotion of re g io n a l languages and u ltim a te banishment of th e E n g lish language, which was considered as a symbol of s lav ery But the p a r t i t i o n of Ind ia a t the time of independence andth e subsequent communal c rea ted more immediateproblems fo r the Congress Government and th e re o rg a n isa tio n of s t a t e s on l i n g u i s t i c b a s is was d e fe rre d . C o n stitu en tAssembly of In d ia Provinunder the Chairmanship of Mr. S.K. D ar, R e tired Judge of

Court recommendedpostponing t h i s s te p as i t was not in the la r g e r in te r e s t ofth e Ind ian I t was a lso of t h i s op in ion th a t i t wouldcause se rio u s a d m in is tra tiv e d is lo c a tio n and p o l i t i c a l and economic i n s t a b i l i t y . Jaw aharla l Nehru, the f i r s t PrimeM in is te r of independent In d ia , thought t h i s to be "an

th in g 1 But th i s d id no t down

1 . Jaw ah arla l N ehru, Speeches (D elh i, 1954), p . 57.

90

pace of the l i n g u i s t i c movement. The demand f o r th e c re a tio nof l i n g u i s t i c s t a t e s gained f u r th e r momentum w ith the

158-day f a s t of P . S riram ula and u lt im a te ly h is d e a th , fo r th e cause of c re a t in g Andhra P radesh . His death fo rced th e C e n tra l Government to cede Andhra Pradesh and f i n a l l y i t decided to appoint a high powered commission to consider th e question of re -o rg a n is a tio n of th e s ta te s on l i n g u i s t i c b a s i s . This Commission was appointe^Tn 1952.

In PunJ language issu e assumed g rea tim portance from 1948 onwards when an ex trem is t group of S ikh le ad e rs vo iced t h e i r demand fo r a l i n g u i s t i c a l ly homogenous P un jab i S ta te . So the demand of P un jab i Suba was f i r s t made before the s ta te s R e-o rg an isa tio n Commission in1953. The wanted to g e th e r th e Punjabi

2speaking a reas of Punjab, PEPSU and R a jasth an . I t a lso added th a t language of an area correspond to a sp e c ia l c u l tu re and t h i s c u l tu r a l m an ife s ta tio n must have an o p p o rtu n ity fo r growth through a l in g u i s t i c s t a t e of i t s own. 1

1 , Times of I n d ia » January 1 , 1953.2 . B.R. N ayar, o p . c l t . . p . 32 .

91

A kali Dal a lso was of t h i s firm b e l ie f th a t a l l P un jab ishave common m other tongue and th e re fo re they must havet h e i r own s t a t e . Shirom ani A kali Dal was a lso in favour o fr e ta in in g Gurmukhi as the only s c r ip t fo r P un jab i language

2and n o t D evnagri. A kali Dal d isag reed w ith th i s no tion th a t demand fo r P un jab i Suba is comrrunal. I t s ta te d th a t i t would be a p a r t of Ind ia and in t h i s s ta te Hindus would be

3en jo y in g a 5S& m a jo r ity . A kali Dal a lso l i s t e d b e n e f i ts of c re a t in g such a s t a t e , such a s :i )i i )i i i )

E lim in a tio n of Language C ontroversy .Contented S ikh community fo r the co u n try ;Harmony in the border s t a t e .

Thus A kali*s argued before the S ta te s R eorgan isa tionCommission th a t demand Punjabi not communal andi t s b a s is was language^ but on the o th e r hand they sa id th a t the d e m a rc a tio n of what is c a lle d Punjabi Suba seemed to be the only way to p reserve th e language, c u ltu re and re l ig io nof th e S ik h s . 4 They could not d is a s s o c ia te them selves fromS ikh demands. I t i s a lso c le a r from the re s o lu tio n which

i

2

3

ab iHukam S in g h , A Plea fo r Pun(A m ritsa r, 1951) . o . i-2 .’, pp. 9-10

I b id . . pp . 26 -27 .The Spokesman. September 7 , 1950

kina S ta te

4 .

92

th ey adopted in 1950. I t read :The c a llo u s and unsym pathetic tre a tm e n t has made ofgovernment has made re sp e c ta b le l i f e im possible fo r them (the S ik h s ) ,u t t e r n e c e s s ity of th eof thef e e l the they th e re fo re s tro n g lyspeedy c re a tio nPunjab i speaking province fo r the p ro te c tio n and p re se rv a tio n o f t h i s c u l tu r e , language, s e l f so lu tio n is re s p e c t , p a r t ic u la r ly when the u n iv e rs a lly recognised as dem ocratic and to which even the Indian N a tio n a l Congress s tan d s p ledged . 1

S im ila r ly the A kali m anifesto of 1951-52 genera l e le c t io n s w hile making a demand fo r a s ta te on the l in g u i s t i c b a s is , a lso emphasized on the Sikh needs saying th a t " th e Shirom ani A kali Dal has reasons to b e liev e th a t Punjabispeaking area may give the Sikhs the needfu l s e c u r i ty . 2

The demand fo r Punjabi Suba was opposed by the m a jo rity of Hindu community. Hindu p o l i t i c a l o rg a n isa tio n s l ik e Jan Sangh, Hindu Mahasabha, A ll P a rty Maha Punjab S a m iti , e t c .were ag a in s t th i s demand. Punjab Jan Sangh subm itted a

3memorandum to the government. A ll the p a r t ie s opposing the A k alis jo in ed hands to form Maha Punjab Sam iti which subm itteda memorandum to S ta te s R eorgan isa tion Commission s tre s s in g f o r th e c re a tio n of Maha Punjab by re o rg a n is in g Punjab, PEPSU1 . The Spokesman. February 20, 1956, p . 3 .2 . I b id . . August 29, 1951.3 . I t was named'Why Maha Punjab and i t was pub lished byU tta rh a t P u b lic a tio n s , ABibala C an tt.

93

and Himachal P radesh . The S am iti a lso s tre s s e d th a t inr e a l i t y t h i s demand is noth ing sho rt of a Sikh S ta te as A kali demand would tu rn 3C% Sikh m ino rity in to 53% Sikh m a jo r i ty .^ Hindus g e n e ra lly disowned even P un jab i language and considered im position of Punjabi in Gurmukhi s c r ip t as e s ta b l is h in g Sikh dominance over them . They argued th a t one could

Ohave a mother to n ^ b u t not mother s c r i p t . As a r e s u l t , d u rin g th e census of 1957, Hindus d e l ib r a te ly d ec la red H indias t h e i r mother to n g u e . Thus the Punjtu rn e d to be a bone of con ten tion between Hindus and S ik h s .

Shirom ani A kali Dal a lso subm itted i t s memorandum toth e a fo re sa id Commission demanding Punjabi speaking are anda lso g iv ing reaso n s fo r the c re a tio n of such a s t a t e . 3

Meanwhile e le c t io n s SGPC held in e a r ly1955. A kali Dal fought these e le c tio n s on P un jab i Suba is s u e . Shirom ani A kali Dal co n tested 112 s e a ts in a l l and won a l l of them . On the o th e r hand Congress sponsored Khalsa Dal was bad ly dem olished as i t co n tested 132 se a ts but could win

4only th r e e . F ru s tra te d the Punj on A p ril 6,1955banned the slogan of Punjabi Suba. A kali Dal took i t as anr :

2B.R. N ayar,Sher S ingh , The (Rohtak,

* Pof 42 in Pun

3 A ji t Singh S a rh ad i, Pu n ja b i Suba (The Sto ry of th ef ) (D elh i, 1970 ) , p

4 . I b i d . , p . 239.

94

i n s u l t and decided to launch a peacefu l sa tyao raha i f th i s ban was not l i f t e d and acco rd ing ly Master Tara Singh along w ith te n o th e rs co u rted a r r e s t on May 10, 1955 by r a is in g th e banned s lo g a n . As a r e s u l t of i t a morcha was s t a r t e d .V olun teers s t a r t e d o ffe r in g them selves fo r a r r e s t . D esp ite th e re p re s s iv e measures adopted by the s ta te government the morcha co n tin u ed . In d esp era tio n Government se n t p o lice to D arbar Sahib to a r r e s t A kali le a d e rs . This re s u l te d in adding fu e l to th e f i r e . Morcha was in te n s i f i e d . Some 12,000 A kali w orkers were a r r e s te d . F in a lly in a c o n c i l l ia to r y g e s tu re Bhim Sain S achar, Chief M inister of Punjab , was fo rced to l i f t the ban imposed on the slogan of ’Punjabi Suba Zindabad* and fo r face saving i t was lin k ed by the S ta te Government w ith the re tu rn in g home of Jaw ah arla l

oNehru a f t e r a su c c e ss fu l fo re ig n to u r . I t was expected th a t a f t e r l i f t i n g p f th i s ban, government would re le a se M aster T ara S in g h , but he was not re le a se d t i l l th e acceptance of an appeal ag a in s t h is conviction|on Septem berg 1955. A fte r h is re le a se from J a i l M aster Tara Singh d e c la re d on September 20, 1955 th a t u n t i l the Punjab Government made amends fo r th e Ju ly 4 in c id e n t , when p o lic e had v io la te d 1

1 . A ji t Singh S a rh ad i, op. c l t . . p . 240.2 . I b id . , p . 246.

I b id . , p . 247.3 .

95$

th e r e l ig io u s p la c e s , the S ikhs would not r e s t . U ltim ate ly C hief M in is te r Bhim Sen Sachar came to Akal Takht and in an open g a th e rin g apologized on b eh a lf of the government.

Meanwhile in October 1955 S ta te s R eorgan isa tion Commission in h is re p o rt re je c te d the demand fo r Punjab i Suba and recommended the merger of Punjab, PEPSU and Himachal P rad esh . I t was a t e r r i b l e shock fo r the S ikhs and M aster Taxa Singh c a l le d i t a ’decree of Sikh a n n ih i la t io n '.^Hukam Singh a lso c a lle d i t as another deadly blow and th re a te n e d th a t A kalis would launch an a g i ta t io n i f peacefu l3n e g o tia t io n s f a i l e d . T h erefo re , n e g o tia tio n s were s ta r te d between the C en tra l Government and A kali le a d e r s . M aster Tara Singh led a d ep u ta tio n com prising Bhai Jodh Singh (as re p re s e n ta t iv e of Chief Khalsa Diwan), Gian Singh Rarew ala, G yani K arta r Singh and Hukam Singh to meet the Prime M in is te r on O ctober 24, 1955 as i t was a lread y a rran g ed . Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad and P and it Gobind V allabh Pant were a lso p re s e n t . 1

1 . A ji t Singh S a rh a d i, op. c i t . . p . 249.2 . The Spokesman. October 19, 1955.3 . I b id . . O ctober 1 2 , 1955.4 . A ji t Singh S a rh ad i, op. c i t . . p . 258.

96

A fte r few months of t a l k s , the 'R egional Form ula '^ was ev o lv ed . A kali D al, a f te r much d e l ib r a t io n , accepted i t though th e re was s tro n g o p p o sitio n to i t from many groups of A kalis as w ell as Hindu community. A kali spokesmensoon began to say th a t i t was only the f i r s t towardsth e f in a l goal Punjabi 2

3Regional Formula was b a s ic a l ly a p o l i t i c a l se ttlem en t

and A kalis Jo ined Congress P a rty except M aster Tara S ingh.But when the names of the cand idates fo r th e forthcom ing e le c t io n s were f in a l iz e d , th e re was a shock f o r A kalis as th ey

TU_were given only 20 s e a ts . M aster Tara Singh was. f i r s t to oppose i t . He reo rg an ised the A kali Dal as an opposition p a rty to e n te r the arena w ith renewed v igour and demanded

1 . According to Regional Formula members o fth e PunjabL e g is la tu re was d iv id ed in to two groups : one com prising th o se who were e le c te d from the Ptanjabi speaking region and th ^ 6th e r from the H indi speaking re g io n . I t was a lso provided in t h i s form ula th a t any measure a f fe c t in ga p a r t i c u la r reg ion would f i r s t be considered by members of t h a t reg ion before coming up fo r p len ary c o n s id e ra tio n . The Sachar Formula was to co n tin u e , and in ad d itio n t o i t was agreed th a t the o f f i c i a l language of each reg ion a t th e d i s t r i c t lev e l and below would be th e language of th e re g io n . The Punjab was d ec la red a b i l in g u a l s t a t e reco g n iz in g both Punjabi ( in Gurmukhi s c r ip t ) and H indi ( in D evnagri s c r ip t ) as the o f f i c i a l languages of th e S ta t e . Departments of Punjabi and H indi were s e t up; p ro v is io n was a lso made fo r the e s tab lish m en t of a Punjab i U n iv ers ity (opened in 1962 a t P a t i a l a ) .2 . H industan Tim es. March 12 , 1956.3 . K..C. G u la t i , o p j c i t . , p . 165.

97

P un jab i Suba. With the help of A ll Ind ia S ikh S tuden ts F e d e ra tio n , he p ressed even more s tr id e n d ly f o r Punjabi Suba and a lso s ta r te d a campaign ag a in st a lleg ed government in te r fe re n c e in the gurdw aras. A c tu a lly the amalgamation of PEPSU w ith Punjab n e c e ss ia te d an amendment of th e Punjab Gurdwara Act of 1925. I t was in te rp re te d by the A k alis as an attem pt of the government to send i t s nominees to the SGPC. M aster Tara Singh met Nehru but he re fused t o in te rv e n e . So M aster Tara Singh gave a c a l l fo r th e observance of March 15, 1959 as a p ro te s t day in D elh i and d ec la red th a t a s i l e n t p rocession would a lso be taken at th a t t im e . He was taken in to custody on the eve of h is d ep artu re fo r D e lh i. O rders were a lso Issued to cancel a l l sp e c ia l t r a i n s and perm its of a l l h ire d buses were impounded because as. th e se werej/to c a rry Sikhs fo r jo in in g the p rocession in D e lh i . S evera l a r r e s ts were made. S t i l l a la rg e p rocession was taken out in D e lh i. In A ll Ind ia Dharmic Conference a t Rakab Ganj Gurdwara, a re so lu tio n was passed condemning th e a r r e s t of M aster Tara S ingh.

M aster Tara Singh was re le a se d from the j a i l on March 2 1 , 1959. Nehru again re fu sed to in te rv en e in gurdwara a f f a i r s . M aster Tara Singh suggested in a p re ss statem entth a t members of le g is la tu r e be debarred from c o n te s tin g

2e le c t io n s of S .G .P .C . but Gy^ni K arta r Singh was opposed to 1

1 . A ji t Singh S a rh ad i, op. c l t . . p . 314 .2 . Idem.

98

impose such r e s t r i c t i o n s . M aster Tara Singh announcedth a t he would go on f a s t unto death on A p ril 16, 1959. Onth e in te rv e n tio n of some f r ie n d s , BNehru in v ite d M aster TaraSingh a t te a on A pril 11* 1959. An agreement was reachedabout the form ation of fo u r member committee c o n s is t in g oftwo nominees of government and two of M aster Tara Singhto consider a l l types of a l le g a tio n s ag a in st Sikh m in o rityin th e s t a t e . A fte r th i s m eeting Master Tara Singhd ec la red th a t he would continue h is f ig h t f o r Punjab i Subaand would f ig h t on th is issu e the e le c t io n s of SGPC going

2to be held in January 1960. Congress Sikhs took i t as aOchallenge and formed Sadh Sangat Board.

Meanwhile Congress High Command on December 23 , 1959 decided to b ifu rc a te Bombay s ta te in to two s ta te s namely M ahrashtra and G u jra t . I t a ffe c te d Sikh psyche and Sikh masses began to b e liev e th a t Punjab was the only s ta te which was being d e l ib r a te ly l e f t b i l in g u a l . On th e o th e r hand M aster Tara Singh secured 132 s e a ts out of 139 s e a ts of SGPC and government sponsored Sadh Sangat Board could get on ly fo u r . A fte r th i s mammoth la n d s lid e v ic to ry M aster1» A jit Singh S a rh a d i, op, c i t . . p . 314.2 . K.C. G u la t i , op. c i t . . p . 168.3 . I b id . . p . 169.4 . A ji t Singh S a rh a d i, op . c i t . . p . 217.3 . I b id . . p . 318.

99

T ara S ingh , on January 24, i9 6 0 , c a lle d upon the Congress High Command and Government of In d ia to see th e w ritin g on the w all and to concede the demand of Punjabi Suba f a i l in g w hich, he announced, an a g ita t io n would be s ta r te d which would i n i t i a l l y be confined to c o n s t i tu t io n a l means.Moreover 132 e le c te d members of SCPC, belonging to A kali D a l, to o k pledge a t Akal Takht to s a c r i f ic e t h e i r Tan .Man ,Dhan^ f o r th e achievement of Punjabi Suba. M aster Tara Singh was f i r s t to tak e th i s p ledge. The bugle had been blown but th e beginning of the b a t t le was l e f t to government choosing .I t had been the technique of M aster Tara S ingh , during h is p o l i t i c a l le ad e rsh ip th a t he prepared th e ground fo r a g i t a t io n , en thused the masses and then w aited fo r th e government to tak e some wrong s te p . He never m issed an o p p o rtu n ity fo r a p o ss ib le compromise but c a r r ie d th e f ig h t to ^ i t s lo g ic a l end, i f the co n d itio n s and

5circum stances p e rm itte d . 1

1 . A ji t Singh S a rh a d i, op. c i t . . p . 318.2 . Body, Soul and Money.3 . A ji t Singh S a rh ad i, op. c i t ♦ . p . 319.4 . Idem.5 . Idem.

100

M aster J i was unanimously e le c te d P resid en t of SGPCin a genera l body m eeting on March 7 , 1960 and th i s meetinga lso decided to boycott the 26 member committee appointed byth e S ta te Government to consider language is s u e .^ I t passeda re s o lu tio n th a t the only so lu tio n of the l i n g u i s t i c tro u b leof the Punjab i s to b ifu rc a te the Punjab on the b as is of P unjab i

2and H in d i. This was follow ed by the d ir e c t iv e issued by Shirom ani A kali Dal to i t s members who had Jo ined Congress p a r ty in 1956 or a f te r and o th e rs persons to fo rth w ith res ig n from the Congress p a r ty and a l l i t s com m ittees. Five out of

324 A kali M.L.A's re s ig n e d . M aster Tara Singh resig n ed th e P re s id e n tsh ip of SGPC on A pril 30 , 1960 to devote h is e n t i r e tim e and energy to the a g ita t io n fo r the c re a tio n of

4P un jab i Suba. M aster Tara Singh sa id in A m ritsar on May 10 , 1960 th a t 'w e are determ ined to ob ta in Punjabi Suba, we s h a l l e i th e r win o r d ie , we s h a l l not be d e fe a te d .He c a lle d a convention fo r t h i s purpose on May 22, 1960 1

1 . K..C. G u la t i , op. c i t . , p . 169.2 . A Jit Singh S a rh ad l, op. c i t . . p . 320.3 . Ib id . . p . 322.4 . Idem.

I b i d . , p . 323.5 .

101

a t A m ritsar which was a ttended by among o th e r s , Pandit Sunder L a i, Dr. S aifudd in K itch lu and Harbhajan S ingh ,Chairman Punjab Unit of P ara ja S o c ia l i s t P a r ty . Through a re s o lu tio n the convention urged the Government of In d ia no t to f u r th e r delay the re o rg a n isa tio n of Punjab on Language b a s i s . On th i s Mr. Darbara S ingh , the P re s id e n t of PunjabPradesh Congress Committee a lleg ed th a t M aster Tara Singh

2was in league w ith P ak istan to c re a te ten sio n in Punjab .But i t was a b a se le s s a l le g a tio n and Congress only wanted to d iv e r t the p u b lic a t te n t io n .

M aster Tara Singh in co n su lta tio n w ith the Working Committee of Shirom ani A kali Dal announced h is march from A m ritsar on May 29,1960 on h is way to D elh i where he sa id th a t he would take out a p o l i t i c a l p rocession to dem onstrate the Sikh support to the demand of Punjabi Suba. On the o th e r hand Punjab Government a r re s te d M aster Tara S ingh , f iv e M.L.A’s and about 200 o ther Akali workers and le a d e rs .A kali newspapers - Parbhat (Urdu) and A kali (P un jab i) _were suppressed and th e i r p u b lic a tio n were stopped ,and a l l members of th e i r s t a f f were a r r e s te d . 4 A re ign oft e r r o r was c re a te d through out the s t a t e . In s p ite of t h i s1 . K.C. G u la t i , op. c l t .« p . 169.2 . A ji t Singh S a rh ad i, op. c i t . . p . 324.3 . &«G« G u la t i , oj2-j__ci>t . , p . 168.4 . A ji t Singh S a rh ad i, op. c i t . . p . 325.

102

the Shirom ani A kali Dal sen t a J a th a of 11 persons to Dekhi on May 20, 1960 which was a r re s te d about 3 m iles from A m ritsar* Many sy m p ath ise rs , who had come to see o ff the J a th a , were a lso a r r e s te d . This led to another movement and every day a J a th a of 11 A kalis courted a r r e s t o u ts id e Darbar S ah ib .Thus the second b a t t l e fo r Punjabi Suba had begun. This s i tu a t io n had been brought about by the government by u n n e c e ssa rily a r r e s t in g Master Tara Singh and o th e r A k a lis .

M aster Tara S ingh , before going to J a i l , had appointed Sant Fateh Singh as the d ic ta to r of the morcha. 3 The movement gained momentum and by Ju ly 25, 1960 t o t a l number of persons a r re s te d in A m ritsar alone rose to 17 ,821 .4 Meanwhile a d ep u ta tio n of prominent C ongressites and Arya S am a jis ts met the Prime M in iste r on June 16, 1960 and assured them th a t the Hindus would give f u l l co -o p era tio n to the government in the maintenance of the law and o rd e r . 5 Prime M in is te r on August 15, 1960 d escrib ed Punjabi Suba movement' a s tag e tamasha going on in D elh i and P u n ja b .. . th e re would be no b ifu rc a t io n of Punjab '.®

1 . Aj.it Singh S a rh ad i, op. c l t . . p . 326.2 . Idem.3 . N iran jan S ingh , op. c i t . . p . 180.4 . A ji t Singh S a rh ad i, op. c l t . . p . 329.5 . I b id . . pp. 330-31.6 . I b i d . , p . 331.

103

However, the movement had an Impact on th e government and the Governor of Punjab issued an ordinance d e c la rin g P un jab i as the o f f i c i a l language at the d i s t r i c t le v e l from O ctober 2 , 1960. This ordinance was construed as a fe a th e r in the tu rban of M aster Tara S ingh .

Prime M in is te r in h is monthly p ress conference a t D elh ion O ctober 10, I960 declared th a t "we s h a ll not have anyP u n jab i Suba. I t i s a communal demand and would be s tro n g ly

2r e s is te d " .On the o th e r hand the a r r e s t of very la rg e number of

persons c rea ted a problem of accommodation in the j a i l s fo r the Punjab Government. M.S. G olw alkar, Chief of R ash triy a Swamya Sewak Sangh, v i s i t e d Punjab and advised Punjabi Hindus to accept P unjab i as t h e i r m other-tongue and was of th e op in ion th a t i f l in g u is t i c s ta te s were to be c re a te d as had been c re a te d in o th e r p a r ts of co u n try , then th e re was no j u s t i f i c a t i o n fo r denying the Punjabi Suba to th e Punjabi

3speaking p eo p le . But t h i s sound advice was not re l is h e d by th e Hindus of Punjab .

By th a t time more than 40,000 Sikhs had been a r r e s te d . S an t Fateh Singh approached Prime M in is te r but w ith no r e s u l t . 1 2 3

1. A ji t Singh S a rh a d i, op. c l t . , p . 332.2 . Idem.3 . The T ribune , November 3 , 1960.

104

A fte r c o n su lta tio n s w ith some prominent le a d e rs he (Sant F ateh Singh) announced th a t he would go on f a s t from December 18, I960 . Jay Prakash Narayan t r i e d to mediate but

2Nehru sa id " He (Sant Fateh Singh) can go on f a s t"So Fateh Singh s ta r te d h is f a s t a t 9 .00 a.m . on

December 18, 1960. He was s t i l l w il l in g to n e g o tia te w ithPrime M in is te r , but M in ister of Punjab, Mr. PartSingh Kairon was no t in i t s fav o u r. Prime M in is te r on December 23, w hile addressing a pub lic m eeting in v ite dSant Fateh Singh fo r ta lk s a t D e lh i. Kairon a shrewdp o l i t i c i a n He we th a t M aster Tara Singh wanteda sm a lle r P unjab i speaking s ta te w ith Sikh m a jo r ity . T h e re fo re , he o rdered the re le a s e of M aster Tara Singh

of December 23,19604

ore the Prime M in is te r 's /G ffe r could be made the b a s is of any fu tu re

t a l k s . And i t happened as ^ -v is u a l iz e d . fhe pro-wholePunjab u n ilin g u a l s ta te A kalis were s ile n c e d . 5 A longm eeting of A *ali Dal was held on January 5 , 1961 in whichNehru*s re p ly was considered and the m a tte r was l e f t to Sant Fateh Singh and M aster Tara S ingh. 6 U ltim a te ly Sant1 .2 .3 .4 .5 .6 .

K.C. G u la t i , » c l t . . p . 171.A ji t S ingh , S a rh ad i, I b id . , p . 337.Jasw ant Singh ( e d .) ,

» p . 336

c l t . . pp. 313-14A ji t Singh S a rh ad i, o p . c l t . . p . 340.I b i d . , p . 341.

105

re fu se d to accept the o f fe r of the Primeas he wanted th a t the demand Punj acceptedin p r in c ip a l 1 A kali lead e rs decided to send M asterTara Singh to Bhavnagar where the Prime M in is te r was, as a Congres se ss io n was being held th e re . He had a two-hour

Prime on January 7 , 1961. Sant sa idth a t he could not break h is f a s t u n t i l he was d ire c te d by M aster Tara S ingh . Nehru made a pub lic d e lc a ra tio n on Januaxy 8 , 1961 in which he re fe r re d to h is t a l k w ith M aster

Singh& in p r in c ip a l th a t whole of th ebe lin g u a l 2 M aster Tara Singh was at

D e lh i a t th a t t im e . He sent a te legram to S a n t, say in g ,I am s a t i s f i e d w ith to d a y 's speech of Prime M in is te r at

S a rd a r N agar. Request to break f a s t . I t f u l f i l l s the3requ irem en ts of vow." He reached A m ritsar the same day and sa id th a t he had gone to Bhavnagar to req u est Prime M in is te r to d ec la re : ( i ) th a t i t was no t in account&f any d e sc rim in a tica g a in s t o r d i s t r u s t in q u is t icp r in c ip a l was not being applied fo r Punjab, but fo r o therre a so n s , which can be d iscussed and considered by mutuald isc u ss io n s and(b) th a t any o th e r m atter a r is in g out ofP u n jab i Suba would be d iscussed between th e government and A k a li D a l.41 . A ji t Singh S a rh ad i, op. c i t . . p . 3412 .3 .

K.C. G u la t i , op. c i t I b id . , p . 173.

• • p . 172.

4 .

106

He a lso d ec la red th a t Prime M in is te r 's speech at S ardar Nagar confirm ed i t , th e re fo re , Sant was requested t o break h is f a s t im m ediately. Panj Pyaras a lso commanded Sant to break h is f a s t . Thus he ended h is 22 day f a s t a t 8 .20 a.m. on January 9 , 1961. As a r e s u l t of i t Punjab Government l i f t e d a l l r e s t r i c t io n s on A kalis and a l l the p r iso n e rs were re le a s e d .

P ro fesso r Sher S ingh, Chairman of the Action Committee o fthe Arya Samaj and General S e c re ta ry of V ishal Haryana Pradesh P arty to ld a Press Conference at D elh i on February 6 , 1961 th a t people of Haryana area would r e s i s t any agreement d e c la rin g Punjab as u n ilin g u a l s t a te because i t meant th a t Punjab i would be imposed on Haryana a t a l l le v e ls

nand people ofriHaryana would not submit to t h i s c o n d itio n .On the o th e r hand Master Tara Singh declared in a p ress conference th a t the b a t t le fo r the atta inm ent of Punjabi Suba would co n tin u e . The suspension of s tru g g le i s only a tru c e or

3c e a s e f i r e to c re a te a good atmosphere fo r t a l k s . This s ta tem en t of him gave th i s im pression to the Sikh masses th a t the b a t t l e fo r the Punjabi Suba had been l o s t , and th e pledge of Sant Fateh Singh fo r i t had been broken at th e

1 . A ji t Singh S a rh a d i, op. c i t . , p .2 . I b i d . , p . 345.3 . Idem.

107

In s tan ce of M aster T ara S ingh. T h erefo re , he was hooted in a Diwan at Manji Sahib on June 11, 1961. Again a S ikh g a th e rin g a t Muktsar re fu sed to hear him. He had to end h is speech ab ru p tly on January 12, 1961 due to d is tu rb a n c e s . Thus h is in flu en ce as a le a d e r was on the wane But when the m eeting of Shiromani A kali Dal was held onJan u ary 16, 1961 a t A m ritsar, confidence was reposed inM aster Tara Singh and he was ap p rec ia ted fo r h is wisdom in

2having the f a s t broken.The expected meeting between Sant and Prime M in iste r

was arranged on February 8, 1961 but noth ing concre te came out3of i t . On March 11, 1961 M aster Tara Singh was r e -e le c te das P re s id e n t of Shirom ani A kali Dal and he r e i t e r a t e d thedemand fo r P unjab i Suba in fo llow ing words:

The fa c t remains th a t the p resen t Punjab co n ta in s some a ieas which are not Punjabi sp eak in g . The Shirom ani A kali D a l, th e re fo re demands th a t non-Punjabi speaking a re a s , should be£ut o ff to c re a te a u n ilin g u a l P un jab .1 2 3Sant Fateh Singh t r i e d to so ften i t in a c®nference atS angrur on March 28, 1961 saying th a t he wanted th a t th e a reas where P un jab i language was sptoken by the m a jo rity ofthe people should be Punjab i w ith Gurmukhi1 . A ji t Singh S a rh ad i, op. c l t . . p. 346.2 . Idem.3 . KiC. G u la t i , op . c i t . , p . 174.

108

s c r ip t should be I t s s ta te language. 1

P artap Singh Kairon charged toaster Tara Singh w ith• V ^ • • * w • * V A A ^ 5 ^ W A 4 O A U V I M

2hatch ing a consp iracy w ith the help of P a k is ta n . MasterSingh sa id th a t th i s sta tem en t was in s in u a te d by th e

Prime M in is te r . 3 Next round of ta lk s between Prime M in iste rL,and Sant Fateh Singh fix e d fo r May 12, 1961. On May 11, 1961

M aster Tara Singh sa id th a t Prime M in iste r had no confidence in him (M aster Tara Singh) th e re fo re he o ffe re d to r e t i r e from pub lic l i f e and to leave h is beloved country fo r e fev er5* Prime M in is te r to ld Sant th a t i t was a consideredopinion of the Government of Ind ia th a t the form ation of P un jab i Suba was n e i th e r in the in te r e s t of Punjab nor in the in te r e s t of the co u n try .” and t h i s f i n a l l y tu rn ed down the demand of Punjabi Suba. Consequently a wave of despondency and d e jec tio n was bxought over th e Sikh m asses, p a r t ic u la x ly over the youth and they began to d iscu ss new s te p s . Now Master Tara Singh decided to undertake f a s t unto death to fo rce the government and he a lso accused th e government th a t i t was d isc rim in a tin ga g a in s t the S ikhs 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Punj

1 . A jit Singh S a rh ad i, op. c l t . . p . 347.2 . Idem.3 . Idem.4 . Idem.5 . K.C. G u la t i , op. c l t . . p . 174.6 . Jasw ant Singh ( e d . ) , op. c l t . . p . 323.7 . A ji t Singh S a rh ad i, op. c i t . , p . 348.

109

A m eeting of Working Committee of A kali Dal was c a lle d on May 28, 1961, a day before the sessio n of th e general body of Shirom ani A kali Dal to consider M aster Tara S in g h 's o f f e r , which he claimed was the l a s t s tru g g le and wouldno t end un 1the demand was ach ieved . An e ig h t memberscommittee was formed to consider the s i tu a t io n and to adv ise the gen era l body. The m eeting of the general body was more l ik e a convention in whom Dr S a ifu d in K itc h lu , Mr. K ali Charan Sharma, Mr. Sunder L a i, P re s id en t ofthe A ll Harcharan Singhm in is te r of PEPSU, Seth Ram N ath , former Chairman of Punjabi R egional Committee; Udham Singh Nagoke, P re s id e n t of Punjab Swat a n tra P a r ty , Harbhajan S ingh, le a d e r of Punjab P a ra ja S o c ia l i s t P a rty and Mr. K.G. Jodh, G eneral S e c re ta ry of the A ll In d ia L in g u is tic S ta te Conference and many o th e rprom inent pe 2p a r t ic ip a te d . I t passed a re s o lu tio n

W ciSin w hich, b esid es o ther th in g s , Master Tara S ingh ,allow edto go ahead w ith h is plan to go on unto d ea th . 3M aster Singh stand s a id , " I do notwant to d ie but while l iv in g I do not want to see the S ikh Panth in s u lte d and the Sikhs tre a te d as in f e r io r

1 .2 .

Jasw ant Singh ( e d .) , op . c i t . . p . 323 A ji t Singh S a rh ad i, op. c i t . . p . 350. Idem.3 .

110

to o th e r com m unities. I s h a l l begin my f a s t unto d e a th .1 O ther A kali lead e rs vowed th a t i f he d ied o th e rswould fo llow him u n t i l PunJ

So showing h is sense c s ta r te d h is f a s t unto death

h is to ry M aster Tara Singh on August 15, 1961. He had

chosen Independence Day to d rive home h is charge th a t th eS ikhs were being d isc rim in a ted ag a in st in f re e In d ia . 2He took an oath a t Golden Temple th a t he would not break h is f a s t u n t i l Nehru accepted the demand fo r P unjab i Suba but Nehru stood adamant while making s ig n if ic a n t concessions to A kali D a l. He agreed (a) to c o n s t i tu te a high lev e l in q u iry in to charges of d isc rim in a tio n ag a in st th e Sikh community, (b) to examine methods by which the Regional Committee would become e f f e c t iv e , and (c) to g ra n t , i f

3to

n e c e s sa ry , more powers to the reg io n a l com m ittees.At the same tim e he warned A kalis th a t th e i r p roposals

0th e p a r t i t io n of Punjab again was harmful fo r th e co u n try , fo r th e Punjab and e s p e c ia lly fo r the Sikhs A kalis were no t s a t i s f i e d w ith these co n cessio n s. M aster Tara 1 2 3 4

1 . Jasw ant Singh ( e d .) , op. c i t . . p . 323.2 . K.C. G u la t i , op. c i t . . p . 134 .3 . A j i t S ingh S a rh ad i, op. c i t . . pp. 354-57.4 . Ib id . , p . 357.

I l l

Singh w hile g iv ing in te rv iew to the fo re ig n J o u rn a l is ts on September 2 , 1961 sa id th a t (a) e i th e r G reat B rita in or some o th e r n a tio n should promise to r a is e the question of P u n jab i Suba in U.N.O. and (b) the B r i t i s h Governor of th e Punjab a t th e tim e of p a r t i t io n or e rs tw h ile B r i t is h Deputy Commissioner of A m ritsar be made an a r b i t r a to r of th e issue* He a lso issued a sta tem ent to the p ress th a t he suggested names of R a ja j i , Ajay Ghosh and Ashok Mehta as a x b i t r a to r s bu t were no t accep tab le to the Government.He a lso suggested the name of Jay Prakash Narayan fo r

2a r b i t r a t i o n . Meanwhile A kali le a d e rs th rea ten edth e government th a t v io lence would break out i f M aster Tara3Singh d ie d .

However, the adamant p o licy of the government and M atron 's e f f e c t iv e maintenance of law and o rd er convinced A k alis th a t th ey were on the wrong s id e of the fen ce . T herefore f i n a l l y they agreed to the appointment of a High Powered In q u iry Commission on the government 's

4te rm s . A c tu a lly H ardit Singh M alik and M aharaja Vadvinder Singh of P a tia la on October 1 , 1961 met 1 2 3

1 . Jasw ant Singh ( e d .) , op. c l t .« p . 327.2 . Idem.3 . A ji t Singh S a rh ad i, op. c i t . . p . 260.

I b i d . . p . 362.4 .

112

Home M in is te r Lala Bahadur S h a s t r i and on 7 p.m . the same day M aster Tara Singh broke h is 48 days old f a # t . Working Committee of the A kali Dal took 90 m inutes to confirm the d ec is io n before M aster Tara Singh broke h is f ast

Soon a f t e r breaking h is f a s t . Master Tara S ingh , in a p ress sta tem ent v is u a lis e d a p o l i t i c a l se ttlem en t w ith the government even before the Sikh g rie v a n c e s , inc lud ing th e q u estio n of P unjab i Suba, were re fe r re d to the High Powered

3Commission. But the ex trem is t wing of A kali Dal re je c te d t h i s compromise as according to them, no th ing had been g a in ed . Though M aster Tara Singh t r i e d to p a c ify them but i t was on the breaking of the f a s t by him th a t a re v o lt ensured w ith in A kali D a l. I t was decided to r e f e r th e m a tte r to Panj Pvaras and they a f te r a d e ta i le d in q u iry found both Sant Fateh Singh and Master T ara Singh g u i l ty of having broken th e i r p ledge. So both were sentenced to do penance. But s tra n g e ly enough, a day a f t e r th e same M aster Tara Singh was r e -e le c te d as P re s id e n t of SGPC, though in th i s meeting only 74 members out of160 had p a r t ic ip a te d . Sant Fateh Singh e s ta b lis h e d a r iv a l A kali Dal in 1962. 1

1 . A ji t Singh S a rh ad i, op. c l t . . p . 362.2 . I b i d . . pp. 364-65.

Idem.3 .

113

In fa c t by breaking th e f a s t , M aster T ara Singh committed h is p o l i t i c a l su ic id e and i t was an unprecedented lo s s of p re s tig e fo r him. I t was the most i r r e p a i r a b le blow to the le a d e rsh ip of M aster Tara S ingh. And w ith t h i s ended th e g lo rio u s e ra of Sikh p o l i t i c s which was com pletely dominated by M aster Tara S ingh.

M aster Tara Singh s tru g g led hard to achieve Punjabi Suba and c a r r ie d h is a g i ta t io n su c c e ss fu lly fo r more than a decade. He prepared the masses to make s a c r i f i c e s fo r th e cause of Punjabi Suba and th u s paved the way fo r i t s accep tan ce . Somehow or o th e r the c e n tra l government did n o t want to encourage M aster Tara Singh by accep ting h is demand but i t was convinced of the force behind t h i s demand. P unjab i Suba was f in a l ly conceded, soon a f t e r , when M aster Tara Singh became unpopular in the Sikh m asses. But the c r e d i t must go to M aster Tara Singh fo r making ground and fo r s tru g g lin g hard fo r i t . Punjabi Suba came in to e x is te n c e on November 1» 1966 and M aster Tara Singh b rea thedh is l a s t on November 22» 1967.

114

CONCLUSIONS

M aster Tara Singh whose o r ig in a l name was Nanak Chand embraced Sikhism in 1900 and was b a p tise d by Sant A tta r S ingh , a w ell known and h ig h ly revered S ikh s a i n t . This was a tu rn in g poin t not only in the l i f e - c o u r s e of M aster Tara Singh and h is fam ily but i t e f f e c te d deep ly the d e s tin y of Sikhs in tw e n tie th c e n tu ry . D uring h is co lleg e days M aster Tara Singh had devloped a n t i - B r i t i s h fe e l in g s and he was one of the le a d e rs of the s tu d e n ts when a h o s t i le dem onstration was staged a g a in s t S ir C harles R iva£, the L ieu tenan t Governor of P unjab . He was com pletely d ed ica ted t o th e u p l i f t of Sikh community. T h e re fo re , a f t e r doing h is te a c h e r 's t r a in in g course (S.A .V .) he jo in e d as founder Headmaster of Khalsa S choo l, L y a llp u r on a meagre s a la ry of rupees f i f t e e n per month. He worked th e re w ith f u l l d e d ic a tio n .

In 1913, a d ep u ta tio n of Ind ian em igran ts v i s i t e d Punjab to seek th e he lp of In d ian Government f o r t h e i r claim s fo r equal r ig h ts w ith th e o th e r B r i t i s h su b je c ts r e s id in g in Canada. Master Tara Singh in v i te d them to L y a llp u r and a lso o rgan ised m eetings in t h e i r su p p o rt. This made the Government of In d ia look upon him w ith

115

susp ic ion* In the Gurdwara Rakabganj a g i ta t io n of 1914 M aster Tara Singh o ffe re d to jo in a v o lu n tee rs* J a th a to D e lh i. Along w ith th ese cau se s , the Namdhari Movement, A grarian U nrest of 1907, the Kamagata Maru in c id e n t of 1914, the a t r o c i t i e s committed under Rowlatt A c t, the b ru ta l m assacre of innocent P un jab is in J a l l ia n w a la Bagh, e t c . made him more determ ined to f ig h t a g a in s t the B r i t i s h r u l e . F in a l ly the Nankana Sahib tra g e d y shook, h is in n e rs e lf and he vowed to serve h is coun try and community.

In 1920 a Gurdwara Reform Movement was s t a r t e d in Punjab by A kalis to l ib e r a te the famous Sikh sh r in e s from the c lu tc h e s of Mahants who had become c o r ru p t . D uring th i s movement M aster Tara Singh was sen tenced to j a i l fo r se v e ra l tim e s . U ltim a te ly Gurdwara B i l l was passed in 1925 but i t a lso d iv id ed the A kali Dal and i t s le a d e r s h ip . M aster Tara Singh was ag a in s t c o n d itio n a l re le a s e of A k a lis . This uncompromising stan d of him r e s u l te d in the so arin g of h is p o p u la r ity and he emerged as a to p c la s s le a d e r of S ik h s . A fte r t h i s he p layed a s ig n i f ic a n t ro le in S ikh p o l i t i c s fo r more than fo u r decades. He was im prisoned many tim es in connection w ith d i f f e r e n t movements.

116

M aster Tara Singh had v ery c o rd ia l r e la t io n s w ith the A ll In d ia N a tio n a l Congress and was of th e opinion th a t a p ro v in c ia l p a rty l ik e Shirom ani A kali Dal could on ly succeed in c o lla b o ra tio n w ith a N a tio n a l P a rty l ik e Congress* T h e re fo re , he worked fo r the sucess of the v a rio u s movements s ta r te d by Congress. Under h is le a d e rsh ip S ikhs p a r t ic ip a te d in a la rg e number in C iv il D isobedience Movement. During t h i s movement the people of the N orth West F ro n tie r Province had to undergo g re a t s u f fe r in g s a t the hands of p o lice and army. This moved M aster Tara Singh and he s e t out from A m ritsar f o r the N .W.F ,P . w ith a 1atha of 100 v o lu n te e rs . However,he was not allow ed to proceed fu r th e r than Lahore where he was a r r e s te d .

%M aster Tara S in g h 's c o rd ia l r e la t io n s w ith Congress were s t r a in e d a f t e r the August 16, 1932 Communal Award of S i r Ramsay MacDonald which ap p a ren tly sowed seeds of communal d is u n i ty in the co u n try . M aster Tara Singh opposed i t to o th and n a i l . But even befo re t h i s the re p o rt subm itted by Nehru Committee reg ard in g communal re p re s e n ta t io n was unable to s a t i s f y M aster Tara S ingh. His p e rsu a tio n based on arguments was of .no a v a i l . T herefo re he was d is i l lu s io n e d w ith the C ongress.

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S ir S ta f fo rd Cripps p ro p o sa ls of 1942 were ano therblow to Sikh a s p ira t io n s of J from B r i t i s hGovernment. M aster Tara Singh o u tr ig h t ly r e je c te d th e p ro p o sa ls of C ripps as they seemed to provide fo r the p a r t i t i o n of th e co u n try . Raj Gopal Acharya put forw ard a p roposal f o r a sep a ra te Muslim S ta te . M aster Tara Singh c r i t i c i s e d i t and re je c te d i t . He was b a s ic a l ly fo r aU nited In d ia . He s tre s s e d th a t i f th i s was n o t p o ss ib le then a se p a ra te Sikh S ta te should a lso be e s ta b l is h e d . So M aster Tara Singh and h is a s so c ia te s announced th e demand

Pun j the r iv e r Chenab on o rth -w est andthe Jamuna on the so u th -e a s t as i t s b o u n d arie s . Thisproved only o u n te rb la s tdemand fo r the in c l of th e e n t i r e Punj P ak istan *Even in the Sim la C onference, which was c a lle d by Lord Wavell a f t e r the war and which broke down on th e in s is te n c e of the Muslim League th a t i t should be reco g n ised as th e so le re p re s e n ta t iv e of Muslims, M aster Tara S ingh d ec la red em p h a tica lly th a t he stood fo r a u n ited In d ia , but i f P ak is tan was to be conceded, he was fo r a se p a ra te Sikh S ta te w ith a r ig h t to fe d e ra te e i th e r w ith In d ia or w ith P a k is ta n . J in n ah e n tic e d him w ith c e r ta in p ro p o sa ls but he stood to h is ground. Thus i t was through h is tim e ly

118

a g i ta t io n and su c c e ss fu l n e g o tia tio n s th a t E ast Punjab was saved from being included in P a k is ta n . Though th e S ikhs s u f fe re d a lo t due to p a r t i t io n and m ig ra tion y e t M aster Tara Singh was su c c e ss fu l in persuad ing th e S ik h s to opt f o r In d ia .

M aster Tara S in g h ’s l i f e of s tru g g le d id n o t end a f t e r independence. Now another phase of h is s t ru g g le fu l l i f e s t a r t e d . Now i t was fo r a Punjabi speaking S ta te .He wanted th a t a Punjabi speaking s ta te —P un jab i Suba should be e s ta b l is h e d as u n ilin g u a l s ta te s were e s ta b l is h e d in o th e r p a r ts of th e co u n try . But t h i s demand was not conceded by the Congress Government a t the C en tre . M aster Tara Singh s ta r te d an a g ita t io n fo r the same. Many thousand Sikhs went to j a i l fo r t h i s cause but w ithou t f r u i t f u l r e s u l t . A fte r co n su ltin g M aster T ara S ingh ,Sant Fateh Singh s ta r te d hunger s t r ik e t i l l death o r th e accep tance of the demand. Nehru accepted the demand in p r in c ip a l and Fateh Singh broke h is 22 days old f a s t .When M aster Tara Singh r e a l is e d th a t no p ro g ress was being made reg a rd in g t h e i r demand fo r a P un jab i speaking s t a t e he h im self s ta r te d f a s t unto death on August 15,1961. H ard it Singh Malik and M aharaja Y advindra Singh of P a t ia la persuaded Tara Singh to break h is f a s t a f t e r

119

th e y had a t a lk w ith Lai Bahadur S h a s t r i . M aster o b lig ed them . This s ta r te d the dow nfall of M aster Tara S ingh because the S ikh masses thought th a t he had broken h is vow w ith o u t ach iev ing anything w orthw hile . Shirom ani A kali Dal s p l i t i i n to tw o. M aster Tara S in g h ’s re p u ta tio n s u ffe re d a lo t and i t hastened the end of h is p o l i t i c a l c a re e r and h is own confiden t Sant Fateh Singh supp lan ted him . F o rlo rn and f r u s t r a t e d . M aster Tara Singh d ied on November 27, 1967 i r o n ic a l ly , approxim ately an year a f te r the e s ta b lish m e n t of a Punjabi speaking S ta te .

In the end we can say th a t M aster Tara Singh was ag re a t son of In d ia . He dominated Sikh and Punjab p o l i t i c sf o r more than fo u r decades. Though he was a staunch Sikhy e t he never compromised w ith the fo rc e s who were ag a in stth e so v e re ig n ity and s e c u r i ty of In d ia . He was ag a in s tthe form ation of P ak istan and t r i e d h is le v e l b e s t tor e s i s t i t s fo rm a tio n . His impact on Punjab p o l i t i c s wasrem ark ab le . He was r ig h t ly c a lle d the 'uncrowned king* of S ikh m asses.

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C handigarh , 1979.B reach er, M ichael, Nehru, A P o l i t i c a l B iography, London, 1959Chaudhary, K haliquzzm an, Pathway to P a k is ta n , L ahore, 1961.C olvin Ia n , L ife of G eneral D yer, London, 1931.Coupland, R ., The C o n stitu t io n a l Problem of In d ia (1833-1935)

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Pakh T on), A m ritsa r, n .d .K a rta r S ingh , S ikh I t l h a s . P a rt I I , A m ritsa r, 1961.Kharak Singh Abhinandan G ran th . New D e lh i, 1953.N ara in Singh ( e d . ) , A kall Morche Te Jh ab b a r, D e lh i, 1961N iran jan S in g h , Jeevan Y atra M aster Tara S in g h , A m ritsa r, n .dP a r ta p S in g h , G yani, Gurdwara Sudhar A rth aa t A k ali L eh ar,

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