PAYING OBEISANCE TO THE MARTYRS OF GURU KA BAGH SAHIB MORCHA, AMRITSAR (AUGUST 8, 2025) 

Gurdwara Guru Ka Bagh Sahib, Village Gurdwara Guru Ka Bagh Sahib Showing Ghookewali Tehsil Ajnala, Two Gurdwara Sahibs of Distt. Amritsar, Punjab (i) Sri Guru Arjan Dev Ji and (ii) Sri Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahib inside Guru Ka Bagh Sahib 

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

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

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

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

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

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

The News Report

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

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

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

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

C.F. Andrews (1871-1940) who visited Amritsar gave a graphic description of the passive  resistance of the Akalis in the accounts published in Manchester Guardian, Feb 15 and Feb 24,  1924 he wrote. "When I reached the Gurudwara (Guru Ka Bagh) itself I, was struck at once by  the absence of excitement such I had expected to find among so great a crowd of people". 

"Close to the entrance there was a reader of the scripture who was holding a very large  segregation of worshippers silent as they were seated on the ground before him. In another  quarter there were attendants who were preparing the simple evening meal for the Gurdwara 

Sahib's guests by grinding the flour between two large stones. There was no sign that the actual  beating had just begun and that the sufferers had already endured the shower of blows. 

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

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

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

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

They were dragged about by their hair and feet contemptuously off when the police thought  they had been served well enough. The Sikhs suffered all this stoically and went in larger  numbers day by day to submit themselves for the beating.  

“The brutality and inhumanity of the whole scene was indescribably increased by the fact that  the new who were hit were praying to God and had already taken a vow that they would remain  silent and peaceful in word and deed......." 

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

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

Beating Stopped 

"The brutality and inhumanity of the whole scene was indescribably increased by the fact that  the new who were hit were praying to God and had already taken a vow that they would remain  silent and peaceful in word and deed". 

The Morcha Succeeds 

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

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

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

During Guru Ka Bagh Sahib Morcha the number of martyrs who were killed by beating  with the brass bound sticks is not known, 1500 were wounded and 5605 Sikhs were  arrested.  

Earlier the Ardas included: 

"ਜਿਨ੍ਹ ਾਂ ਗੁਰਮੁਖਾਂ ਨ੍ਾਮ ਿਜਿਆ, ਵੰ ਡ ਕੇਛਜਕਆ, ਧਰਮ ਹੇਤ ਸੀਸ ਜਿਤੇ, ਚਰਖੜੀਆਂ ਤੇਚੜਹੇ, ਬੰ ਿ ੨ ਕਟਵਾਏ,  ਿੁਠੀਆਂ ਖੱ ਲਾਂ ਲੁਹਾਈਆਂ, ਖੋਿਰੀਆਂ ਉਤਰਵਾਈਆਂ, ਜਸੱ ਖੀ ਜਸਿਕ ਕੇਸਾਂ ਸਵਾਸਾਂ ਨ੍ਾਲ ਜਨ੍ਬਾਜਹਆ, ਗੁਰਿੁਆਜਰਆਂ ਿੇ ਸੁਧਾਰ ਜਹਤ ਸਰੀ ਤਰਨ੍ ਤਾਰਨ੍ ਸਾਜਹਬ ਿੀ, ਸਰੀ ਨ੍ਨ੍ਕਾਣਾ ਸਾਜਹਬ ਿੀ, ਗੁਰੂਕੇਬਾਗ, ਸਰੀ ਿੰ ਿਾ ਸਾਜਹਬ, ਗੁਰਿੁਆਰਾ ਗੰ ਗਸਰ ਜਵਖੇਅਸੈਹ ਤੇਅਕੈਹ ਕਸ਼ਟ ਸਹਾਰਿੇਹੋਏ ਸ਼ਹੀਿ ਹੋਗਏ, ਜਤਨ੍ਹ ਾਂ ਜਸੰ ਘ ਜਸੰ ਘਣੀਆਂ ਭੁਝੰਗੀਆਂ ਿੀ ਕਮਾਈ ਿਾ ਜਧਆਨ੍ ਧਰ ਖਾਲਸਾ ਸਾਜਹਬ ਬੋਲੋਿੀ ਵਾਜਹਗੁਰੂ੩ ... 

Earlier, in this Ardas we paid tribute also to the martyrs of all the morchas which two  place during the British rule. The new Ardas reads as follows: 

“ਜਿਨ੍ਹ ਾਂ ਜਸੰ ਘਾਂ ਜਸੰ ਘਣੀਆਂਨ੍ੇ ਧਰਮ ਹੇਤ ਸੀਸ ਜਿੱ ਤੇ, ਬੰ ਿ ਬੰ ਿ ਕਟਾਏ, ਖੋਿਰੀਆਂ ਲੁਹਾਈਆਂ, ਚਰਖੀਆਂ 'ਤੇਚੜਹੇ, ਆਜਰਆਂਨ੍ਾਲ ਜਚਰਾਏ ਗਏ, ਗੁਰਿੁਆਜਰਆਂਿੀ ਸੇਵਾ ਲਈ ਕੁਰਬਾਨ੍ੀਆਂਕੀਤੀਆਂ, ਧਰਮ ਨ੍ਹੀਂ ਹਾਜਰਆ, ਜਸੱ ਖੀ ਕੇਸਾਂ ਸੁਆਸਾਂ ਨ੍ਾਲ ਜਨ੍ਬਾਹੀ, ਜਤਨ੍ਹ ਾਂ ਿੀ ਕਮਾਈ ਿਾ ਜਧਆਨ੍ ਧਰ ਕੇ, ਖਾਲਸਾ ਿੀ' ਬੋਲੋਿੀ ਵਾਜਹਗੁਰੂ!...” 

Thus in the current ardas all the Morchas which took place during the British rule which depict the extreme tortures of Sikhs have been deleted. It would be worth while to find  out the reasons for this. Those who have deleted the Martyrs of Morchas which took place  during British Rule are sinners. 

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

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

Hail the Martyrs of Morcha Guru Ka Bagh Sahib! Sikh Museum, Golden Temple, Amritsar Morcha Guru Ka Bagh Sahib

Morcha Guru Ka Bagh Sahib Morcha Guru Ka Bagh Sahib Morcha Guru Ka Bagh Sahib Sri Ganga Ram, a well known  Indian Philanthropist (1851-1927) 

The Sikh community pays tribute to the Martyrs of Morcha Guru Ka Bagh Sahib every  year on August 8. Thus this year i.e., in 2025 the Sikh community will pay tribute to the  martyrs of Morcha Guru Ka Bagh Sahib on August 8. 

HAIL THE MARTYRS OF MORCHA GURU KA BAGH SAHIB!

Dr. Amrit Kaur Retd. Professor Punjabi University Patiala, Punjab India