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How a British Officer admitted defeat from Sikhs

Posted by Kulbir Singh 
Vaheguru jee ka Khalsa Vaheguru jee kee fateh !

One day, Sodhi Harbhajan Singh jee (writer of famous book Bhajan Bandagi Da Pratap) was standing in a shop in Jabalpur that an English couple walked in and said fateh to him loudly. Harbhajan Singh was surprised to hear fateh from the English couple. Sodhi Harbhajan Singh jee started talking to them and asked them how come they know so much about Sikhism. Upon this the English gentleman told him his story as follows:

""""I was a police captain in 1924 when the Akalis launched Bhai Pheru morcha in Lahore city of Punjab (now in Pakistan). I got special orders from the Inspector General of Police to crush the Sikhs. I told him that I could do so only if I was to be given the police party of my choice. At this he agreed and I hand picked the most ruthless and strong young men from backgrounds such as Lyalpuri Jaanglis and Jhelami Jaats. I took my police party to Gurdwara Bhai Pheru and surrounded the disputed place with wire and had my police party stationed there.

The first Jatha started marching from Amritsar and slowly reached Gurdwara Bhai Pheru after doing prachaar (preaching) in several villages on their way. On the day of the arrival of the Jatha at Gurdwara Bhai Pheru I asked my toughest Thanedaar (Police Officer) to get me the list of all the members of Jatha along with their father's name and home address. That afternoon I got surprised when I saw the list. All Jatha members had listed Guru Gobind Singh as their father. I got really mad when I saw the list and swore at the Thanedaar for failing to get even the name of their father.

The thanedaar replied that he tried his best but no one in the Jatha gave any other name for their father but Guru Gobind Singh. My wife who was sitting beside me mocked me by saying that if I can't even get their father's name how the hell am I going to crush them. At this I vowed that I will eat my breakfast the next day, only after getting their father's name from them.

Next day I chose 50 stern and strong-hearted policemen and asked them to pick 25 old and weak members of the Jatha. I then ordered that let two policemen hold one Sikh and use whatever means to make them spit out their father's name. I further said that whoever does it first would get a gold medal and special recognition from the government. Hearing my order, the policemen started beating the Jatha members savagely till they got unconscious. Then they would bring them back to senses and beat them again. But none of them told their worldly father's name. All they would say was Guru Gobind Singh and Vaheguru. When they failed to get any results I asked the police officers to remove their belts and get the hell out of there. By that time it was 10am and I was feeling really hungry.

I chose another 50 policemen and asked them to do the same thing. I asked them to use very severe measures to torture the Jatha members to break their resolve of not telling the name of their worldly father. I knew that if they admit defeat and spit out their father’s name, then they would also accept the defeat of their agitation. A lot was at stake. I put their hands upside down under the Charpai (indian beds) and made the police officers jump on the beds. The Sikhs were in great pain but they did not yield. I even made my policemen hammer nails in their buttocks but still we were unable to break their resolve.

By 6pm I was badly tired and was extremely hungry. I lost all my pride and ego and felt totally helpless in front of those non-violent lions. I picked up the phone and dialed to the IG of police and resigned. The next day I took train to Bombay and went to England. I wrote it down on the resignation letter that no one should mess with the Sikhs."""""

This story is very inspiring. Could someone shed more light on the cause of Gurdwara Sahib Bhai Pheru wala morcha ? I heard another similar story of a chardi kala wala Kharkoo who did not disclose his worldly father's name to the torturing police party; and named Siri Guru Gobind Singh as his father and Sri Anandpur Sahib as his village.

I believe that the Akalis of early twentieth century made a very proud addition to the glorious Sikh history by achieving so much non-violently.

Kulbir Singh
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great story, veerji.

i found the following article on the morcha:

Bhai Pheru Morcha, one of a series of campaigns in the Sikhs agitation in the 1920’s for the reformation of their holy places. Gurdwara SANGAT Sahib, located in Mien ke Maur in Lahore district, about 15 km from Chhanga Manga railway station, dedicated to the memory of Bhai Pheru, a masand or parish leader in the time of GURU Har Rai who was honored for his devotion by Guru Gobind SINGH with the titles of Sachchi Dahri (True Bearded) and Sangat Sahib, was an important shrine, with 2,750 acres of land attached to it, and was being managed by Mahant Kishan Das.
After the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, a representative society of the Sikhs, had taken over management of some of the major shrines and mahants or priests had started voluntarily handing over gurdwaras under their control, Mahant Kishan Das, on 28 December 1922, transferred Gurdwara Bhai Pheru to the Committee. He later went back on the agreement he had signed and petitioned the government to have the shrine and the lands restored to him.
On 7 December 1923 the police arrested the manager, Jagat Singh, and eleven other representatives of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee. The possession of the shrine and the estate was restored to the Mahant and his tenants. However, the decision of the deputy commissioner of Lahore on the Gurdwara lands went in favor of the Shiromani Committee and, as its representatives arrived to take charge of these, Mahant Kishan Das and his tenant Pala Ram, brother of Mahant Narain Das, of Sri Nankana Sahib, lodged a complaint with police that the Akalis were forcibly taking possession of his property.
Police arrested 34 Akalis on 2 January 1924. The government revised its earlier decision given in favor of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee and passed fresh orders declaring Pala Ram to be temporarily in possession of the land. Akalis launched a morcha in protest even as the morcha at Jaito was still continuing. Jathas or batches of Akali volunteers started marching to Bhai Pheru from different parts of the district. On 5 January 1924, the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee took the campaign in its own hands.
By 10 September 1925, the number of arrests had reached 6,372. An unsavory incident, however, led the local organizer, Arjan Singh, to suspend the morcha on 20 September 1925. The Gurdwara and the lands attached to it came under the Committee’s control after the SIKH Gurdwaras Act of 1925 was passed by the Punjab Legislative Council, and the court case too was decided in the Committee’s favor in June 1931.

[sikhpride.com]
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Many thanks for sharing this information Bhain jeeo. May Guru Sahib bless us with the true Khalsa spirit.

Kulbir Singh
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