25 August 1923[EoS]
Jaito morcha
A diwan at Jaito protests the forced abdication of Maharaja Ripudaman Singh of Nabha. Arrests and the interruption of an unbroken reading of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji turn it into a long campaign over the right to worship.
Maharaja Ripudaman Singh, who backed the Akalis, was made to abdicate on 9 July 1923. Officials called it voluntary, and the SGPC disputed this. The Jaito diwan of 25 August led to arrests on 27 August, and Sikhs kept it going with a series of unbroken readings. On 14 September police replaced the reader at one such reading. The government denied any interruption.
The Punjab government declared the SGPC and the Akali Dal unlawful, and all sixty members of the SGPC's interim committee were arrested. On 9 February 1924 a band of 500 left the Akal Takht and marched to Jaito. On 21 February the Nabha administrator, Wilson Johnston, ordered fire when it would not stop.
More bands of 500 followed, including volunteers from Canada, Hong Kong and Shanghai. After the Gurdwara Bill passed on 7 July 1925, pilgrims were allowed to go to Gurdwara Gangsar at Jaito. A series of 101 readings ended on 6 August 1925. The Maharaja was not restored.[EoS][EoS]
Dates in the sources
- 1924-02-21: The official count of the firing at Jaito was 19 dead and 29 injured. Akali figures were much higher.[EoS]