20 February — Sikh History

Also on this day

• 1707Aurangzeb died.
• 1921Shaheedi Saka of Sri Nankana Sahib took place Nankana Sahib is the birth place of Guru Nanak Dev Ji. At the time of this incident, this place was being managed by Mahant Narayan Dass. A Jatha of 150 GurSikh reformers, led by Bhai Lahshman Singh, were visiting Nankana Sahib to seek Gurdwara reforms and it’s liberation, through non-violent and peaceful means. However, the managing Mahant had hired 28 Pathans and goondas from Majha, collected arms and ammunition besides other weapons, which caused a scare in the surrounding areas. He attacked the unscheduled Jatha, fired upon them without any warning and hounded them from room to room. At least one of them was tied to a tree and burnt alive. When a massacre inside the shrine was on, a group of Sikh devotees arrived outside. Mahant Narain Das on horseback ordered the killing of each and every long haired Sikh, and his men pursued some of them in the fields up to the railway station, killing and burning most of them. He also tried to burn down the dead bodies in a group inside the shrine. Those struck outside were thrown into kilns or burnt alive. The Guru Granth Sahib was riddled with bullets. This incident sent a wave of indignation among the Sikhs and other people throughout the world. The holy shrine of Nankana Sahib was eventually liberated. Additionally, this single incident triggered off a Gurdwara liberation movement throughout Punjab. The main objective of this movement was to consolidate the management of all historical Sikh Shrines under a single elected body which came to be known as the Sharomani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee or SGPC for short.
• 19241st Shaheedhi Jatha of 500 Akali Sikhs, under the command of Jathedar Udham Singh of village Verpal, that marched from Sri Akal Takhat for Jaito, reached jaito Nabha territory It’s arrival was to coincide with the third anniversary of Nankana tragedy. Dr. Saifuddin Kitchlu, Principal A.T. Gidwani, and Mr. S. Zimmand of New York Times, were with the Jatha on Feb. 21. They testified that the Jatha was moving in perfect order and non-violent, unarmed before entering Nabha territory. Afternoon of the Feb. 21, the Jathas was fired upon, leading to about 100 dead and 200 wounded. About 700 Sikhs including the members of the Jatha and accompanying crowds were arrested.
• 1949In spite of the arrests of hundreds of GurSikhs, the Sikhs held a Conference All the participants were arrested and jailed for different terms. Participation in religious functions was banned and the Sikh shrines were sealed. Such were the rewards for their sacrifices towards India’s independence.
• 1990Khalsa-Net was started by Jasbir Singh Working on his Ph.D. program at Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, he used the facilities of the Computer Engineering department there to establish the mailing-list. The first Khalsa-Net mailing address was