The Central shrine known as ‘Janam as than’ at Nankana Sahib is the birthplace of Shri Guru Nanak Dev Jee, He was born here in 1469. Naturally, this is a very holy place for the Sikhs, However, till 1921, this was in the possession of a Hindu ‘mahant’ (priest) named Narian Das, who took the offerings of the Sikhs and did not care much about the sanctity of the place. This hurt the feelings of the devotees who felt very pained by the bossy and contemptuous attitude of the mahant who prevented Sikhs from access to the holy shrine. The Singh Sabha had passed a resolution to govern the functioning and allow Sikhs free access to the Sikh holy places but the Mahant did not respect this. In another resolution at Dharowal (Seikhupura) the mahant Narian Das was asked to mend his ways and allow Sikhs free access to the shrine, but he remained unmoved. Finally the SGPC leaders at a meeting on Jan.24,1921 scheduled a meeting of the Panthic leaders for March 16,1921 at Nankana Sahib, “Undeterred, the mahant made his own plans to scuttle the gathering. In connivance Wit: Commissioner of Lahore, he hired a gang of cut throat ruffians to defy the Sikhs and prevent their gathering at Nankana Sahib. Accordingly when some Sikhs tried to enter the holy shrine on Feb 21 1920 they were massacred by the mahants gangsters.

Two Jathas patrons of unarmed Sikhs, had formed one, under Tehal Singh and the other under Bhar Lachman Singh, When the lost Jathe, (party) led by Bhai Tehal Singh tried to enter the shrine, they were moved down by gun fire. Bhai Tehal Singh was shot in the chest and embraced martyrdom along with 59 Sikhs, The second Jathe under Bhai Lachman Singh met with a similar fate, Lachman Singh, Waryam Singh and another 58 Sikhs were killed. The Sikhsin both the Jathas were unarmed and carved Beedh Sahibs on their heads to had the processions. However they were not spared by them a mahant and his henchmen and in all 120 Sikhs embraced martyrdom on Feb.20,1920 to rid the holy shrine of Nankana Sahib from the hands of the Hindu mahants, We salute these Shaheeds who sacrificed their lives for cleaning our holy places for worship Provided by; Bhai T.S, Sandhu.

Article extracted from this publication >>  February 19, 1993