III

III. The Struggle for Freedom

Namdhari Movement. – With its headquarters at the village of Bhaini Sahib in the Ludhiana district, the Nandhari, or more popularly called Kuka, movement was started by Guru Ram Singh in 1857. For a few years, it carried on its work quietly. It was not till 1863 that the British Government first became alive to its political implications. From 1863 to 1866, it seems the Government had little to worry about the Kuka movement as it was soft-peddled for some time. However, gradually its activities revived. From 1866 onwards the Kukas were particularly active in their campaign against tombs, graves and cremation marks. The more ardent among them took the law into their hands and committed several acts of aggression in some of the districts including Gurdaspur. Some of them were arrested and awarded varying terms of imprisonment.¹⁴

13. Punjab Government Records, Mutiny Reports (Lahore, 1911), Vol. VIII, Part I, pp.289-303, Part II, pp.237-240

In course of time, the movement gained momentum. However, it was ruthlessly suppressed by the British with the blowing of a large number of persons from guns at Malerkotla (Sangrur district) in January 1872, arrest of influential members, and deportation of Ram Singh to Rangoon and later on to Mergui, where he died in 1885.

Lahore Session of the Indian National Congress, 1900. – The dawn of the twentieth century saw the Punjab taking long strides to catch up with national movement in the rest of the country. Delegates from almost all over the Punjab attended the 16th session of Indian National Congress held at Lahore in December 1900, which demonstrated the enthusiasm of the people for the activities of the Congress.¹⁵

Agitation following the partition of the Bengal in 1905. – There was lull in the political atmosphere of the Punjab after the Congress session of 1900 and no significant activity can be said to have started here before 1905. the agitation that followed the partition of Bengal in 1905 stirred the people all over the Punjab in common with the rest of the country.

Unpopular policies of Government raise a political storm in the Punjab. – The reclamation of desert lands by the extension of canal irrigation, combined with facilities for marketing agricultural produce, ushered in an era of prosperity in the Punjab. But this prosperity brought in its wake other economic changes which radically altered the social fabric of life in the Punjab. A direct consequence of the increase in the earning from agriculture was the increase in the price of land. Land became a valuable commodity, and small farmers were unable to resist the temptation to sell their holdings. The number of landless farmers assumed alarming proportions. The famine of 12869 attended by heavy mortality of livestock accentuated the problem. Agriculturists were unable to pay revenue due from them and were compelled to borrow.

The 1870’s ushered in an era of peasant indebtedness which had never been known in the country before. The elaborate legal system introduced by the British contributed towards the impoverishment of the peasantry and the enrichment of moneylenders and lawyers. Realizing the dangers of having disgruntled peasantry, the Government passed the Punjab Alienation of Land Act, 1900, to protect the agriculturists from the clutches of the moneylenders. The Act succeeded in safeguarding the interests of cultivators, but it also sowed the seeds of racial separatism as it adversely affected quite a large number of people. At the same time, although the Act saved agricultural land from passing to the moneylenders, yet it did not solve the problem of rural indebtedness.

14. Fauja Singh Bajwa, Kuka Movement (Delhi, 1965), pp. 39-55

15. S.L. Malhotra, Gandhi and the Punjab (Chandigarh, 1970), pp. 12-14

The Punjab was visited by a series of calamities like famine and an epidemic of bubonic plague. The administration remained insensitive to these disasters; instead of remitting land revenue, it continued to increase it with each new settlement and inflicted heavy punishment on defaulters. The unpopular policies of Lord Curzon (1899-1905) in the Punjab, thus, caused much discontent which ultimately led to the national awakening in the province.

The immediate cause of unrest was the passage of the Punjab Canal Colonies Act in February 1907. It restricted the rights of the colonizers to make wills and denied them the right to cut trees on their land.

At the same time, the Colonization of Government Lands (Punjab) Bill was passed in February 1907, in order to enhance the rate of water supply from the Bari Doab canals. All these measures were responsible for raising a political storm in the Punjab.

A distressed made the Punjab fertile soil for revolutionary seed. And the seed blew in profusion from all over India–and indeed from Asia.

Urban politicians took the led in organizing public meetings to protest against the unpopular measures. By March 1907, the atmosphere in the cities and the affected colonies had become tense. The fiftieth anniversary of the great uprising of 1857 was as the occasion for a province wide protest.

Despite the repression, criticism of the colonization bill continued unabated. The authorities sensed that the measures had caused uneasiness among Sikh soldiers, many of whom had relatives in the colony areas, and Governor-General, Lord Minto (1905-1910), vetoed the bill. The land tax and the water-rate were reduced.¹⁶

The Ghadar Movement 1913-15.- The humiliating discriminatory treatment meted out to the Indian emigrants abroad, especially in the U.S.A., produced in them a strong urge to free the mother country. The Ghadar Party, with headquarters at San Francisco, was thus formed in 1913 to liberate India by force. A large number of Ghadarites came belonging to India and many of them were able to reach Punjab. These revolutionaries exhorted the people to rise but with much success.

The Ghadarites were suppressed with a heavy hand. A large number of them were rounded up and were tried by special tribunals constituted under the Defence of India Act, 1915. The list of revolutionaries belonging to the Gurdaspur District, tried and convicted, is given in the Appendix on page -------------.

Formation of the District Congress Committee, Gurdaspur, in 1917.- In 1917, District Congress Committees were set up in the Punjab to stimulate political activity.

________________________________________________________________________

16. Khushwant Singh, A History of the Sikhs, Vol.II ( London, 1966), pp. 151-159

S.L. Malhotra, Gandhi and the Punjab (Chandigarh, 1970),pp.12-18;

Sri Ram Sharma, Punajb in Ferment (New Delhi, 1971), pp. 36-56, 117-139

Accordingly, the District Congress Committee, Gurdaspur, was formed in October 1917,

with Sheikh Mukhtar Ahmed, Advocate, as its President, and L. Mehr Chand, Pleader, Secretary. It was affiliated to the Punjab Provincial Congress Committee. To begin with, the number of members of the District Congress Committee was 24, which increased as time passed. By the middle of May 1921, twenty eight Congress Committee, with a total membership of over 1,500 had been established in the district. ¹⁷

The delegates of the District Congress Committee, Gurdaspur, attendant the Provincial Conference held at Lahore in 1917. ¹⁸

The passage of the Restriction of Habitual Offenders (Punjab) Act, 1918, provoked much criticism all over the Punjab. On February 26, 1918, the district Congre0ss Committee, Gurdaspur, passed a resolution of protest against it on the ground that the Act curbed individual liberty and placed the honour of every person entirely at the mercy low-paid police and village officials.¹⁹

Anti-Rowlatt Act Agitation, 1918-19.- during the World War I (1914-18), the Punjab had extended the maximum co-operation in men and money to the British Government in the gravest hour of its trial. O’ Dwyer’s administration on the other hand, had abused the powers given to it by the Defence of India Act in suppressing all opposition to its authority. While the war was still going on, all such restraints and hardships, though felt bitterly, were suffered patiently, because of the common purpose of winning the War. But the consternation and indignation of people became quite acute when, after the war, instead of withdrawing these hard, extraordinary measures, O’Dwyer though of imposing more stringent measures to curb every type of political activity.

The Rowlatt Act, passed in March 1919, invested the Government with extraordinary powers to suppress any kind of political agitation. As a mark of protest against the Act, Gandhiji announced a general hartal, i.e. suspension of business activity, accompanied by fasting, prayers, and meetings all over the country on March 30. The date was subsequently advanced to April 6. A complete hartal was observed at Batala, Dhariwal, Dinanagar, Gurdaspur, Pathankot and Sujanpur while a partial hartal was observed at Aliwal, Qadian and Sohal.²⁰ Protest meeting were held at Batala, Pathankot and Gurdaspur. A remarkable achievement of this programme in the Punjab was the fraternization between the Hindus and the Muslims.²¹ On the occasion of the celebration of the Ram Naumi festival on April 9, 1919, in particular there was fraternization between the Hindus and the Muslims. In some instances, the words Allah, ram and Om were impressed on the clothes of the processionists to be token union.²²

17. The Tribune, Lahore, October 12, 1917

18. The Tribune, Lahore, May 17, 1921

19. The Tribune, Lahore, February 26, 1918

20. Punjab Disturbances, 1919-20, Vol. II, British Perspective (Reprinted : New Delhi, 1976), pp. 238, 241

21. S.L. Malhotra, Gandhi and the Punjab (Chandigarh, 1970), pp. 22-23, 38-39

22. Punjab Disturbances, 1919-20, Vol. II British Perspective (Reprinted : New Delhi, 1976),pp.244

On April 11, 1919, the Deputy Commissioner, Gurdaspur, assembled all available members of the local Bar in hi court in the forenoon, and asked them in view of the seriousness of the situation, to come out unmistakably on the side of ‘law and order’. The response was half hearted and in one instance churlish. In the evening, there was a joint Hindu-Muslim meeting at the Arainwali mosque.

On April 12, 1919, hartal was observed at Batala and Gurdaspur and the next day (April 13) at Pathankot. At Batala, while the local agitators were being warned by the authorities, the mob which followed threatened to cause riot if leaders were arrested. At Gurdaspur, as the situation appear grave, a small force of one officer and 50 men arrived from Pathankot to support the local police in case of necessity. At night, a meeting of Hindu and Muslims was held in the Jama Masjid during which a suggestion was made to raid civil lines.

After the Jallianwala Bagh massacre of Amritsar on April 13, 1919, the demonstrators took an extremely violent form. Between the 13^th and 25^th April, telegraph wires were cut between Batala and Chhina and Jaintipura, between Gurdaspur and Dhariwal between Aliwal and Kunjar, between Dhariwal and Kunjar, between Chhina and Dhariwal, between Kaler Kalan and Kunjar, between Sujanpur and Madhopur, at Sohal, Ghazikot, Aliwal and also near Tibri, and on the Pathankot–DalhousieRoad, 21 km from Pathamkot.

On April 14, 1919, the authorities issued orders under the Punjab Patrol Act for patrolling of railway lines in the district. At Pathankot, an attempt was made to damage the railway track by firing permanent – way sleepers near the station. On April 16, a lighted torch was thrown at an English lady riding in a motor car at Pathankot. On April 21, 1919, the district was proclaimed under section 15 of the Police Act. The General Officer Commanding, Amritsar, and his movable column arrived at Gurdaspur in the forenoon and in the afternoon General Dyer addressed a meeting of pleaders and local notable in the town hall. On April 22, Batala was visited by the moveable column under General Dyer, who addressed two meetings of the town people and the country people, separately. Dhariwal was also visited by the moveable column under General Dyer, who addressed a meeting of pleaders and local notables. On May 2, 1919, nine persons were arrested at Gurdaspur under the defence of India Act for attempting to create disaffection towards the Government. ²³

The effect that the Jullianwala Bagh tragedy and the marital law administration had on the people of the Punjab can hardly be exaggerated. Sir Michael O’ Dwyer, Lt.-Governor, Punjab, who claimed that he had saved the empire, had in fact dealt it the most grievous blow by alienating the people. His claim that the Punjab public supported his policy was severely repudiated as unfounded at a public meeting held at Gurdaspur on August 30, 1920. O’ Dwyer’s caluminious campaign against educated classes was also condemned and regarded as deliberately mischievous. ²⁴

23. Ibid., pp. 255-266

24. The Tribune, Lahore, September1, 1920

Gurdwara Reform Movement. – The awakening brought about by the Singh Sabha movement (started in 1873) had made the Sikhs conscious of their rights. While the educated began to press for their due in services and administrative bodies (municipalities, district boards, provincial and central legislatures), the masses were more anxious to gain control of their gurdwaras. There were no rules for the administration of Sikh shrines and over many of them priests (mahants) had asserted proprietary rights. For many years, Sikh associations carried on civil litigation against the mahants. Then the impatience generated by the Ghadar and the nationalist movements spurred the Sikh masses into jettisoning methods of petition and redress from courts of law followed by the Singh Sabhaites and to adopt instead the non-co-operation and passive resistance of the newly formed party, the Akalis.

The Government was slow to respond to the demands of the Sikhs regarding the transfer of control of the shrines to the representatives of the Sikh community. Many Sikh committees had also tried and a committee of management of their own. On November 15, 1920, they set up the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee for the management of all the Sikh shrines. The more radical elements organized a semi-military corps of volunteers known as the Akali Dal to raise and train men for `action’ in taking over the gurdwaras from the recalcitrant mahants.

Under the pressure of Sikh opinion, backed frequently by demonstrations of strength, the mahants began to yield control over gurdwara properties to the elected committees and agreed to become paid granthis.²⁵In this way, the mahant of the Teja Gurdwara in the Batala Tahsil made over its control and properties to the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee in September 1921.²⁶

The mahant of Guru Arjan Dev’s Furdwara at Othian, in Batala Tahsil, had absented himself from the gurdwara, leaving it deserted. On this, the worshippers of Othian and the surrounding villages, along with some Akalis who had also reached the spot, formally made over in writing the management of the gurdwara to the Shriomani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee, on October 4, 1921²⁷.

Ultimately, in the face of the mounting agitation among the Sikhs, the Sikh Gurdwaras Act, 1925, placed all the important gurdwaras in the Punjab under the control of the Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee.

Non-co-operation Movement, 1920-22. - When Gandhiji joined the Indian politics, he had faith in the professed goodwill of the British Government. But the Rowlatt Act and the Jallianwala Bagh incident shattered that faith. Therefore, in alliance with the Khilafat leaders, he started the non-co-operation movement in 1920. Its programme, among other items, included the renunciation of all Government titles, the boycott of legislatures, law courts and Government schools and colleges. The people all

25. Khushwant Singh, A History of the Sikhs, Vol. II, (London, 1966), pp. 193-216

26. The Tribune, Lahore, September 28,1921

27. The Tribune, Lahore, October 27, 1921 ; and July 20, 1922

over the country enthusiastically responded to the call of Gandhi. Lawyers suspended their practice, the students in large numbers left schools and colleges and bonfires were made of English cloths. Inspite of severe measures taken by the Government to stop the movement, a large number of persons courted imprisonment.

In view of the farceplaying by H. Harcourt, Deputy Commissioner, Gurdaspur, in connection with Gandhiji personality, ridiculing the purely religious and sacred institution of Khilafat and suffering it to be ridiculed at his durbar at Dinanagar on November 22, 1920, the Gurdaspur Bar Association as its extraordinary meeting held on December 3, 1920, passed a resolution making it incumbent on its members to refrain henceforth from accepting any work and appearing in the court of H.Harcourt during his stay there as Deputy Commissioner so long as the latter did not express his regret in writing. The Deputy Commissioner felt much concerned at this development and addressed two letters, one to the Secretary and the other to the eight members of the District Bar Association, and also personally discussed the matter with them in which he explained that he had no intention of and never meant to wound their religious and patriotic susceptibilities. In view of this, the said resolution of boycotting his court was dropped.²⁸

From time to time, public meetings were held at different places urging the British Government to redress the Khilafat and Punjab wrongs and grant complete independence to India.²⁹

With a view to popularize swadeshi (Indian made) goods, a conference of weavers and managers of khadies of the Gurdaspur District was organized at Gurdaspur on August 21, 1921, under the auspices of the local District Congress Committee. On this occasion a Swadeshi Exhibition was also organized and all the weavers, carders and managers of khadies of the Gurdaspur District in particular and other well wishers of swadeshi in general were invited to derive benefit from their experience of swadeshi. They were also asked to send their best and highly furnished piece goods, hand-spun yarn or other swadeshi articles for display at the exhibitions. This exhibition was the first of its kind in the inauguration of the swadeshi movement in the province and proved an all-round success. Some 400 exhibits comprising the best cotton and woolen yarn, handwoven and hand-spun cloth, khaddi cloth, woolen blankets and coating cloth, dhotis, turbans and Phulkaries and displayed.³⁰At the conference, the people were exhorted to use khaddi cloth and do awaywith foreign made stuffs. This had the desired effect and a large number of persong discarded their cloths made out of foreign cloth. Public meetings for the promotion of the swadeshi movement were also organized at Behrampur, Dinanagar and Pathankot.³¹

28. The Tribune, Lahore, December 11, 1920 ; February 2, 1921, and April 17, 1921

29. The Tribune, Lahore, April 17, 1921

30. For the best exhibits displayed at the Swadeshi Exhibition 22 prizes were awarded. A charkha (spring wheel) having a pankha (fan) and aterin moving simultaneously by hand attracted the greatest attention. Gota machine, an invention of this district, was a marvel.

31. The Tribune, Lahore, August 13, 1921 ; August 26,1921 ; and November 24, 1922

In the train of the non-co-operation movement, there followed some incidents of violence which perturbed Gandhiji and he called off the movement in February 1922.

Punjab Provincial Conference at Batala, 1922. – A session of the Punjab Provincial Conference was held at Batala on 29-30^th April, 1922. One of the resolutions passed there declared the firm adherence of the conference to the principle of non-violent non-co-operation as the only means of attaining political freedom and getting the Khilafat and Punjab grievances redressed.³²

Boycott of the Simon Commission, 1928. – In November 1927, the British Government appointed the Simon Commission to inquire into the working of the reforms introduced by the Government of India Act, 1919. it consisted of 7 British members of Parliament, “all white” including Sir John Simon the Chairman. The exclusion of Indians from a body which was to prepare the future constitution of India was resented by almost all political parties which decided to boycott it. On February 3, 1928, when the Commission landed in India, there was a hartal all over the country and demonstrators marched in procession waving black flags and carrying banners with the words, “Go back, Simon” inscribed on them. The severe police lathi blows received by Lala Lajpat Rai while leading an anti-Simon demonstration at Lahore and his death shortly afterwards shocked deeply the people all over the country.

First Civil Disobedience Movement, 1930-31. – During its Lahore Session in December 1929, the Indian National Congress declared complete independence as its goal. January 26, 1930, was declared the Independence Day and the national flag was hoisted and the independence pledge was taken by the people at Gurdaspur and other places in the districts³³ as by the people all over the country, and the same was repeated year after year.

The lack of any favourable response from the British Government in the matter led the Congress to launch the civil disobedience movement in 1930. The historic march of Gandhiji to Dandi on March 12, 1939, to break the Salt Laws was a signal for a mass movement allover the country in the form of strikes, boycott of British goods and the like. On the arrest of Gandhiji on May 5, 1930, complete hartal was observed at Gurdaspur, Dinanagar, Bartala and Quadian in the Gurdaspur District, on the same day, all over the country.³⁴ The Government took severe steps to crush the movement. The congress was declared an illegal organization and thousands of persons were imprisoned.

32. The Tribune, Lahore, May 3, 1922.

33. The Tribune, Lahore, January 30 and February 2, 1930

34. The Tribune, Lahore, May 7, 1930

A good number of those in the Gurdaspur District were also thrown into jails. Besides these arrests, there were several cases of assaults on peaceful volunteers and innocent members of the public. Special mention may be made of the beating of the shahidi jathas (bands of martyrs) at different places in the district.³⁵ On June 8, 1930, a Ladies’ Congress Committee was established at Dinanagar and women were exhorted to take their proper share in the national struggle and be ready to suffer for the country. Thereafter, women also began to participate in the Satyagrah movement.³⁶ On the conclusion of the Gandhi-Irwin Pact on March 4, 1931, the civil disobedience movement was called off and all the political prisoners were released.

Second Civil Disobdience Movement, 1932-34. – On his return from the Second Round Table Conference in London, Gandhiji was rearrested on January 4, 1932. The civil disobedience movement was, thus, restarted and it continued till about the middle of 1934. The wholesale arrest of Congressmen and other severe repressive measures adopted by Government checked the spread of the movement and, naturally, it subsided by the middle of 1934.

Individual Satyagrah, 1940-41. – The Congress refused co-operation in the World War II (1939-45) which was conducted on imperialistic lines. In November 1939, the Congress ministries in the different provinces resigned.

The rapid success of Germany and the fall of France in the summer of 1940 caused perturbations in India. However, Gandhiji appealed to the people to remain quiet. On August 8, 1940, the Viceroy, Lord Linlithgow, made a statement holding out the prospect of a representative constituent assembly after the war was over. This “August offer” was rejected by the Congress and, as a protest, Gandhiji started the campaign of individual civil disobedience. As all over the province and the country as a whole, a good number of people in the Gurdaspur District signed the Satyagrah pledge and their names were sent from time to time by the District Congress Committee for approval of Gandhiji. Early in January 1941, the District Satyagrah Committee was formed to accelerate the enrolment of Satyagrahis and enlist the sympathy of the masses. The Satyagrah compaign was started in the district in the third week of January.³⁷ The people showed great enthusiasm and a good number of them courted imprisonment.

Quit India Movement, 1942. - From now onwards, the country moved irresistibly to a final clash with the British power. As the Cripps Mission (1942) failed to resolve the deadlock, the Congress passed on August 8, 1942 the famous “Quit India” resolution demanding immediate complete and unconditional withdrawal by the British from India.

35. The Tribune, Lahore, April 9, April 26, June 12, June 24, July10, July17 and September 14,1930

36. The Tribune, Lahore, June 12 and June 22, 1930

37. The Tribune, Lahore, January 12 and February 19, 1941

Although the Congress proposed to start a mass struggle on the widest possible scale, yet it had not made actual preparations for the same. However, the Government decided to strike immediately and on 9^th August Gandhiji and all the members of the Congress Working Committee were arrested. The Indian National Congress was banned and its offices were taken possession of by the police. The British Government did all in its power to crush the Congress organization. This set off a nation-wide political explosion. The people reacted voluntarily and rose spontaneously for action. A good number of persons in the Gurdaspur District were arrested.³⁸ However, the Government let loose unprecedented repression and the movement gradually lost its momentum.

The Indian Independence Act, 1947. – Although the outward signs of the Quit India movement had gradually subsided, yet the sullen resentment against the foreign domination continued to dominate the thinking of the people. This situation dragged on till 1945, when the Congress leaders were released.

The World War II brought about a radical change. The British Empire was visibly embarrassed and even when it finally emerged victorious it was clearly no longer the invincible leviathan it had appeared to be. The results of the elections held in the beginning of 1946 were over-whelmingly in favour of the Congress.

About this time, the trial of the Indian National Army prisoners created another wave of popular demonstrations. More dangerous still were the mutiny in the Royal Indian Navy, in 1945, and the police strike in Bihar.

These developments in the background made the British Government declare its intention of leaving India and negotiations were started for the transfer of power to the Indians. The British Parliament passed the Indian Independence Act on July 1, 1947, in accordance with which the country attained independence on August 15, 1947.

IV. Partition of the Country and Aftermath

As all over the country, the achievement of independence on August 15, 1947, was celebrated in the district with great enthusiasm. But it was marred by the communal riots and the exodus of minority communities from both sided of the border consequent upon the partition of the country. Hitherto part of the Gurdaspur District, the Shakargarh Tahsil was transferred to Pakistan and the refugees therefrom moved to the Indian side of the border to settle in the Gurdaspur District or elsewhere as it suited them. The local people collaborated with the Government to render all possible help to the uprooted people till they were finally settled.

38. The Tribune, Lahore, August 221 and September 13, 1942

APPENDIX I ³⁹

(Vide page -)

Ghadar (Rebellion) of 1915

Revolutionaries belonging to the Gurdaspur District tried and convicted by special Tribunals

Name

Village

Penalty

Person accused of the Second Lahore Conspiracy Case sentenced to transportation for life with forfeiture of property:

Udham Singh

Ladhupur

Person sentenced to various terms of imprisonment in the Second Lahore Conspiracy Case:

Sher Singh

Thikriwala

1 year’s rigorous imprisonment

Person sentenced to different terms of imprisonment in the Srigobindpur Conspiracy Case

39. Khushwant Singh and Stindra Singh Ghadar 1915 (New Delhi), 1966, pp.54, 59-94

CHAPTER III

(a)	Population
(b)	Languages
©	Religions and Castes
(d)	Social life
(e)	Rehabilitation

PEOPLE

(a) Population

(i) Total Population :

According to the 1971 Census, the total population of the district was 12,29,249 (comprising 6,50,282 males and 5,78,967 females). Out of these 9,80,165 persons were rural and 2,49,084 urban.

Growth of Population.- The population of the district increased from 7,05,869 in 1901 to 12,29,249 in 1971. The variation in population during this seventy years’ period is shown in the following table :-

Decadal variation in population of Gurdaspur District, 1901-1971

Year		Persons	Decade variation	Percentage decade variation	Males	Females
1901	..	7,02,286	..	..	3,78,939	3,23,347
1911	..	6,21,928	-80,358	-11.44	3,50,649	2,71,279
1921	..	6,34,314	+12,386	+1.99	3,53,572	2,80,742
1931	..	7,18,433	+84,119	+13.26	3,97,145	3,21,288
1941	..	8,54,866	+1,36,433	+18.99	4,63,915	3,90,951
1951	..	8,51,046	-3,820	-0.45	4,60,952	3,90,094
1961	..	9,80,879	+1,29,833	+15.26	5,24,748	4,56,131
1971	..	12,29,249	+2,48,370	+25.32	6,50,282	5,78,967

(Census of India, 1971, Series 17-Punjab, Part II-A, General Population Table, p. 71)

The period of ten years, 1901-11, was marked by severe revenges of plague and malaria, which took a heavy toll of population. During 1911-21 occurred the great influenza epidemic which almost strangulated the normal growth rate. The decade 1921-31 was generally healthy. The population expended at a faster rate during 1931-41.

The decade 1941-51 bore the holocaust of unprecedented communal trouble and mass migration in the wake of the partition of the country in 1947. Expect a few thousand Muslims, the entire Muslim population migrated to Pakistan, but the non muslims refugee, immigrates proffered to settle in districts removed from the international boarder expect those who had passed moorings in Gurdaspur. The Shakargarh tahsil, which hitherto formed part of the Gurdaspur District, was also transferred to Pakistan in 1947. In 1941, there were 4,40,323 Muslims in the district and

only 9,284 in 1951. The number of displaced person in the district recorded in 1951 was 2,97,581 (Gurdaspur Tahsil- 1,16,261; Batala Tahsil – 1,11,500; and Pathankot Tahsil- 69,820). This big disparity between the out-migrants and in-migrants was responsible for the negative growth of population.

The year 1951-61 were free from disease and the health measures taken by the Government, considerably reduced the death rate while the birth rate remained almost unchanged. On the reorganization of the erstwhile Punjab State on November 1, 1966 the pockets of Dalhousie, Baloon (Dalhousie Cannt) and Bakloh of tahsil Pathankot were transferred to the Himachal Pradesh. However, there was 25.32 per cent growth of population during the decade 1961-71.

Emigration and Immigration:¹ According to the 1961 Census, out of 9,87,994 persons enumerated in the district, as many as 5,39,462 or 54.6 pre cent were born at the place of enumeration. Among the rural population, this percentage was as high as 58.87, but in the urban areas it was 37.72, denoting a higher degree of mobility in towns population.

Another interesting feature was the difference between the two sexes is this respect. Among males, as many as 62.6 per cent were born at the place they were enumerated as against 45.4 per cent in the case of females. The low figures for females sprang from the extra factor of their living ancestral place on marriage.

Another feature was that 14.6 per cent of the population was born at another place within the district. This percent was 7.5 in the case of male and as high as 22.8 in the case of females, also due to the factor of marriage. Persons born ion the Punjab districts other than Gurdaspur numbered 47,995 or 4.9 per cent of the population. Even in this group, the percentage of females was higher than males.

The Punjab-born persons formed 74.1 per cent of the district population. The remaining 25.9 per cent hailed from areas shown below:

Place of Birth		Number	Percentage to total population
Other States in India	..	29,192	2.9
Pakistan	..	2,20,349	22.3
Other Countries	..	4,737	0.5
Information not available	..	1,988	0.2

Persons born in other Indian States were chiefly from Jammu and Kashmir (10,628), Utter Pradesh (5,497), Himachal Pradesh (3,447), Maharastra (1,984), Bihar (1,632) and Delhi (1,100). These persons were counted chiefly in urban areas.

1. Census of India, 1961 Punjab District Census Handbook number 14, Gurdaspur district,

The Pakistan-born persons were by and far those who migrated in the wake of the partitions of the country in 1947, mostly from the neighbouring tahsil of Shakargarh of Sialkot district (Pakistan). The persons reported to have been born in countries other than Pakistan were mostly from Nepal (3,001). Nepalese were mostly at the military areas persons from other countries were those who, were mostly children of the Punjabis, who in their youth went abroad and had come back or had sent their children home.

Contents Next

Sher Singh	..	Thikriwala	7 year’s rigorous imprisonment
Kasar Singh	..	,,	3 year’s rigorous imprisonment
Gundoo	..	,,	3 year’s rigorous imprisonment
Veer Singh	..	,,	21 year’s rigorous imprisonment
Puran Singh	..	Kot Todar Mal	21year’s rigorous imprisonment
Atma Singh	..	Thikriwala	14year’s rigorous imprisonment
Santa Singh	..	Bham	14 year’s rigorous imprisonment
Labhoo	..	Arjanpur	14 year’s rigorous imprisonment
Munshi	..	Kot Todar Mal	14 year’s rigorous imprisonment
Tehla	..	,,	14year’s rigorous imprisonment
Dharam Singh	..	Bham	7 year’s rigorous imprisonment
Kala Singh	..	,,	7 year’s rigorous imprisonment
Bahadur Singh	..	,,	7 year’s rigorous imprisonment
Bhagat Singh	..	,,	7 year’s rigorous imprisonment
Bela Singh	..	Thikriwala	7 year’s rigorous imprisonment