Pagri Sambhal Jatta Movement
Why in News?
‘Pagri Sambhal Jatta Movement’ was the farmers’ agitation against the three British Laws– the Doab Bari Act, Punjab Land Colonisation Act, and the Punjab Land Alienation Act and can be related to the ongoing farmers’ agitation against three Farm Laws introduced by the Government of India.
‘Pagri Sambhal Jatta’ Movement:
- In 1879, the British constructed the Upper Bari Doab canal to draw water from the Chenab river and take it to Lyallpur (now in Pakistan and renamed Faisalabad) to set up settlements in uninhabited areas.
- Promising to allot free land with several amenities, the government persuaded peasants and ex-servicemen from Jalandhar, Amritsar and Hoshiarpur to settle there.
- In 1907, in Lyallpur, Ajit Singh Sandhu also Bhagat Singh’s uncle headed the movement that articulated this discontent.
- The catchy slogan, Pagdi Sambhal Jatta, the name of the movement, was inspired by the song by Banke Lal, the editor of the Jang Sayal newspaper.
- The agitated protestors ransacked government buildings, post offices, banks, overturning telephone poles and pulling down telephone wires.
Who was Ajit Singh?
- He was a revolutionary and a nationalist during the time of British rule in India.
Ajit Singh
- With compatriots, he organised agitation by Punjabi peasants against anti-farmer laws known as the Punjab Colonization Act (Amendment) 1906 and administrative orders increasing water rate charges.
- He was an early protester in the Punjab region of India who challenged British rule and openly criticized the Indian colonial government.
- In May 1907, with Lala Lajpat Rai, he was exiled to Mandalay in Burma.
- Due to great public pressure and apprehension of unrest in the Indian Army, the bills of exile were withdrawn and both men were released in November 1907.
Pagri Sambhal Jatta Movement
Punjab Land Colonisation Act
Ajit Singh Sandhu
British rule in India
Banke Lal song
Jang Sayal newspaper
Indian colonial government
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