Pagri Sambhal Diwas - remembering the 1907 anti farm laws movement

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  Pagri Sambhal Diwas - remembering the 1907 anti farm laws movement

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• Feb 23 celebrated: As part of the ongoing farmers’ protest, the Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) celebrated February 23 as ‘Pagri Sambhal Diwas'. It asked supporters across the globe to wear a green pagri/dupatta and post their pictures on social media, with the hashtag ‘Go green for farmers’.
• Ajit Singh: The farmers honour the memory of Ajit Singh, uncle of freedom fighter Bhagat Singh and founder of the Pagri Sambhaal movement of 1907. The "Pagrhi Sambhaal Jatta" was a successful farm agitation that forced the British government to repeal three laws related to agriculture back in 1907. Bhagat Singh’s uncle Ajit Singh was the force behind this agitation, and he wanted to channel people’s anger over the farm laws to topple the colonial government.
• Land Rights threatened: The three farm-related acts at the centre of the storm in 1907 were the Punjab Land Alienation Act 1900, the Punjab Land Colonisation Act 1906 and the Doab Bari Act. 

1. These acts would reduce farmers from owners to contractors of land, and gave the British government the right to take back the allotted land if the farmer even touched a tree in his field without permission.
2. Amid resentment against the laws, Bhagat Singh’s father Kishan Singh and uncle Ajit Singh, with their revolutionary friend Ghasita Ram, formed Bharat Mata Society, aiming to mobilise this unrest into a revolt against the British government.
3. Working hard to prepare the ground for the agitation against the three laws, they organised meetings in Lahore, addressed mostly by Kishan Singh and Ghasita Ram. Activists were sent especially to Lyallpur district to explain the three laws and their fallout to the public.

• Agitation's name: Ajit Singh persuaded Congress leader Lala Lajpat Rai to come on the stage during a rally in Lyallpur in March 3, 1907 to protest against the laws. Initially, Lala ji was not willing to join the agitation due to his assumptions that the movement was not limited to the farm agitation, as Ajit Singh did want to use it to revolt against the British. But Lala finally came on the stage and spoke wonderfully. Then, Banke Dayal, Editor of Jhang Sayal, read the historic song ‘Pagrhi sambhaal oh Jatta’, which became the anthem of the agitation.
• Britishers scared: On sensing the popular resentment, the British made minor amendment in the laws. An article by Bhagat Singh, published in daily newspaper ‘Pipal’ in 1931 and written from jail, noted, “Just before the public rally at Lyallpur in March 1907 , Lala ji told Ajit Singh that the government had made some amendments in Colony act. Ajit Singh made it clear to Lala ji that the agenda of the meeting was not to inspire the public to stop paying agri-taxes.
• Violence: The agitation couldn’t remain non-violent. Ajit Singh was booked for sedition after his speech at a public meeting in Rawalpindi on April 21, 1921. Violence erupted soon afterwards. There were riots in Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, Lahore, etc. British personnel were manhandled, mud was flung at them, offices and churches were burnt, telegraph poles and wires cut. Lord Kitchener got terrified since the peasantry was becoming rebellious, and military and police were unreliable. Britishers felt that increase in land revenue was not the cause of this unrest. It was with a view to finishing British rule in India that it was being used as a political stunt. The result was that all the three laws were cancelled.
• End of the laws: British government repealed the three controversial laws in May 1907. It was a big victory for the farmer organisations.

Read more on - Polity | Economy | Schemes | S&T | Environment

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