Tracing the iconic 'Pagri Sambhaal 'movement on the day of the #FarmersProtest - Thread

Born on January 23, 1881, Ajit Singh was the younger of brother of Sardar Kishan Singh and uncle to Shaheed Bhagat Singh. While he was still studying law in Bareily, the pathetic condition of the farmers of India caught his attention. He started the 'Pagri Sabhaal Movement'.

The farmers were protesting two bills introduced by the Imperialist govt- The Punjab Land Colonisations Bill and the increase in Water Tax Bill pertaining to the Bari Doab Canal. The two leaders who came to prominence during this movement were Lala Lajpat Rai and Ajit Singh.

The peasants were protesting these laws because these laws, instead of providing ownership of land, reduced the status of the peasants to sharecroppers. The protests reached beyond Punjab and sparked off resentment in the citizens against the British.

The poem 'Pagri Sambhaal Jutta' was composed by Banke Lal who was the editor of the Jang Syal newspaper. It denotes how the loss of the land of the peasants was in fact loss of their honour.

It was recited by Prabh Dayal, a local editor, in front of 9,000 agriculturists in Lyallpur in March 1907. That poem came to symbolise the resistance of Punjabi peasantry against the stringent measures of the British officials, enforced in the Chenab Colony .

The movement transcended the boundaries of Punjab. Such was the effect of the movement that the British had to withdraw the bill for the fear of losing their essential supply of Panjabi soldiers. And thus, the stage was set for the rise of Militant Secular Nationalism in Punjab

In 1907 Sardar Ajit Singh was arrested and deported to Myanmar’s Mandalay jail. Upon his return he started the Bharat Mata Book Society and the journal Peshwa.

After 115 years, it is time for the farmers of Panjab to reclaim their 'Pagri'. The struggle over farm bills is most vociferous in Panjab. Panjab has lost most to the Hindutva government even when it has been feeding the entire country sinces ages.

#ScrapAntiFarmerActs because the govt apathy has reached its limits now.

Manndi na gall oh saadi,aye bhairhi Sarkar o,
Assi kyun manniye veero, is di kaar o,
Taali do hatthar vajdi, chhainiya naal voh,
Pagri Sambhaal oh jatta, Pagri Sambhal o.