Guru-Ka-Bagh inquiry

THE Guru-Ka-Bagh incidents form a unique chapter in the history of the Akali struggle in Punjab, exhibiting the spirit of self-sacrifice and unflinching determination of the Akalis on the one hand and the excesses of an irresponsible bureaucracy on the other. The forbearance and self-restraint displayed by the Akalis in the face of unprovoked violence by the police and the manner in which they braved day after day the cruel treatment meted out to them by the constabulary are, indeed, without a parallel in the history of recent times. Special importance, therefore, naturally attached to the report of the committee appointed by the All-India Congress Working Committee to inquire into the whole affair. The committee consisted of five distinguished public men of the country, none of whom had anything, directly or indirectly, to do with the Akali agitation of which the incidents which formed the subject matter of the inquiry were an off-shoot. Four of the committee members were eminent lawyers, one of them being a former Advocate General of Madras; the fifth was a European. This independent committee examined as many as 110 witnesses and went through a large mass of documents; and after a careful and protracted investigation, it has come to conclusions which are entirely in accord with the views of those who witnessed the gruesome occurrences from day to day. The committee has attached the greatest possible weight to every argument advanced by the government in support of the insensate excesses of its officials, and had made every possible allowance for the exigencies of the situation.