Remembrance
Saka Panja Sahib
Hasan Abdal · 30 October 1922
When the sangat of Hasan Abdal learned that a train of Sikh prisoners would pass by without stopping, they sat down on the railway line so that the prisoners could be served langar. Bhai Karam Singh and Bhai Partap Singh gave their lives.
Panja Sahib
Hasan Abdal, near Rawalpindi, is home to Gurdwara Panja Sahib, one of the most loved Sikh shrines. Sikh tradition holds that when Guru Nanak Dev Ji stopped there, Wali Qandhari rolled a boulder down the hill towards him. Guru Ji stopped it with his hand, and the print of that hand, the panja, remains in the rock. In 1922 the same place saw an act of courage that Sikhs still remember every year.
The Guru ka Bagh Morcha
That August, Sikhs began a peaceful protest at Gurdwara Guru ka Bagh, near Ajnala in Amritsar district, as part of the Gurdwara Reform Movement to free Sikh shrines from corrupt mahants. The dispute began with something small: the right to cut firewood for the Guru’s langar from land belonging to the gurdwara. Day after day, unarmed volunteers walked to Guru ka Bagh, were beaten by the police without raising a hand, and were arrested in their thousands. Many were sent by train to jails far from home, among them the jail at Attock.
30 October 1922
When the Sikhs of Hasan Abdal learned that a train carrying these prisoners would pass through their station, they prepared langar. They could not let Singhs who had suffered for the Guru’s kitchen pass by hungry. The station master told them the train would not stop.
Led by Bhai Karam Singh and Bhai Partap Singh, the sangat decided it would. Men and women sat down on the track, reciting Gurbani, as the train came on. It ran over them before it finally came to a halt. The prisoners were served the langar the sangat had prepared, and only then did people turn fully to the wounded. Bhai Karam Singh and Bhai Partap Singh died of their injuries, and others were badly hurt. Their bodies were taken to Rawalpindi for cremation, and they were honoured across Panjab as shaheeds.
Why it matters
The Saka is remembered for its simple, unshakeable love: serving others came before the sangat’s own lives. It also showed the strength of peaceful resistance. The Guru ka Bagh Morcha and the sacrifices around it helped bring about the Sikh Gurdwaras Act of 1925, which placed the historic gurdwaras in the care of the Sikh community.
Remembering today
Saka Panja Sahib is remembered every year around 30 October, with prayers for the shaheeds and langar served in their name. In 2022 its centenary was marked in gurdwaras around the world, including at Hasan Abdal itself.
At the Panjabi Sports and Social Club, we remember Bhai Karam Singh, Bhai Partap Singh and the sangat of Panja Sahib. Their seva and sacrifice remind us what community truly means.
Remember them with an hour of seva
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