The Nankana Sahib massacre of 1921

Overview

On 20 February 1921, Sikh reformers were killed at Gurdwara Janam Asthan in Nankana Sahib during a dispute over the shrine’s management. Munish Singh, Muhammad Hassan Rai and Mazhar Abbas examine differing explanations of the violence. Casualty estimates differ; the parliamentary figure discussed below is one contemporary report, not a definitive count.[4]

Parliamentary reporting

On 3 May 1921, Colonel Wedgwood questioned Montagu in the House of Commons about Nankana. Montagu said press communiqués issued two months earlier reported 130 Sikhs killed and their bodies burned. He also identified the custodian and watchmen among those arrested. The figure belongs to this dated ministerial account; it is not presented here as a final independently verified toll.[1]

Asked about official knowledge, preventive action and punishment, Montagu said he lacked the requested information and exact details. Obtaining them would require enquiries in India. Wedgwood then asked whether the trial continued and the case was sub judice. Montagu replied tentatively that he believed so. The exchange records questions and a limited answer about proceedings, with arrests distinguished from a completed judicial finding.[1]

Press response

The Khalsa Advocate’s extraordinary issue of 22 February 1921 appealed for self-control in response to the indignation that it described. The paper portrayed composure and regulated effort as sources of strength and eventual success. It described its readers’ stated objective as sacred. It also declined to repeat serious accusations circulating about Mr King and others. Those choices survive together in a colonial press abstract, later reproduced in Kristina Myrvold’s edited collection. The passage establishes the newspaper’s response and its appeal to readers; it does not establish the feelings of every Sikh or prove the withheld accusations.[2]

Later remembrance

Tarunjit Singh Butalia’s 23 February 2026 column records a visit made on 20 February 2026. He describes a memorial plaque beneath a tree within the gurdwara precinct and the nearby Shaheed Ganj memorial. At Shaheed Ganj, he observed a continuous reading of the Guru Granth Sahib in progress. His account places personal remembrance alongside material memorials and an ongoing religious observance, following his reported journey from Lahore.[3]