Surinderjit Singh Sandhu
In Amritsar, there is a village named Gumtala. Very few know that it was earlier called Gummat Wala. Gummat is a dome-shaped structure. At this Gummat in the village, peasants who were unable to pay land revenue used to be herded and subjected to the worst kind of torture during the Mughal period.
Although the British constructed canals, made large areas of land cultivable and turned the disbanded robust army of the Khalsa Raj into firebrand farmers, the overall condition of the farmers remained pitiable as the Pagri Sambhal Jatta movement of 1907 indicates.
Renowned wrestler and actor Dara Singh has written in his autobiography that during his childhood, he noticed that his father would regularly go to the DC’s office to get some land re-transferred to some of his relatives. His father came to know from the Nambardar that the amount of his land revenue had increased as his relatives had transferred some land in his name. It was after protracted litigati