Punjab: On the morning of February 20, 2026, I was traveling from Lahore to Nankana Sahib. Suddenly, I checked my phone and realized that it was the 105th anniversary of the infamous Saka (massacre) of Nankana Sahib. My hair stood on end. What a twist of fate—I was visiting the birthplace of Guru Nanak Sahib on the same day when, 105 years earlier, this sacred site had witnessed one of the most horrific events in Sikh history—February 20, 1921. Inside the Gurdwara, just to the right of Guru Nanak’s birthplace, stands the Jand tree where Bhai Lakshman Singh was hung upside down and burned to death during the Saka. A memorial plaque below depicts this horrific scene. Nearby is Gurdwara Shaheed Ganj, which commemorates the cremation site of the Sikhs killed in that massacre. Today, an Akhand Path (continuous recitation of the Guru Granth Sahib) was underway here.
What happened on February 20, 1921?
In the early 1920s, Mahant Narayan Das, an Udasi patron who controlled the management of the Nankana Sahib Gurdwara, was accused by the general Sikh community of misappropriating the Gurdwara’s revenue and land. Tensions escalated when allegations surfaced that Sikh women visiting the Gurdwara were molested inside. The Sikh community demanded that control of the Gurdwara be returned to the Sikh community, but the Mahant refused. Led by Bhai Laxman Singh, the community decided to send an unarmed group to liberate the Gurdwara. The Mahant, aware of this plan, recruited over a hundred local thugs to enter the Gurdwara for protection. On the morning of February 20, 1921, Laxman Singh and approximately 200 unarmed Sikhs entered the Gurdwara. Laxman Singh himself sat down in front of the Guru Granth Sahib and began reading from it.
Immediately, the Mahant’s hired men closed the doors of the Gurdwara and attacked the unarmed Sikhs with guns and swords. Almost all the Sikhs in the group were brutally murdered. Bhai Laxman Singh was shot, and several bullets struck the copy of the Guru Granth Sahib. (That copy, bearing the bullet marks, is kept in the Darbar Sahib in Amritsar today.) The Mahant’s hired soldiers then captured Laxman Singh, hung him upside down from a Jand tree, and set his hair on fire. The bodies of the murdered Sikhs were gathered together and burned near the Jand tree – the place is now known as Gurdwara Shaheed Ganj. When news of the massacre spread the next morning, local Sikhs rushed to view the charred bodies. The death toll is estimated to be between 100 and 250. Armed Sikhs from villages across Punjab began moving towards Nankana Sahib. Fearing further unrest, the Lahore Commission handed over the keys to Nankana Sahib to the Sikh community. Mahant Narayan Das and his mercenaries were arrested and charged with murder.
