Jagga Gujjar

Last updated
Jagga Gujjar
جگا گوجر
Jagga Gujjar.jpg
Jagga Gujjar in 1968
Born
Chaudhry Muhammad Sharif Gujjar

1940
Died3 July 1968
Nationality Flag of the United Kingdom.svg British Indian (1940-1947)
Flag of Pakistan.svg Pakistani (1947-1968)
Known forIntroducing personal tax called 'Jagga Tax'
OpponentAchha Shukar Wala
ParentChaudhry Bhuddha Khan Raees Gujjar

Jagga Gujjar (1940 - 3 July 1968) was a bandit in Lahore, Pakistan during the 1950s and 1960s. He was very famous for the tax he imposed on the well to do called 'Jagga Tax'. A chunk of the money so extracted, was spent on the welfare of the poor, by him. He was a resident of Lahore's area Islamia Park , near Chauburji. [1]

Contents

Beginning

How Gujjar became a sign of terror is an interesting story. There used to be a famous annual fair in Lahore's Islamia Park area during the 1950s. His brother Makhan Gujjar had a quarrel with famous outlaw of the time namely Achha Shukar Wala who belonged to Lahore's locality Qila Gujar Singh. Later, Makhan was murdered in 1954. Gujjar was only 14-year-old at the time of his brother's murder. Within eight days, Gujjar avenged the murder of his brother and killed the murderer. After this, Gujjar landed in jail. When he was in jail, he came to know that real man behind his brother's murderer was Achha who had hired the murderer for the purpose. Now, he planned murder of Achha from the jail walls. As per his planning, an attempt on life of Achha was made. As a result, two people were killed but Achha survived though injured.

While he was in jail, his foe Achha got reported patronage of the then governor of West Pakistan, Amir Muhammad Khan. The governor especially used Accha in quelling anti-government demonstrations in Lahore. [2]

Release from jail

Gujjar was realised from the jail on early parole in January 1968. By that time, General (Retd) Muhammad Musa Khan had become the governor of West Pakistan. When he came out of the jail, he was received by a large crowd at the city's Mozang Chowk.

He got married after coming out of the jail.

End

After coming out of jail, Gujjar organized a gang and started collecting forced tax from the butcher community. This tax got the name of 'Jagga Tax'. In Pakistan, even today this type of tax is called 'Jagga Tax'. The center of his highhandedness was Lahore's Bakra Mandi (cattle market) area where he collected rupee one (Re 1) from every butcher on purchase of one goat. Finally, Gujjar along with his accomplice Raju Gujjar was killed in an encounter with police near his home in Nawan Kot area of Lahore in July 1968. The next day's newspapers published the news of his murder very prominently. The police party who killed them was given Rs 300 in reward. Fateh Khan Bandial was Lahore's deputy commissioner while Haji Habib ur Rehman, superintendent of police at that time. [3]

Name Jagga was already being used in the titles of Punjabi films before Gujjar's death like 'Jagga' (1958). After his death, a number of Punjabi language movies were made on topic of Gujjar starting from 1970s by the Lahore's film industry. Some of films having either Jagga or Gujjar in their titles included 'Bala Gujjar' (1973), 'Jagga Gujjar' (1976), 'Wehshi Gujjar' (1979), 'Gujjar', 'Jagga Tay Shera' (1984), 'Putar Jaggay Da' (1990), 'Jagga Tax' (2002) and 'Buddha Gujjar' (2002). Some of these movies were made by the family members of Jagga Gujjar who entered in the film business after he was killed. The noted film makers of this family include Chaudhry Miraj Din and Chaudhry Imtiaz Gujjar. It is interesting to note that their rival family had entered the business of movie making much before them and also made a number of good films. Famous film makers of the rival family include Achha Shukar Wala himself and Kamran Chaudhry. Their most famous was 1965 film Malangi. Both the families have since ended their enmity. [4]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gujrat, Pakistan</span> City in Punjab, Pakistan

Gujrat is a city in the Pakistani province of Punjab. It is the headquarters of the Gujrat District and the 21st largest city in Pakistan, with a population of over 390,000 in 2017. Along with the nearby cities of Sialkot and Gujranwala, Gujrat forms part of the Golden Triangle of industrial cities with export-oriented economies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lollywood</span> Pakistani Urdu and Punjabi-language film industry

Lollywood refers to the Pakistani film industry based in Karachi, Sindh, and Lahore, Punjab, engaged in production of motion pictures in Urdu and Punjabi language. The industry is a part of the larger Pakistani cinema and is its most popular branch. In Pakistan, it is often separately referred to as Urdu cinema and Punjabi cinema.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Choudhry Rahmat Ali</span> Pakistani nationalist and politician (1897–1951)

Choudhry Rahmat Ali was a Pakistani nationalist who was one of the earliest proponents of the creation of the state of Pakistan. He is credited with creating the name "Pakistan" for a separate Muslim homeland in South Asia and is generally known as the originator of the Pakistan Movement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jaranwala</span> City in Punjab, Pakistan

Jaranwala is a city and capital of Jaranwala Tehsil located in the Faisalabad District of Punjab, Pakistan. It is the 58th largest city of Pakistan. It also one of the biggest tehsil by population in the province of Punjab in Pakistan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Habib Jalib</span> Pakistani poet

Habib Jalib was a Pakistani revolutionary poet, left-wing activist who opposed martial law, authoritarianism and state oppression. Pakistani poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz said that he was the poet of the masses. He opposed military coups and administrators and was duly jailed several times.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi</span> Pakistani politician (born 1945)

Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi is a Pakistani politician who is the former Chief Minister of Punjab. He was a member of the Provincial Assembly of the Punjab from August 2018 till January 2023, when he, as chief minister, dissolved the assembly. In 2023, he left the Pakistan Muslim League (Q) and joined Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) along with his son, Moonis Elahi, and 10 other former PML(Q) MPAs over political rifts with the party president and cousin, Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain. He was appointed president of the PTI. He was the former president of the Punjab Division of the PML(Q).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Government Islamia College</span> Public college in Lahore, Pakistan

Government Islamia College Civil Lines, formerly called Dayanand Anglo Vedic College, is a government college in Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan. Founded by Arya Samaj as the school of Dayanand Anglo Vedic on June 1, 1886, It was later renamed Dayanand Anglo Vedic (DAV) College after Hindu leader Dayananda Saraswati.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Khalil-ur-Rehman Ramday</span> Pakistani jurist

Honourable Justice Khalil-ur-Rehman Ramday is a Pakistani jurist who served as judge of the Supreme Court of Pakistan. He remained permanent judge of Supreme Court from 2002 to 2010. He was born in Lahore on 13 January 1945. His late brother Chaudhary Muhammad Farooq had served as the Attorney General of Pakistan. His another brother Asad-ur-Rehman Ramday, a politician, was elected as a Member of the National Assembly three times on a Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz) (PML-N) ticket and served as a Federal minister as well.

Chaudhry Zahoor Elahi was a Pakistani politician who rose to prominence from the small town of Gujrat, Punjab, Pakistan.

Group Captain Cecil ChaudhrySJ, SBt, PP was a Pakistani academic, human rights activist, and a veteran fighter pilot. As a flight lieutenant, he fought in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965 and as a squadron leader in the Indo-Pakistani War of 1971. During the 1965 war, Chaudhry and three other pilots, under the leadership of Wing Commander Anwar Shamim, attacked the Amritsar Radar Station in a difficult operation. He was awarded the Sitara-e-Jurat for his actions during that mission.

Waris is a Pakistani television drama serial created by PTV, written by Amjad Islam Amjad, directed by Ghazanfer Ali and Nusrat Thakur.

Shaukat Ali, also known as Shaukat Ali Khan, was a Pakistani folk singer.

Chaudhry Muhammad Zaka Ashraf is a Pakistani executive administrator who is currently serving as the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board, since July 2023.

'Jagtar Singh Goraya ( 1901/02–1931/32), better known as Jagga Jatt or Jagga Daku, was a 20th-century heroic rebel of Punjab. He is known as the Robin Hood of Punjab for "robbing from the rich and giving to the poor", as is typically believed about Robin Hood as well.

Chaudhry Abid Raza is a Pakistani politician. He had been a member of the National Assembly of Pakistan from August 2018 till August 2023, and from June 2013 to May 2018.

Wehshi Gujjar is a 1979 Pakistani Punjabi action musical movie produced by Haji Mohabbat Ali.

Hafeez Tahir is a Pakistani TV producer, director, poet and writer. He was the director of popular children's TV serial Ainak Wala Jin (1993).

Javed Chaudhry is a Pakistani columnist, YouTuber, and journalist who has been hosting the Kal Tak show on Express News since 2008. He also writes Urdu columns on various topics in his Zero Point series in the Daily Express.

The October 2021 Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan protests are the protests that started after the failure of negotiations with the government, aimed to release the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) emir Saad Hussain Rizvi and deport the French ambassador. TLP staged a sit-in on Multan Road in Lahore. After the deadline for the release of its leader Saad Hussain Rizvi expired they announced a march towards Islamabad.

References

  1. "Who was Jagga Gujjar? The word "Jagga Tax" is famous on his name". The Asian Mirror. 2023-09-24. Retrieved 2023-10-19.
  2. Bin Rashid, Hashim (2012-11-25). "Goonda raj". The Express Tribune . Retrieved 2023-10-19.
  3. "Commentary".
  4. "جب لاہور میں دہشت کی علامت جگا گجر کو ہلاک کرنے والی پولیس پارٹی کو تین سو روپے انعام دیا گیا". BBC News اردو (in Urdu). Retrieved 2023-10-19.