ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>AK&#256L&#298 MOVEMENT</TITLE> <style type="text/css"> .BODY { background:#EAF1F7 url('../images/gtbh.jpg') no-repeat fixed center; color: #0066CC} .C1{text-align: justify;color: #0066CC;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} .BIB{text-align: center;color: #000099;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} .CONT{text-align: right;color: #FF0000;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} </style><META NAME="keywords" CONTENT="AKL*,MOVEMENT"> <META http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8"></HEAD> <BODY class="BODY" oncontextmenu="return false" ondragstart="return false" onselectstart="return false"> <FONT ALIGN="JUSTIFY" FACE="Tahoma"> <p class="C1">&#65279AK&#256L&#298 MOVEMENT, variously known as Gurdw&#257r&#257 Reform Movement or Gurdw&#257r&#257 Agitation is how Sikhs' long drawn campaign in the early twenties of the twentieth century for the liberation of their <i>gurdw&#257r&#257s</i> or holy shrines is described. The campaign which elicited enthusiastic support, especially, from the rural masses, took the form of a peaceful agitation-marches, <i>d&#299v&#257ns</i> or religious gatherings, and demonstrations--for Sikhs to assert their right to manage their places of worship. This led to a series of critical episodes in which their powers of suffering were severely tested by government suppression. In the event, Ak&#257l&#299s, as the protesters were known, succeeded in their object and the control of the <i> gurdw&#257r&#257s </i> was vested through legislation in a representative committee of the Sikhs. The State, under Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 Ra&#7751j&#299t Si&#7749gh (1780-1839), had forborne from interfering with the management of Sikh shrines. It endowed the more prominent among them with land grants and other gifts but let the control remain in the hands of sectaries such as Ud&#257s&#299s, or hereditary officiants, who had assumed charge of them generally since the days when Sikhs under pressure of Mu<u>gh</u>al persecution had been forced to seek safety in remote hills and deserts. A kind of professional coenobitism, contrary to Sikh religious structure, had developed over the generations. Some of its sinister aspects became apparent soon after the fall of the Sikh kingdom. Most of the clergy had become neglectful of their religious office. They had diverted ecclesiastical assests, including eleemosynary lands, to their own enrichment, and their lives were not free from the taint of licentiousness and luxury. The simple form of Sikh service had been supplanted in the shrines by extravagant ceremonial. This was repugnant to Sikhs freshly affranchised by the preachings of the Si&#7749gh Sabh&#257. The Puritan reaction through which they had passed led them to revolt against the retrogression and maladministration of their holy places.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Their central shrine, the Golden Temple at Amritsar, was controlled by the British Deputy Commissioner through a Sikh manager whom he appointed. There were idols installed within the temple precincts. Pa&#7751&#7693its and astrologers sat on the premises plying their trade unchecked. Pilgrims from the backward classes were not allowed inside the Harimandar before 9 o'clock in the morning. This was a travesty of Sikhism which permitted neither caste nor image worship. Vaguely, the feeling had been prevalent among the Sikhs since almost the advent of the British that the administration of the Harimandar at Amritsar was far from satisfactory. The religious ritual practised ran counter in many details to the teachings of the Gur&#363s. One audible voice of protest was that of &#7788h&#257kur Si&#7749gh Sandh&#257&#7749v&#257l&#299&#257, who was a member of the Sr&#299 Darb&#257r S&#257hib Committee in the seventies of the last century. The <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 D&#299w&#257n, Lahore, at its session (6-8 April 1907), proposed that the manager of the Golden Temple appointed by the government be removed and a committee of Sikh chiefs appointed in his place. Likewise, the <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 D&#299w&#257n, M&#257jh&#257, meeting at Tarn T&#257ran on 9-10 April 1907, had recorded its concern about the management of the shrine.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;On 12 October 1920, a meeting of Sikh backward castes, sponsored by teachers and students of the <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 College was held in Jalli&#257&#7749v&#257l&#257 B&#257<u>gh</u> at Amritsar. The following morning some of them were taken to Harimandar, but the priests refused to accept <i>k&#257&#7771&#257hpras&#257d</i> they had brought as offering and to say the <i>ard&#257s</i> on their behalf. Their supporters protested. A compromise was at last reached and it was decided that the Gur&#363's word be sought. The Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib was, as is the custom, opened at random and the first verse on the page to be read was:</p> <blockquote class="C1"><p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<i>nirgu&#7751ia no &#257pe bakhsi lai bh&#257&#299 satigur k&#299 sev&#257 l&#257i</i></p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;He receives into grace (even) those with-out merit,</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;And puts them in the path of holy service. </p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; (GG, 638)&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p></blockquote></p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The Gur&#363's verdict was clearly in favour of those whom the <i>puj&#257r&#299s</i> or temple functionaries had refused to accept as full members of the community. This was a triumph for reformist Sikhs. The <i>ka&#7771&#257hpras&#257d</i> of the Mazhab&#299 (religious, devout) Sikhs, reformers' description of "low-caste" Sikhs, was accepted. The devotees then marched towards Ta<u>kh</u>t Ak&#257l Bu&#7749g&#257 in front of the Harimandar. The priests deserted the Ta<u>kh</u>t and the visiting pilgrims appointed a representative committee of twenty-five for its management. This was the beginning of the movement for the liberation of the <i>gurdw&#257r&#257s</i>. The Ak&#257l&#299s set afoot operations for retrieving their holy places from the control of the <i>mahants</i> or clergy-cum-hereditary custodians. With a view to establishing a central committee of administration, a representative assembly of Sikhs from all walks of life was called by the new Jathed&#257r, provost or chief, of Ta<u>kh</u>t Ak&#257l Bu&#7749g&#257 on 15 November 1920. Two days before the proposed conference, the government set up its own committee consisting of thirty-six Sikhs to manage the Golden Temple. This committee was nominated by the Lt-Governor of the Punjab at the instance of Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 Bh&#363pinder Si&#7749gh of Pa&#7789i&#257l&#257, who had been approached by Bh&#257&#299 Jodh Si&#7749gh and a few of his faculty colleagues at <u>Kh</u>&#257ls&#257 College, Amritsar, to intervene between the government and the Sikhs. The Sikhs held their scheduled meeting on 15 November and formed a committee of 175, including the thirty-six official nominees, designating it Shiroma&#7751i Gurdw&#257r&#257 Parbandhak Committee. The first session of the Committee was held at the Ak&#257l Ta<u>kh</u>t on 12 December 1920. Sundar Si&#7749gh Maj&#299&#7789h&#299&#257, Harba&#7749s Si&#7749gh of A&#7789&#257r&#299 and Bh&#257&#299 Jodh Si&#7749gh were elected president, vice-president and secretary, respectively. The more radical elements organized a semi-military corps of volunteers known as the Ak&#257l&#299 Dal (Army of Immortals). The Ak&#257l&#299 Dal was to raise and train men for 'action' to take over <i>gurdw&#257r&#257</i> from the recalcitrant <i>mahants</i>. This also signalled the appearance of a Gurmukh&#299 newspaper, also called <i>Ak&#257l&#299</i>.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The formation of the Shiroma&#7751&#299 Gurdw&#257r&#257 Parbandhak Committee and the Shiroma&#7751&#299 Ak&#257l&#299 Dal speeded up the movement for the reformation of Sikh religious institutions and endowments. Under pressure of Sikh opinion, backed frequently by demonstration of strength, the <i>mahants</i> began yielding possession of <i>gurdw&#257r&#257</i> properties to elected committees and agreed to become paid <i>granth&#299s</i>, custodians of the scripture or scripture-readers. Several <i>gurdw&#257r&#257s</i> had thus come under the reformists' control even before the Shiroma&#7751&#299 Committee and the Ak&#257l&#299 Dal had been established. However, the transition was not so smooth where the priests were strongly entrenched or where the government actively helped them to resist mass pressure. At Tarn T&#257ran, near Amritsar, a batch of <i>gurdw&#257r&#257</i> functionaries attacked an unwary delegation of reformers who had been invited to the shrine for negotiations. One of them, Haz&#257r&#257 Si&#7749gh of Al&#257d&#299npur, a descendant of Baghel Si&#7749gh, one of the <i>misl</i> chiefs, fell a victim to priestly violence on 20 January 1921. He died the following day and became the first martyr in the cause of <i>gurdw&#257r&#257</i> reform. Another Ak&#257l&#299, Hukam Si&#7749gh of Vas&#257&#363 Ko&#7789, succumbed to his injuries on 4 February 1921.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Nank&#257&#7751&#257 S&#257hib, the birthplace of Gur&#363 N&#257nak, was the scene of violence on a much larger scale. The custodian, Narai&#7751 D&#257s, the wealthiest of <i>mahants</i>, had a most unsavoury reputation, and his stewardship of the Nank&#257&#7751&#257 S&#257hib shrines had started many a scandal. On the morning of 20 February 1921, as a <i>jath&#257</i> or band of 150 Ak&#257l&#299s came to the Gurdw&#257r&#257, the private army of Narai&#7751 D&#257s fell upon them, raining bullets all around. The <i>jath&#257</i> leader, Bh&#257&#299 Lachhma&#7751 Si&#7749gh, of Dh&#257rov&#257l, was struck down sitting in attendance of the Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib. Bh&#257&#299 Dal&#299p Si&#7749gh, a much respected Sikh leader who was well known to the <i>mahant</i> and who came to intercede with him to stop the carnage, was killed with a shot from his pistol. Many of the <i>jath&#257</i> fell in the indiscriminate firing by the <i>mahant's</i> men. The news of the massacre caused widespread gloom. Among those who came to Nank&#257&#7751&#257 to express their sense of shock were Sir Edward Maclagan, the British Lt-Governor of the Punjab. Mah&#257tm&#257 G&#257ndh&#299 came accompanied by Muslim leaders, Shaukat 'Al&#299 and Muhammad 'Al&#299. Narai&#7751 D&#257s and some of his accomplices were arrested and the possession of the shrine was made over by government to a committee of seven Sikhs headed by Harba&#7749s Si&#7749gh of A&#7789ari, vice-president of the Shiroma&#7751&#299 Gurdw&#257r&#257 Parbandhak Committee.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Another crisis arose as the Punjab Government seized on 7 November 1921 the keys of the Golden Temple treasury. The Shiroma&#7751&#299 Gurdw&#257r&#257 Parbandhak Committee lodged a strong protest and called upon the Sikhs the world over to convene meetings to condemn the government action. Further means of recording resentment included a decision for Sikhs to observe a <i>ha&#7771&#7789al</i>, i. e. to strike work, on the day the Prince of Wales, who was coming out on a tour, landed on Indian shores. They were also forbidden to participate in any function connected with the Prince's visit. To fill the British jails, volunteers, draped in black and singing hymns from Scripture, marched forth in batches. Ex-servicemen threw up their pensions and joined Ak&#257l&#299 ranks. Under pressure of the growing agitation, the government gave way, and on 19 January 1922 a court official surrendered the bunch of keys, wrapped in a piece of red cloth, to Kha&#7771ak Si&#7749gh, president of the Shiroma&#7751&#299 Gurdw&#257r&#257 Parbandhak Committee. Mah&#257tm&#257 G&#257ndh&#299 sent a wire saying, "First decisive battle for India's freedom won. "</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Gur&#363 k&#257 B&#257<u>gh</u> (Garden of the Gur&#363), 20 km north of Amritsar, a small shrine commemorating Gur&#363 Arjan's visit, witnessed a <i>morch&#257</i> most typical of the series in the Ak&#257l&#299 movement. On 9 August 1922, the police arrested on charges of trespass five Sikhs who had gone to gather firewood from the Gurdw&#257r&#257's land for <i>Gur&#363 k&#257 La&#7749gar</i>, the community kitchen. The following day, the arrested Sikhs were summarily tried and sentenced to six months' rigorous imprisonment. Undeterred, the Sikhs continued coming in batches every day to hew wood from the site and courting arrest and prosecution. After 30 August, police adopted a sterner policy to terrorize the volunteers. Those who came to cut firewood from Gur&#363 k&#257 B&#257<u>gh</u> were beaten up in a merciless manner until they to a man lay senseless on the ground. The Sikhs suffered all this stoically and went day by day in larger numbers to submit themselves to the beating. A committee appointed by the Indian National Congress to visit Amritsar, lauded the Ak&#257l&#299s and censured the police for atrocities committed by it. Rev C. F. Andrews, a Christian missionary, came on 12 September 1922, and was deeply moved by the noble "Christ like" behaviour of the Ak&#257l&#299 passive resisters. At his instance, Sir Edward Maclagan, the Lt-Governor of the Punjab, arrived at Gur&#363 k&#257 Ba<u>gh</u> (13 September) and ordered the beatings to be stopped. Four days later the police retired from the scene. By then 5, 605 Ak&#257l&#299s had been arrested, with 936 hospitalized. The Ak&#257l&#299s got possession of Gurdw&#257r&#257 Gur&#363 k&#257 B&#257<u>gh</u> along with the disputed land.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Gur&#363 k&#257 Ba<u>gh</u> excited religious fervour to a degree unapproached during the 70 years of British rule. The judicial trials of the volunteers were followed with close interest and, when those convicted were being removed to jails to serve their sentences, mammoth crowds greeted them <i>en route</i>. On 30 October 1922, many men and women laid themselves on the rail track at Pa&#328j&#257 S&#257hib in an attempt to stop a train to offer refreshments to Ak&#257l&#299 prisoners being escorted to Naushehr&#257 jail. Two Sikhs, Part&#257p Si&#7749gh and Karam Si&#7749gh, were crushed to death before the engine driver could pull up.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Not all Sikhs accepted the cult of non-violence to which the Shiroma&#7751&#299 Committee had committed itself. The Nank&#257&#7751&#257 massacre and the behaviour of the police at Gur&#363 k&#257 B&#257<u>gh</u> induced some to organize an underground terrorist movement. These terrortists, who called themselves Babar (Lion) Ak&#257l&#299s, were largely drawn from the <u>Gh</u>adr party and army soldiers on leave. Babar violence was, however, of short duration. By the summer of 1923, most of the Babars had been apprehended. The trial conducted in camera began inside Lahore Central jail on 15 August 1923 and was presided over by an English judge. Of the 91 accused, two died in Jail during trial, 34 were acquitted, six including Jathed&#257r Kishan Si&#7749gh Ga&#7771gajj, were awarded death penalty, while the remaining 49 were sentenced to varying terms of imprisonment.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Another Ak&#257l&#299 <i>morch&#257</i> was precipitated by police interrupting an <i>akha&#7751&#7693 p&#257th</i>, i. e. continuous recital of the Gur&#363 Granth S&#257hib, at Gurdw&#257r&#257 Ga&#7749gsar at Jaito, in the Princely state of N&#257bh&#257, to demonstrate Sikhs' solidarity with the cause of Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 Ripudaman Si&#7749gh, the ruler of the state, who had been deposed, by the British. Batches of passive resisters began arriving every day at Jaito to assert their right to freedom of worship. The Shiroma&#7751&#299 Committee and the Ak&#257l&#299 Dal were declared illegal bodies by government and more prominent of the leaders were arrested. They were charged with conspiracy to wage war against the King and taken to Lahore Fort for trial. The agitation continued and the size of the <i>jath&#257s</i> going to Jaito was in fact increased from 25 each to a hundred, and then from one hundred to five hundred. One such <i>jath&#257</i> was fired upon on 21 February 1924 by the state police resulting in a number of casualties.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;With the arrival in May 1924 of Sir Malcolm Hailey as Governor of the Punjab, the government began to relent. Negotiations were opened with the Ak&#257l&#299 leaders imprisoned in Lahore Fort. A bill accommodating their demands was moved in the Punjab Legislative Council and passed into law in 1925, under the title the Sikh Gurdwaras Act, 1925. As this legislation was put on the statute book, almost all historical shrines, numbering 241 as listed in Schedule I of the Act, were declared as Sikh <i>gurdw&#257r&#257s</i>and they were to be under the administrative control of the Central Board, later renamed the Shiroma&#7751&#299 Gurdw&#257r&#257 Parbandhak Committee. Procedure was also laid down in section 7 of the Act for the transfer of any other <i>gurdw&#257r&#257</i> not listed in Schedules I and II to the administrative control of the Central Board. With the passage of this Act, the Ak&#257l&#299 agitation ceased.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;In the Ak&#257l&#299 agitation for <i>gurdw&#257r&#257</i> reform, nearly forty thousand went to jail. Four hundred lost their lives while two thousand suffered injuries. Sums to the tune of sixteen lakhs of rupees were paid by way of fines and forfeitures and about seven hundred Sikh government functionaries in the villages were deprived of their positions. In addition to this, a ban was placed on civil and military recruitment of Sikhs which, however, was subsequently withdrawn.</p> </font> <p class="BIB"> BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1"><li class="C1"> Ganda Singh, <i>Some Confidential Papers of the Akali Movement</i>. Amritsar, 1965<BR> <li class="C1"> Mohinder Si&#7749gh, <i>The Akali Movement</i>. Delhi, 1978<BR> <li class="C1"> Teja Singh, <i>Gurdwara Reform and the Sikh Awakening</i>. Jalandhar, 1922<BR> <li class="C1"> Sahni, Ruchi Ram, <i>Struggle for Reform in Sikh Shrines</i>, Ed. Ganda Singh. Amritsar, n. d.<BR> <li class="C1"> Gulati, Kailash Chander, <i>The Akalis: Past and Present</i>. Delhi, 1974<BR> <li class="C1"> Harbans Singh, <i>The Heritage of the Sikhs</i>. Delhi, 1983<BR> <li class="C1"> Prat&#257p Si&#7749gh, Gi&#257n&#299, <i>Gurdw&#257r&#257 Sudh&#257r arth&#257t Ak&#257l&#299 Lahir</i>. Amritsar, 1975<BR> <li class="C1"> Dilgeer, Harjinder Si&#7749gh, <i>Shiroma&#7751&#299 Ak&#257l&#299 Dal</i>. Jalandhar, n. d.<BR> <li class="C1"> Josh, Sohan Si&#7749gh, <i>Ak&#257l&#299 Morchi&#257&#7749 d&#257 Itih&#257s</i>. Delhi, 1972<BR> <li class="C1"> Jagj&#299t Si&#7749gh, <i>Si&#7749gh Sabh&#257 Lahir</i>. Ludhiana, 1974<BR> <li class="C1"> Ashok, Shamsher Si&#7749gh, <i>Shiroma&#7751&#299 Gurdw&#257r&#257 Parbandhak Committee d&#257 Pa&#328j&#257h S&#257l&#257 Itih&#257s</i>. Amritsar, 1982<BR> </ol><p class="CONT">Sard&#257r Si&#7749gh Bh&#257&#7789&#299&#257<br></p><BR> </font> <img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""> </HTML></BODY>