It was the magical hour at the Golden Temple. The sun was taking its leave discreetly; the early winter twilight was settling in unobtrusively. The kirtan, sung in classical ragas, was floating over the sarovar, the holy pool. Hundreds of pilgrims waited to enter the sanctum sanctorum or sat by the sarovar savouring a moment of peace. It was a time to withdraw, to reflect, perhaps meditate.
This serenity was not always a given. During the persecution of the Sikhs in the 18th century, the gurdwaras (or dharamsals, as they were known) were looked after by the Udasis, who professed the Sikh faith but did not conform to its outward symbols. While many were men of learning, some gave in to vain temptation. They set up their own institutions—deras and akharas—and came to be known as Mahants. With royal patronage during the reign of Maharaja Ranjit Singh and the coming of the canal irrigation, the estates attached to the gurdwaras became very valuable. Many Mahants began to treat them as personal, even hereditary, possessions and lived licentious lives; the shrines became dens of corruption and vice.
The impetus for restoring the sanctity of the gurdwaras gathered strength in the early 20th century, impelled by the progressive political, religious and social message of the Singh Sabha movement. The 1907 agrarian unrest, the Ghadar Movement, the return of the Sikh soldiers from World War I, and finally the 1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre all created a landscape of political unrest in Punjab. The shameful honouring of Brigadier-General Dyer by the government appointed Sarbrah (manager) of the Golden Temple incensed the wider Sikh community and highlighted the perfidious linkage between the Mahants and the colonial authorities. The Gurdwara Reform Movement melded into the national freedom struggle.
The Akali reformers chose the path of non-violent resistance, marching in disciplined groups known as jathas to wrest control of the shrines. Their fortitude in the face of police violence earned them the admiration of the nationalist leadership. The brutal beatings of Akali jathas at Guru-Ka-Bagh, the police firings on peaceful protestors at Jaito, the sacrifices at Tarn Taran and Panja Sahib passed into living lore. At Nankana Sahib, the licentious Mahant Narain Das, in tacit connivance with colonial authorities, shot 130 reformers, burning the bodies collectively using kerosene. Mahatma Gandhi, who visited the site, called the horrific episode a “second edition of Dyerism”. Then came the celebrated Keys Affair of 1921. When the government seized the keys of the Toshakhana (treasury) of the Golden Temple, widespread protests broke out, even raising concerns regarding the loyalty of Sikh troops. The government lost nerve and surrendered the keys. Gandhi’s telegram to Baba Kharak Singh, the president of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, said it all, “First battle for India’s freedom won. Congratulations.”
The Gurdwara Reform Movement reached its climax with the passage of the Sikh Gurdwaras and Shrines Bill in 1925. Over a period of five years, approximately 30,000 had gone to prison, 400 died and another 2,000 were wounded. To pay tribute to the martyrs of the struggle a new volume titled—Secret and Private Papers of the Akali Movement 1920-25—is now out. These papers, centred on the correspondence of Sir W. Malcolm Hailey, home member of the governor general’s council and later governor of Punjab, were meticulously collected in 1975 by the respected historian, Dr Mohinder Singh. They shed fresh light on devious colonial designs to suppress the Akali Movement and to sow dissension in its ranks. In the 75th year of our republic, this volume is a valuable reminder of the multi-hued nature of India’s freedom struggle.
The writer is the former ambassador to the US and author of the historical novel ‘Crimson Spring’.