- Government has
released commemorative postal stamp to highlight heroic deeds of those
engaged in 1857 Kuka movement of the Namdhari Sikhs
against the British rule.
- It
was released by Union minister for Communication and Information
Technology Ravi Shankar Prasad in New Delhi.
(This makes it important from our UPSC preparations point of view )
The background
- There
has been a doubtful history about the initial days of Kuka Movement. There
are two names associated with the start of this movement i.e. Baba
Balak Singh and Bhagat Jawar Mal.
- Balak Singh started preaching very early in his life and the objective of his preachings was to uphold the religious purity of Sikhism.
- Some sources say that Balak Singh himself was a disciple of Bhagat Jawar Mal.
- Bhagat Jawar Mal was also known as Sian Sahib. The important teaching of Bhagat Jawar mal was that his disciples should live a simple teetotaller life and all other rituals except the chanting the name of God should be discarded, this is how the sect was called "Namdhari".
- While
reciting Sikh Mantras or repeating the name, the Namdharis often developed
emotions, screamed and shouted, took turbans in their hands and hair
streaming in the air hence called 'Kukas' or the shouters.
- The
word Kuka is derived from the Punjabi expression 'kook', meaning a cry.
The Namdharis can be easily identified by their white attire and a typical
turban.
Baba Ram Singh
- Bhagat
Jawarmal established his main base at Hazro (now in
Pakistan).
- After Bhagat Jawarmal died, Balak Singh carried is legacy.
- However, it was not the real starting of the Kuka Movement as we know today. The real founder was Baba Ram Singh, who was born in 1815 as a son of a poor carpenter, in small village of Bhaini, around 7 kilometers away from Ludhiana. In 1840s, he served as a soldier in Sikh Army of Prince Naunihal Singh. He left the army on the overturn of the Sikh rule. In around 1838, he came in touch with Baba Balak Singh, though he remained in touch with Bhagat Jawar mal also.
After he left the army, he started preaching against the bad
things developed among the Sikhs. We have been told that he wanted his
disciples to follow all what Guru Gobind Singh taught in a
puritan way, without any influence of other religions.
Foundations of Namdharis
- Some
sources say that in 1857, Baba Ram Singh founded the Namdhari sect on the
day of Baisakhi, at village Bheni. He established 22 preaching centres in
different parts of the country, each of them was under a deputy called
Suba.
- These
Subas, at various places such as Gwalior, Banaras, Lucknow, Kabul and
Hyderabad, started spreading the teachings of Baba Ram Singh.
- Thus,
we see that the Namdhari sect had started taking a political shape by
1860s. The major centre of this sect was parts of today's Pakistan's
Punjab & Sindh province.
- The
movement started attracting not only Sikhs but also the Hindus. The number
of followers went up in Lakhs, many of them being the government services,
in business and in trading.
This was followed by such a growth of pomp and splendour of Baba
Ram Singh, that he was now considered by many as a successor of Guru Nanak dev,
although Baba Ram Singh is said to have condemned it. His admirers have also
produced a "Pothi" which was probably written
during the times of Guru Gobind Singh, in which it was written that one Ram
Singh would appear, who would become a spiritual leader of the Sikhs and
establish his rule in the country. This was later condemned by Baba Ram Singh,
when he was in exile in Rangoon.
The Beliefs and Faiths of the Kuka Sect
· The sect believes
that Adi Granth is
the only true holy book of their religion.
· Gobind Singh is
the only Guru.
· Any person,
irrespective of caste or religion, can be admitted as a Namdhari convert.
· Sodhis, Bedis,
Mahants, Brahmins and such like are impostors, as none are Gurus except
Gobind Singh. It's worth note that among Sikhs the Sodhis and Bedis had
started getting worshipped during those times.
· Devidwaras,
Shivdwaras and Mandirs are a means of extortion, to be held in contempt and
never visited.
· Idols and
idol-worship are insulting to God, and will not be forgiven. The Namdharis
were iconoclasts.
· Converts are
allowed to read Gobind Singh's Grantha and no other book.
· Pure
vegetarianism. It was against killing of cattle and kine.
· Teetotallers.
· No caste system
· Namdharis are not allowed to drink tap water; water must be drawn
from the lake or captured from rain and from well.
· Only white cloths, no any other color allowed.
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From the above, we can easily make out that the origin of the
Kuka Movement had its roots in religious purification of the Sikhism. In their
social beliefs, the Kukas were against child-marriage. They condemned
infanticide and dowry system. The Namdharis in fact were religiously denied the
right to spend more than Rs. 13 on a marriage. The Kukas gave strictly equal
status to women and believed inner-caste marriage between caste Hindus and
untouchables. The first such inter-casts marriage was performed among the Kukas
on January 4, 1863.
The Non-cooperation / Civil Disobedience by Kukas
- Baba
Ram Singh considered political freedom a part of religion.
- The
organisation of the Namdharis became very strong.
- The
principles of boycott and non-co-operation, which Mahatma Gandhi
introduced in our freedom movement, were expounded by Guru Ram Singh for
the Namdharis.
- The
Guru's Non-co-operation Movement was based on a few
things such as boycott of education institutions of British and laws
established by them.
- They
were rigid in their clothing and wore only hand-spun white attire.
- A
large number of Kuka followers were in the police as well as army, though
they did not reveal their identity.
- It's
worth note that a special Kuka regiment was raised by the Maharaja of
Kashmir was disbanded at the intervention of the British.
Political Clout
- Baba
Ram Singh had spread his spheres of activity in Nepal, Bhutan, Kashmir and
several other States.
- It
is also said that he was in touch with the prominent leaders of Mutiny,
including Rani of Jhansi.
- He
had also exchanged letters from Russians, whom he expected to march to
India and expel the British from here.
The Kuka Movement / Uprising
- In 1871 , the Kukas met in conference at the village Khote in Ferozepur.
- In this conference, the Kukas divided into two parties and
despite Ram Singh's admonitions, who was present there, they began to
quarrel among themselves.
- Some Kukas got out of control and attacked and murdered
many butchers and others suspected of kine slaughter. This was followed by
killing of the Butchers in many places.
- The Kuka followers succeeded in enforcing civil
disobedience as well as carrying out extreme actions including murder of
butchers against cow slaughter.
- Many experts have opined that the Kuka attack upon
religious places, as they were iconoclasts. This hurt the religious
sentiments of followers of other faiths.
- Further, the religious purity, which was
the basis of their foundation, was later lost into oblivion.
Government Action
- The
Government arrested many Kukas and either hanged them or imprisoned
them.
- There
was a serious outbreak in 1872, when some of the Kukas went out of Ram
Singh's control and decided to attack Malerkotla and occupied it.
- The
government took it seriously and many of the Kuka ring-leaders were blown
away from the cannon mounts.
- Despite
of the fact the Ram Singh had informed the government that some wrongdoers
used his name, the Government concluded that Ram Singh's real motive and
ambition was to reign and acquire dominions, upon a religious
pretext.
- The
result was that he was captured and sent into exile in Burma. He died
there later.
Aftermath
- After Ram Singh, Guru Hari Singh succeeded. Guru Hari Singh who was not allowed to move out of his house in the village Bheni, for 21 years. He died in 1906 and was succeeded by Pratap Singh.
- During the World War in 1914, the British Government unsuccessfully tried to appease the Kukas by land grants.
- In 1920, the Kukas started their paper 'Satyug', and in 1922, their daily, 'Kuka' was started.
- When the non-cooperation movement was started by Gandhiji, the Kukas joined hands freely. Gandhiji himself is said to have learnt many points from the Kukas, and modified his campaign to revolutionise the social and political structure of India.