Read on Twitter
Birth of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, Shiromani Akali Dal, and the Babbar Akalis [Thread].
According to Sant Teja Singh, On November 15, 1920, a Hukamnama was issued from the Akal Takht for the summoning of a general assembly of the Sikhs in order to create a representative community of the Panth to control Darbar Sahib and other Gurdwaras. (Cite #83).
Sikhs from every walks of life and opinion, including the Sikh Cis-Sutlej monarchical States, united on 15-16 November, 1920, and created a committee comprised of 175 members to control the Gurdwaras in Punjab and in India. The inaugural meeting of the Committee,...
...was held at the Akal Takht on Dec. 12, 1920, while the SGPC itself was registered on the 30th of April, 1921.
The Shiromani Akali Dal on the other hand, was founded on December 14, 1920. Under this Sikh-centric party, the Akalis launched a mass movement in Punjab. Their main goals were to gain control of the Gurdwaras from the Mahants, organise the Panth under one specific entity,...
... and promulgate the inception of 'Swaraj', self-rule. According to JS Grewal, they were extremely successful and influential in this regard, often considered as a 'semi-military corps' of the Sikh nation.
From its inception and contrary to many modern narratives, both the SAD & SGPC were viewed by the British as anti-colonial and dangerous to their hegemony over Punjab, an extract from the British government's intelligence bureau report in particular is illuminating, shown below.
Furthermore, the following extract from the CID (criminal investigation department) from Mr. D. Petrie, the Assistant Director of Criminal Intelligence testifies to the fact that the Akalis wanted to re-establish Sikh rule.
Additionally, what particularly accelerated the Akali agitation(s) against the English was the aftermath of the cold-blooded and infamous Amritsar/Jallianwala Bagh massacre on April 13, 1919 by British Brigadier General Reginald Dyer, in which...
...the British-appointed 'Mahant' of Harimandar Sahib, Arur Singh, honoured Dyer with a 'Siropa' (robe of honor), and declared him a Sikh, despite the horrific massacre and massive outrage against it.
Dyer teasingly stated that his actions were supported and lauded by the Sikhs themselves, which completely angered the Sikh nation. This, along with the actions of other corrupt Mahants, invigorated the Akalis to initiate the ਗੁਰਦਵਾਰਾ ਸੁਧਾਰ ਲਹਿਰ, or the Gurdwara Reform Movement.
To this end, the Akali Dal and the SGPC launched Morchas (agitations) for religious, economic, and political prowess to the Sikhs in Punjab, the most important Morchas being:
From this movement, rose a more militant group of Singhs, a splinter movement within the Akalis, who wanted to re-establish a Sikh rule in Punjab, and Swaraj (self-rule) throughout India via armed struggle, they were known as the Babbar Akalis.
The origin of the Babbar Akalis can be traced to the Sikh Educational Conference in Hoshiarpur, March 1921. Babbar etymologically stems from Perso-Arabic, meaning tiger, while Akali means immortal, or Deathless, Akaal also is another name for the Creator in the Sikh tradition.
A Sikh Sardaar who has obtained the ferocious qualities of a tiger, and becomes forever immortalised through his conduct, prowess, and might, can thus be known as a 'Babbar-Akali.'
The Sikh Educational Conference was the first official gathering by the Sikhs that called for an armed revolution against colonial rule of Punjab and India. According to Dr. Bakhshish Singh, Sikh leaders & intellectuals all over India participated in this conference. However,...
...there was a separate meeting by younger Sikhs who advocated for militancy and armed insurgency, it is here where one of the first mentions of a Khalistan, a Sikh nation-state, was proposed by the younger, more aggressive-minded, and extremely militant youngsmen Sikhs.
By August 1922, the Babbar Akali 'Jatha' was officially formed, mainly from ex-Ghadarites and ex-soldiers, whose mission was to utilise their military training and experience for the re-establishment of the Sikh Empire in Punjab.
It was founded and spearheaded by Sardar Kishan Singh Gargaj and his companions, who were particularly active in the Doaba region of Punjab, such as: Pragpur, Palahi, Domeli, Kot Fatuhi, Jassowal, and Pindori-Nijjaran.
The ultimate aim of the Babbar Akalis can be summed up in the following court document, Trial No. 2 of 1924, Judgement, p. 132 (Bakhshish Singh Nijjar. History of the Babbar Akalis)(Jalandhar: ABS Publications, 1987), pg. 13-14).
Furthermore, the political goal of the Babbar Akalis can also be summarised from the following British judgement (Ibid pg. 10):
Having said this, it is clear that the SGPC, SAD, and the Babbar Akalis, albeit ideological differences, were fighting against British colonial rule in Punjab, and were at the forefront in attempting to establish, or rather, re-establish Sikh rule in Punjab, and Swaraj in India.
There is in the contemporary era, excessively simplistic narratives being crafted suggesting that the SGPC and the SAD were 'British Stooges' or colonial forces who ousted the Sampardas, the Rababis, and the Nihangs from Darbar Sahib. Not only is this a complete...
mischaracterisation of objective history, but it is also profoundly devoid of nuance, which is of the utmost importance when studying, analysing, and learning from our history.
