Namdhari
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A backgrounder
Sukhbir Siwach, Aug 18, 2024: The Indian Express
Who are the Namdharis?
The sect was founded by Satguru Ram Singh on Baisakhi in 1857. He challenged the status quo, advocated social reform, and resisted the Raj in various ways. The British inflicted terrible punishments on the Namdharis and deported Ram Singh to Rangoon, from where he never returned. The Namdharis believe Ram Singh is still alive, and will return one day. Until then, they mourn his absence by wearing white.
Namdhari Sikhs consider the Guru Granth Sahib as the Supreme Gurbani, but they also believe in a living human Guru. The Namdharis consider the cow to be sacred, they are teetotallers, and avoid even tea and coffee. The sect’s sprawling headquarters is located in Ludhiana’s Bhaini Sahib near village Raiyaan, where Ram Singh was born. The sect has its deras across Punjab and Haryana, and has a presence in a few other countries, too.
Kuka martyrs’ day, 1872
Raakhi Jagga, Jan 1, 2025: The Indian Express
Who are the Namdharis?
Contrary to popular perceptions, Indians continued to pick up arms against the British in the decades following the Rebellion of 1857. These movements were localised, and hence put down easily by the colonial power.
One such rebellion was led by Namdharis in Punjab. Also called kukas because of their trademark high-pitch style of reciting the Gurbani — kook in Punjabi refers to “screaming” or “crying” — the Namdharis were a Sikh sect founded by Satguru Ram Singh in Ludhiana on April 12, 1857.
Ram Singh challenged the status quo in Punjab, and preached against various social vices, especially the consumption of alcohol and meat. He also launched what can be called a predecessor of the Swadeshi and Non-Cooperation Movements of the early 20th century — he called his supporters to boycott foreign goods, British services and educational institutions, among other things.
It was this movement which, by the 1870s, saw sporadic instances of violence between the Namdharis and British officials or natives working for the British. This culminated in the events of January, 1872.
What happened in January 1872?
On January 13, 1872, a group of some 200 Namdharis led by Kuka Hira Singh and Lehna Singh reached Malerkotla following an incident of cow slaughter in the town. The Namdharis had long been agitating for a ban on cow slaughter.
On January 15, the Kukas clashed with government officials. Both side reported injuries. The On the very same day, a 150-strong Kuka contingent also attacked the Malaudh Fort in Ludhiana, which was under the jurisdiction of a local ruler who was loyal to the British. This attack too was repulsed. A number of Kukas eventually surrendered.
The British retribution to the Kuka raids was brutal. John Lambert Cowan, the Deputy Commissioner of Ludhiana district, ordered the execution of 49 Kukas on January 17, and another 17 on January 18. The Kukas were placed in front of cannons, and blown up in an open field, in front of thousands of onlookers.
“Of the 66 martys, one was 12-year-old Bishan Singh. Cowan offered to spare him if he renounced his sect. Not only did he refuse to do so, the young boy tugged Cowan’s flowing beard. As a result, Bishan Singh’s hands were first chopped off, before he was struck down with swords,” Namdhari Navtej Singh told The Indian Express.
Another story of Kuka bravery pertains to Waryam Singh, a short but courageous man from Patiala. Given his physical stature, Waryam did not reach the mouth of the cannon. “He himself brought a few stones from a nearby field to stand on, so the cannon fire into his body,” Navtej Singh said. “Such was the dedication of Namdharis… they were willing to sacrifice their lives but refused to bow to the British,” he added.
Namdharis after Kuka revolt
After the incident, Satguru Ram Singh and other chiefs were exiled in Rangoon (present-day Burma), from where they never returned. A core belief of the Namdharis is that Ram Singh is still alive, and will return one day. Until then, they mourn his absence by wearing white.
There are some two lakh Namdharis in Punjab today, although the sect has seen an internal schism since the death of Satguru Jagjit Singh in 2012. Some supporters have rallied behind Thakur Dilip Singh, who is headquartered in Sirsa, Haryana. Others follow Sangrur Uday Singh, who is headquartered at Bhaini Sahib in Ludhiana, the original seat of the Namdharis.
Factional feud, after 2016
Sukhbir Siwach, Aug 18, 2024: The Indian Express
Hundreds of followers of two rival groups of the Namdhari religious sect clashed violently in Rania in Haryana’s Sirsa district at the end of last week, leaving at least eight people injured.
The clash on August 11 between the factions led by brothers Sadguru Uday Singh and Thakur Dalip Singh revived bitter memories from eight years ago when the 88-year-old matriarch of the Namdharis, Chand Kaur, was shot dead in Ludhiana.
Haryana Police have registered FIRs against members of both factions over a dispute over 11 acres of agricultural land in Rania. What is this land and dispute?
Sukhbir Siwach, Aug 18, 2024: The Indian Express
What is the background of the factional feud?
After Ram Singh went missing, his gaddi (succession) went to his brother Satguru Hari Singh, and thereafter, in 1906, to Hari Singh’s eldest son, Satguru Partap Singh. Partap Singh was succeeded by his son Jagjit Singh. The feud began after Jagjit Singh’s demise in 2016.
Jagjit Singh had a daughter and two nephews — Uday Singh and Dalip Singh, the sons of Jagjit Singh’s brother Maharaja Bir Singh. Both Uday Singh and Dalip Singh had ambitions of succeeding Jagjit Singh. Uday Singh, who was backed by Chand Kaur, the wife of Jagjit Singh, won the war of succession, and was declared Satguru.
The Namdharis are a prosperous sect. Uday Singh controls more than 6,000 acres of prime land, including the Bhaini Sahib headquarters, which also houses two palatial bungalows.
Dalip Singh, The Indian Express had reported earlier, used to be in possession of nearly 120 acres of land at Jeewan Nagar in Haryana, the ancestral property of his father Bir Singh, where he ran a dera, besides a bungalow in Bengaluru. However, he was dispossessed of at least a portion of these properties.
Jasbir Singh, a member of the Jeewan Nagar dera management, had told The Indian Express: “A major portion of our land has been encroached by opponents of our dera, leaving just 55 acres with our dera. The Bengaluru bungalow is also not with us currently.”
On April 4, 2016, motorcycle-borne assailants gunned down Chand Kaur at the sect’s Bhaini Sahib headquarters. Both brothers had blamed the other for the murder at the time.
And what is the dispute with the Rania land?
This dispute is about 11 acres of agricultural land at Jeewan Nagar village near Rania, over which factions have laid claims.
The Dalip Singh faction has told Haryana Police that in 2019, a quasi-judicial court of then financial commissioner Anil Kumar (IAS), had passed a verdict on the dispute, and they had subsequently moved the Ellenabad sub-divisional magistrate to rectify the mutation. However, no decision has been taken so far.
In the FIR, the Dalip Singh faction has alleged that “following the orders of Thakur Uday Singh, 250-300 of his followers tried to enter the gurdwara (dera) of Dalip Singh on August 11 to take possession of the land”. The followers of Dalip Singh have accused the alleged attackers of firing on them and attempting to kill them.
The Uday Singh faction, on the other hand, claims that the land belongs to their sect, and has accused the rival sect of trying to take it over. In their police complaint, followers of the Uday Singh faction have said that they were applying urea to their paddy crop in the fields on August 11 morning, when they were attacked by the rival group, leading to injuries to eight persons.
