{By: ALICE BASARKE, Canada} As fate would have it, M.K. Gandhi credited with starting the non-violent ‘movement to oust the British out of India.
Gandhi did implement the principles of ‘nonviolence, but he certainly was not the Originator of that concept, He learnt that from the Sikhs, The Sikhs drew their ‘Inspiration from their very gurus. In the ‘early sixteenth century, the time of Guru AmarDas, Moslem villagers threw stones. ‘At the Sikhs, trying to provoke them when they were drawing water, The Guru would not let them retaliate even when their ‘water jugs were broken. The Sikhs continued to take water, suffer the abuse, and never fought back, subsequently, two future Gurus had suffered martyrdom in ‘Order to make their point. Over time, the Principle of non-violence was used again ‘and again.
In 1861 the British had introduced the Waqf Act which gave control and managements of the holy places to their respective communities, The Hindus and Muslim’s were given control of their places of ‘worship. But in the case of the Sikh Gurdwaras, the Act was not applied. The British knew full well that the Sikhs drew their strength and inspiration from their scripture and ideology. They also knew that Sikhs had a long history of fighting ‘oppression and injustice no matter what the cost. For well-planned political reasons, the properties of Sikh places of ‘worship were transferred and given over to the Udasi Mahants and others who ‘could be more easily controlled by the British masters. Most of these Mahants had Hindu leanings and very little understanding of Sikh religion and its practices. “These mahants received their instructions from the Deputy Commissioner, a Bnitish er. The government needed to maintain the Gurdwaras as channels of indirect control of the Sikhs, Naturally the Sikhs ‘Were not happy with this arrangement. It ‘was a major factor in the first uprising ‘against the British.
At that time there was a small group of Sikhs known as the Namdharis, Ram Singh (1815 1885) was their leader, and He once served in the army of Maharaja Ranjit Singh. In 1849 when the British annexed Punjab, his army unit was disbanded. Ram Singh hated the British whom he called infringes (foreigners). He was further incensed at the takeover of the Gurdwaras in 1861 by the British, and the fact that nobody was able to do anything about this. He was very perturbed at the intrigue and duplicity all around him. Sikhs who fought and died to keep the British out of Punjab were now starting to admire all things British. The fact that they were ‘most intolerant somehow did not register on the conquered Sikhs. Yet in the words. Of Brigadier General John Jacob a leader of Indian cavalry, “‘the British were the favorites of heaven, the civilizers of the world. They were masters of India be ‘cause they were superior beings by nature to the Asiatic, Their superiority, both in science and religion, induced them to look ‘down upon dark-skinned heathens”.
‘After the collapse of the Sikh empire, Ram Singh turned to religion and meditation on God’s name, hence the name Namdhari. Due to his intense piety he had many admirers. However, his military training and political preoccupation soon ‘emerged as the main topic of his sermons.
_ He started the non-violent movement to oust the British out of Punjab, He preached the Sikh gospel with great fervor, both to fight the onslaught of Christianity and the ‘evil political and cultural effects of foreign rule. He asked the people to boycotted all British goods, “Do not accept service with the government; do not send Children to government schools; da not go to court of law but settle disputes by reference to panchayats; do not use foreign goods; do not use government postal services.”
His followers spun their own cloth and dressed in pure white cotton, and. boycotted all hit was even remotely British’s His following grew very rapidly, which alarmed the British masters, The East Indian Company had great monopoly Ruing. Cotton was being shipped to England, where it was processed and made into cloth. British economy was booming everyone had a job; the cloth manufactured in England was shipped back to India and sold at a great profit. Ram Singh’s preaching was a threat to the British system, Moreover, he fed the people prophesies of Sikh resurgence, He truly be lived that it could be won by peaceful means; However, because his following grew too rapidly, he soon lost control of some members of the group. A small ‘group of Kooka fanatics, as the Namdharis came to be known, murdered some Muslims butchers in Amritsar and Raikot (Ludhiana district), for this, eight of them were hanged. Though the passions of the ‘Kookas were inflamed, Ram Singh was still able to persuade his followers to return peacefully to their homes.
But, L. Cowan, the deputy commissioner ‘of Ludhiana saw this as an opportunity not to be wasted, Using the pretext, of the ‘above mentioned incident, he captured 68 Kookas, including 27 seriously wounded as they were making their way home. Smt. Hookmee, a popular preacher of this sect was one of two women also captured. Cowan sent a note to his commissioner, TID. Forsythe, and without any further formality, or presence of trial blew up 66 of the prisoners by tying them to the ‘mouths of cannons. Two were hacked to pieces with asword.8 Forsythe then joined Cowan at Malerkotla, where 16 more Kookas were rounded up and blasted off ‘cannons. The reasons for this barbarism were not the murder of Muslim butchers as is evident in the in these words of Cowan: [propose blowing away from guns, or hanging, the prisoner’s tomorrow morning at daybreak. Their offence is not an ordinary one, they have not committed mere murder and dacoity; they are open rebels, offering resistance to constitutional authority, and, to prevent the spreading of this disease, it is absolutely necessary that repressive measures should be prompt ‘and stem. I act for the best, this incipient ‘insurrection must be stamped out at once.
The commissioner T.D. Forsythe supported the action of his deputy. He wrote in a letter dated January 18, 1872; “My dear Cowan. J fully approves and confirms all you have done. You have acted admirably.”
For those who may wonder just what blowing from guns means the following graphic description has been found:
“Only those with the strongest stomachs, however, could remain unaffected when prisoners were blown away from the mouths of cannon, a punishment inflicted by the British in India. This was a “frightful sight”, Dr. John Sylvester thought; and for the victims a peculiarly horrible punishment since, though hanging in itself was sufficient to make paradise uncertain, death by mutilation after defilement made its attainment even less likely. The victim was lashed to a gum, the ‘small of his back or the pit of his stomach ‘against the muzzle, then “smeared with the blood of someone murdered by a member of his rice if such could be procured”, [Sylvester’s diaries] When the gun was fired the man’s body was dismembered. Usually the head, scarcely disfigured, would fly off through the smoke, then fall to the earth, slightly blackened, followed by the arms and legs, ‘The trunk would be shattered, giving off beastly smell”, and pieces of the flesh and intestines and gouts of blood would be splashed not only over the gunners but also over any spectators who stood too close, Vultures would hover overhead and with grisly dexterity catch Jumps of flesh in their beaks, “The pent-up feelings of the bystanders found vent in a sort of Youdh gasp like Ah-hl wrote an artillery officer who was required to supervise such an execution, “Then many of them came across the ditch to inspect the remains of the legs, and the horrible affair ‘was over.
” January 11 12, marks the anniversary of the slaughter of the Namdharis or Kookas in 1872. Cowan was right. Ram Singh was a dangerous Sikh, Had he not been dealt with promptly and sternly, he ‘would have gone down in history as the real father of the nation, for the British would have been thrown out almost a hundred years sooner. Many years later, Mahatma Gandhi had only copied the plans of Ram Singh to eam this title, Even the boycott of British cloth was copied. ‘The spinning of cotton, and the wearing of only white, hand spun cotton was exactly as Ram Singh had prescribed.
Article extracted from this publication >> February 21, 1996
