Babbar Akali Movement

The Babbar Akali movement (the Babar Akalis) was a secret group that grew out of the Akali movement to free the gurdwaras from corrupt mahants. The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism calls it a radical outgrowth of that movement. The killings at Tarn Taran in January 1921 and Nankana Sahib in February 1921 led some Sikhs to give up non-violence. Sikh Research Institute adds that its members were largely emigrants returned from Canada, some with Ghadar links, who rejected the Congress and Gandhian approach and aimed at independence for India and Sikh rule in Punjab. Their targets were British officers and the Indian informers they called "stooges".

Its leaders: Master Mota Singh and Kishan Singh Gargajj planned revenge during the Sikh Educational Conference at Hoshiarpur on 19 to 21 March 1921, and a warrant was issued against Mota Singh. Kishan Singh founded the Chakravarti Jatha in November 1921. In late August 1922 it merged with a group led by Karam Singh of Daulatpur, and the joint body took the name Babar Akali Jatha, with Kishan Singh as jathedar. Its committee members named in 1922 were Dalip Singh of Daulatpur, Karam Singh of Jhingar and Ude Singh of Ramgarh Jhuggian.

Key moments

• 1922 to 1923: the movement's most active months. Its cyclostyled news-sheet was the Babar Akali Doaba. Its members were bound by a code that barred harming women and pursuing personal vendettas.
• April 1923: the Babar Akali Jatha is declared unlawful under the Criminal Law Amendment Act of 1908. A joint military and police force is raised to pursue the Babbars in the Siwalik hills.
• 15 August 1923: the trial of the arrested Babbars begins inside Lahore Central Jail.
• June 1924: the Encyclopaedia says the movement virtually ended when Varyam Singh Dhugga was run down by police in Lyallpur district.
• 28 February 1925: judgement in the first case. Of 91 accused, two died in jail during the trial, 34 were acquitted, six were sentenced to death and 49 got prison terms.
• 27 February 1926: six Babbars are hanged: Kishan Singh Gargajj, Baba Santa Singh, Dalip Singh Dhamian, Karam Singh Manko, Nand Singh Ghuial and Dharam Singh Hayatpur.

The SGPC urged Sikhs to dissociate themselves from the Babbars. Sikh Research Institute records Kishan Singh replying that if Sikhs wanted to free the gurdwaras and the country they would have to take up the sword.

Where it stands today: The Babar Akali Jatha ceased to exist, but the Encyclopaedia says the Naujawan and Kirti Kisan movements in Punjab took up its methods.