Namdharis (Kukas)

What it is: the Namdharis, also called Kukas, are a Sikh sect whose two main centres are Bhaini Sahib in Ludhiana district and Jiwan Nagar in Hisar district, Haryana. The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism says Kuka comes from the Punjabi word for a cry, after the ecstatic shouting in hymn-singing, and that Namdhari means devotees of the Name. Namdharis install the Guru Granth Sahib in their gurdwaras but believe in living Gurus. They take amrit, wear white homespun cloth, avoid meat and intoxicants, protect the cow and reject caste.

How it began: the Encyclopaedia traces it to Baba Balak Singh (1797 to 1862), who gathered a following at Hazro in Attock district, and to his successor Baba Ram Singh (1816 to 1885), a former soldier of the Sikh army who made Bhaini his headquarters. The Tribune and the sect's own site date the movement to April 1857 at Bhaini Sahib under Ram Singh. The Tribune says it used non-cooperation against British rule, boycotting government service, foreign goods, schools and courts.

Leaders, in order

• Baba Balak Singh.
• Baba Ram Singh, exiled by the British in 1872.
• Hari Singh (earlier Budh Singh), Ram Singh's brother, who took his place.
• Partap Singh, from 1906.
• Jagjit Singh, from 1959 until his death on 13 December 2012.
• Uday Singh, named by Jagjit Singh before his death, from December 2012.

Key moments

• 15 June 1871: Kukas attack a slaughterhouse in Amritsar. The Encyclopaedia says four butchers were killed and four Kukas were later executed.
• 15 January 1872: after the Magh fair at Bhaini, more than a hundred Kukas go to raid the armoury at Malerkotla and scale the city wall. Eight policemen and seven Kukas die.
• 17 January 1872: the captured Kukas are executed without trial on the order of the British deputy commissioner of Ludhiana. The Encyclopaedia counts 49 blown from cannon, one cut down with a sword and 16 more killed at the gunmouth. The Tribune names the officer as John Lambert Cowan, and says he acted against orders to hold them for trial and was later dismissed.
• 1872: Ram Singh is exiled to Rangoon with ten of his subas. The movement later campaigned for the restoration of Maharaja Duleep Singh.
• Every 17 January the Namdharis mark Shaheedi Diwas, with a state function at the Namdhari Shaheedi Samarak in Malerkotla (The Tribune).

Where it stands: Satguru Uday Singh leads the community from Bhaini Sahib. The succession was disputed. The Tribune reported on 18 December 2012 that Uday Singh was appointed on 16 December, while the International Namdhari Sangat wanted his brother Thakur Dalip Singh instead; a Bhaini Sahib office-bearer said Jagjit Singh's widow, Mata Chand Kaur, herself announced Uday Singh. On 4 April 2016 Mata Chand Kaur, aged 85, was shot at Bhaini Sahib and died the same day. The Tribune reported that the succession dispute had turned violent when rival groups clashed in Amritsar. It did not say who shot her, and we found no court finding.