Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and Politics of Non-violence: A Perspective of Passive Resilience, 1920-1930

Abstract

This article examines the emergence of Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) among rural middle and lower middle-class Sikhs with the objectives of reforms in gurdwaras management along with to preserve separate Sikh identity, stop Sikhs conversion and popular representation of Sikhs through non-violent means during 1920-1930. SAD avoided to merge into national level Non-Cooperation movement and remained successful to achieve its initial goals. This article, based on revealing the fresh sources drawn from the Punjab Archives Lahore and Lahore Museum Library argues that initially a pure religious reformist movement emerged with popular support continued the strategy of nonviolence even after the acceptance of major demands in the Sikh Gurdwaras Act, 1925. SAD’s nonviolence strategy was also influenced by other Sikh organizations like Khalsa Diwan, Central Sikh League and external forces, like Indian National Congress (INC), All India Muslim League (AIML), the Unionist Party, Non-Cooperation movement and Khilafat movement at different scale. The British Indian government initially tried to handle the Sikh resistance through Sikh elites, gurdwara mahatns and colonial Punjab administration but SAD’s nonviolent response forced the government to mend their ways and finally introduced the Sikh Gurdwaras Act, 1925.