Satguru Jagjit Singh was the spiritual head of the Namdhari or Kuka sect of Sikhs founded in 1842 by Balak Singh (1799–1862) in northwest Punjab. Ram Singh a carpenter of Bhaini Arãean, a village in eastern Punjab, had served in the Sikh army of Maharaja Ranjit Singh who was succeeded by Balak Singh. After the annexation of the Punjab by the British, Satguru Ram Singh grudgingly led the mass unrest by adopting socio-religious reformist posture against casteism and idolatry, which had crept into the Sikh faith. He claimed to be a reincarnation of Gobind Singh (1666-1708), the 10 th Guru of the Sikhs and the future ruler of Hindustan. His political message was anti-British. He openly called for total non-cooperation with the British and the promotion of indigenous industries and ran a parallel state structure which had its own law courts, schools, postal and taxation system. The British government saw him as a threat and arrested him. He was banished to Burma where he died in 1885 in custody. Forty years later, Gandhi was to pursue the same path of non-violent struggle.
Satguru Ram Singh was succeeded by his younger brother Hari Singh and Jagjit Singh was the fourth in the line. Jagjit Singh’s father Partap Singh was a staunch supporter of the Indian National Congress in the freedom struggle and this relationship still continues and Namdharis are guaranteed vote bank of the ruling Congress Party. A Namdhari industrialist headed the Punjab State Congress committee early this decade. Satguru Partap Singh was one of the leaders of the World Peace movement in the early 1950s sponsored by the Soviet Union. Namdharis’ soft-spot towards the atheist Indian communist party is well known. They harboured Punjabi communist leaders while the party was banned just after 1947.
Satguru Ram Singh was succeeded by his younger brother Hari Singh and Jagjit Singh was the fourth in the line. Jagjit Singh’s father Partap Singh was a staunch supporter of the Indian National Congress in the freedom struggle and this relationship still continues and Namdharis are guaranteed vote bank of the ruling Congress Party. A Namdhari industrialist headed the Punjab State Congress committee early this decade. Satguru Partap Singh was one of the leaders of the World Peace movement in the early 1950s sponsored by the Soviet Union. Namdharis’ soft-spot towards the atheist Indian communist party is well known. They harboured Punjabi communist leaders while the party was banned just after 1947.
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