The Centenary Year of Ad-dharm Mandal (1926-2026)

 

The Centenary Year of Ad-dharm Mandal (1926-2026)

The Ad-dharm Mandal, which later was turned into a Movement, was floated and established on June 11-12, 1926 at the village Mugowal in Tehsil Garhshankar of District Hoshiarpur of the Doaba region of Punjab, of its founder Gadri Baba Babu Mangu Ram Mugowalia. It was the churn of events and socio-political scenario exciting at the times in the 1920s which motivated and cajoled the

Gadarite Baba and his associates to come forward and lead the depressed and oppressed segments of the society from the front. One can imagine, it can’t be a coincident that the RSS was formally formed in October, 1926, a few months after the formation of the Ad-dharm Mandal and launch of Samata Sainik Dal by Babasaheb Ambedkar around the same time. It only registers, to my mind, the vision of the founders of Ad-dharm Mandal led by Babu Mangu Ram Mugowalia. It is a matter great pride and satisfaction for me that two of my fellow BootaMandians; Seth Kishan Dass and Seth Sunder Dass were actively associated with the formation of Ad-dharm Mandal and remained with it in its struggle to get a distinct identity to the socially and economically marginalized sections of the society in the run up to India’s freedom from the British in 1947. The Ad Dharm Mandal was a pioneering socio-religious and political movement aimed at establishing an independent, distinct identity for Dalits (Mulnivasis), it successfully mobilized the community, instilled self-respect, and campaigned for land and political rights of the oppressed and depressed sections of the society which are called SCs or Dalis in the current parlance. As its core ideology; it sought to liberate "untouchables" from the caste-based Hindu social order by framing Dalits as the original inhabitants (Mulnivasis) of the region with their own rich history and culture. The movement provided Dalits with their own distinct religious symbols, prayers, and greetings (such as Jai Guru Dev). Denting the political scene, it registered over half a million followers in the 1931 census and won 7 out of 8 reserved seats in the 1937 Punjab Legislative Assembly elections. With the cooperation of Seth Kishan Dass and Seth Sunder Dass of Bootan Mandi among others, the Head Office of Ad-dharam Mandal was first located at Bootan Mandi (as stated in the Google search) which was later shifted permanently to Kishanpura  (a locality near the Jalandhar Railway Station) which now houses Guru Ravidass Senior Secondary School run by the family of Master Gurbanta Singh, a Congress Party leader and associate of Babu Mabu Ram Mugowalia in the early years of Ad-dharm Mandal’s establishment in 1926.  Babu Mangu Ram worked closely with Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, sending telegrams to support him during the Round Table Conferences in London as leader of the depressed classes as against the claims of Mahatma Gandhi. Many people may not know that Sant Sarwan Dass of Dera Sachkhand Ballan, a prominent dera of the community, was an ardent supporter of Ad-dharm Mandal who closely worked with Babu Mangu Ram and Babasaheb Ambedkar with regard to the community matters.The movement revolutionized the social fabric of Punjab's Doaba region and beyond by securing basic human rights, demanding fair wages, and ending practices like forced, unpaid labor (Begar). The Memorandum submitted by Ad-Dharam Mandal on October 12, 1929 to His Excellency Sir Geoffrey Fitz Hervey De Montmorency, the then Governor of Punjab was the first attempt for the amelioration of the lot of down trodden Community and has been rightly hailed as the "Manga Carta" in the historic struggle for eradication of untouchability and inequality. Justice Ishar Dass Pawar, a close associate of Babu Mango Ram and the intellectual face of Ad-dharm Mandal rightly wrote, “Babu Mangu Ram will be long remembers as the devoted pioneer in the crusade against social and political injustice. He fought relentlessly even in the face of crippling heavy odds for the achievements of the goal. Whatever rights we have been able to snatch so far is entirely due to these great men. There is needed to look back lest we should forget our benefactors-the brave soldiers who fought our battles.” Babu Mangu Ram was a visionary leader. He took into confidence his colleagues, Gadarite Babas, and started the struggle to uplift his brethren with their blessings as stated by one of the staunch supporters of the Movement, G.S.Bal, ”Babu M.R. Mugowalia wrote to the Ghadar Party headquarters in San Fransisco about the difficult conditions of the Untouchables in India. He wrote them that their freedom was more important to him than Indian freedom. According to Babu Mugowalia, leaders of the Ghadar Party then disengaged him to work with Scheduled castes (Untouchables), and wrote him that they would support him in his tasks. Thus, in a new context, the old revolutionary from Fresno continued the Ghadar spirit. This clearly shows that even Ghadarites had realized the need to awaken these slaves of Indian Society, the then untouchables.” Considering the importance and relevance of Ad-dhram Movement, many intellectuals and scholars like Mark Juergensmeyer, Gail Omvelt

among others have written about the sterling role of the Ad-dhram  and Babu Mangu Ram Mugowalia Movement for the benefit of the students f history and Dalit movements. Prof Ronki Ram has rightly said, “Like all other integral segments of the syncretic Punjabi qaum, the Punjabi SCs are well known for their valour in the missions of the Khalsa armies of Guru Gobind Singh against regimes of injustice and social oppression. The desire for a life of dignity prompted them in the second half of 1920s, to organize themselves under the Ad Dharm movement, the maiden movement of the Untouchables in pre-Partition Punjab, launched 11-12 June 1926. The Ad Dharm movement ran parallel to but independent of various other contemporary Adi movements that emerged in the rest of India.” The role and contribution of the Ad-dham Movement and its founder, Babu Mangu Ram Mugowalia in socio-political reforms of India has been fairly recorded by the historians and scholars and rightly so.

All said, it is a matter of regret to note that Dalits particularly of Punjab and more pertinently of the Doaba region have forgotten, it seems, the important milestone in the history of Dalit Movements in India; the Centenary Year of the Ad-dhram Mandal. Babasaheb Ambedkr himself said that those who forget their history cannot make history. I have not noticed much activity except the planned celebrations and commemorations at Khuralgarh Sahib in Hoshiarpur by the All India Ad-dharm Movement on June 11-12, 2026. I have also glanced through a book by Dr. Gurmeet Kallarmajri – Gadri Baba Mangu Ram Mugowalia Atey Ad-dhram which has been dedicated to the Centenary Year of Ad-dharm Mandal. Editor in Chief of the Ambedkar Times Group of Publications of USA, Prem

Chumber has been doing a lot to keep the memory of Ad-dhram Maovement and Babu Mangu Ram Mugowalia. More should come forward to consolidate and preserve the legacy of the Movement. I conclude it here by thanking All India Ad-dharm Movement for the initiative taken in this regard and also submitting my proposal of claiming and reviving the Headquarters of Ad-dharm Mandal at Mohalla Kishanpura in Jalandhar for consideration and action by All India Ad-dhram Movement and followers of Ad-dhram. The details of the claim may be accessed from my blog of January 23, 2024   given below:

https://diplomatictitbits.blogspot.com/2024/01/call-to-redeem-history-and-glory-of-ad.html

Nahin Minnatkash-e-Taab-e-Shaneedan Dastan Meri
Khamoshi Guftugu Hai, Be-Zubani Hai Zuban Meri

(My story is not indebted to the patience of being heard
My silence is my talk, my speechlessness is my speech)