To make available modern western education to the Sikhs and to counter the proselytising activities of Christian missionaries as well as the Brahmo Samajists, Arya Samajists and Muslim maulvis.
The Akali Movement (Gurudwara Reform Movement) 1921:
It aimed at liberating the Sikh gurudwaras from the control of corrupt Udasi mahants (the post having become hereditary).
These mahants were loyalist and reactionary, enjoying government patronage i.e. the Britishers.
The government tried its repressive policies against the non-violent non-cooperation satyagraha launched by the Akalis in 1921, but had to bow before popular demands.
The Government passed the Sikh Gurdwaras Act in 1922, which gave the control of gurudwaras to the Sikh masses to be administered through Shiromani Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee (SGPC) as the apex body.
The Akali Movement was a regional movement but not a communal one.
