The colonial rule brought with itself prodigious unhackneyed philosophical and theological postulates. By virtue of relentless evangelistic didactism the very existence of the native religions was in peril.

The Wahabi movement was a revivalist movement in response to this accentuating western influence percolating in the Islamic religion. Spearheaded by a muslim leader named Shah Walliullah, who became the first ruler to express his anguish over the ugly departure from the purity of Islam. Walliullah’s aspirations were twofold:

1. Integrating the best elements of the four schools of muslim jurisprudence which had divided Indian muslims.

2. Allowing greater room for individual conscience in the religion, giving her the liberty to make a decision in consomanve with her personal beliefs in case the Quran and Hadis were liable to conflicting interpretations.

These teachings were subsequently given a political flavour by Shah Abdul Aziz and Syed Ahmed Barelvi. The duo aimed at creating a homeland for the muslims. A fatwa declared India to be dar-ul-harb (land of the kafir) which needed to be made dar-ul-Islam.

The campaign was initially directed against the Sikhs of Punjab, but after the annexation of Punjab by English in 1849, the focus shifted towards the English, who subsequently crushed and conciliated the movement by the virtue of their military superiority in the 1870’s.

In order to inhibit such a political bedlam brewing in the future, new provisions were implemented by the Act XXXVI of 1870, an act intended to amend the Indian penal code. The new provisions also provided for a sedition section which read as follows:-

Whoever by words either spoken or intended to be read, or by signs or by visible representation or otherwise, excites or attempts to excite feelings of dissatisfaction towards the government established by law in British India, shall be punished with transportation for life or for any term, to which fine maybe added or with imprisonment for a period which may extend to three years, to which fine maybe added or without fine.

Albeit, the intended effect was not achieved and India witnessed over the course of time many political movements having religious undertones, perhaps, most notably the Khilafat movement.