Punjabi Suba movement
Punjabi Suba movement | |||
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Death(s) | At least 43 killed (as per civil rights and linguistic rights political movement |
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The Punjabi Suba movement was a long-drawn political agitation, launched by Punjabi speaking people (mostly Sikhs) demanding the creation of autonomous Punjabi Suba, or Punjabi-speaking state, in the post-independence Indian state of East Punjab.[5] The movement is defined as the forerunner of the Khalistan movement.[6][7]
Borrowing from the pre-
Early years
Background
The reformist Sikh movements of the twentieth century had achieved, in large part, significant demarcation from the Hindus, asserting themselves as a distinct religious and political entity. Seeking a prolongment of these efforts, lest the religious apathy of the Sikhs would facilitate reversion to Hinduism, on the basis of shared religious postulates and cultural kinship, the Punjabi Suba movement became an intransigent aim among sections of the Sikh populace.
In January 1948, Akali Dal's three-member delegation of leaders, Harcharan Singh Bajwa, Bhupinder Singh Mann, and Giani Kartar Singh, met the Minister of Law and Justice Dr. B. R. Ambedkar. Ambedkar suggested that the Akali delegation demand a Punjabi-speaking state or Punjabi Subah (Punjabi Province) as a Sikh state, since the central government had declared a commitment to a linguistic basis for the reorganization of the states.[18][19][20] The demand for a Punjabi Suba as a policy position was first presented in April 1948 by Tara Singh of the Shiromani Akali Dal[16] The Akali Dal considered the continued existence of the Sikh religion as predicated on the community acting as a consolidated political unit, which could only be effective with its own territorial unit.[13] Regarding Sikh political participation as an integral to Sikh theology itself, as the Khalsa had been established in 1699 to organize religious Sikhs into a political community, one of Guru Gobind Singh's signature contributions to Sikhism, the party received strong support from its base by offering this political organization rooted in religious tradition.[13]
Though it was commonly recognized at the time of
The Sikhs now constituted a majority in the northwestern seven districts[25] of the thirteen districts[17] of East Punjab state at the time: Gurdaspur, Amritsar, Hoshiarpur, Jalandhar, Firozpur, Ludhiana, and Ambala, along with Patiala and East Punjab States Union, or PEPSU, which had been formed as an administrative unit in May 1948 out of the six Sikh princely states,[17][26] and with sizable populations in surrounding districts. Meanwhile, Hindus formed a majority in the remaining six,[25] including the southeastern districts between PEPSU and Delhi (Hisar, Karnal, Rohtak, and Gurgaon), and the eastern Kangra and Shimla divisions. In addition, while the Sikhs made up 35% of the province's population,[15] the demographic pattern of urban and rural settlement was such that the Hindu population, whose majority status was new,[15] was largely clustered in urban areas.[17] The seven Sikh-majority districts would be the suggested basis of the Punjabi Suba, for which Tara Singh campaigned vigorously between late 1948 and early 1949.[16]
The new platform of the Akali Dal mobilized strong support among Sikhs,
Sachar Formula
The Sachar Formula was introduced on 2 October 1949 under the government of
While earlier in June 1948, both Punjabi and Hindi were both made official media of educational instruction, the Municipal Committee of Jalandhar in February 1949 resolved to make Devanagari Hindi the sole media in its schools, and the Senate of
In August of that year, the Akali Dal would position itself as the premier representative for Sikh rights, broadcasting its victory in the subsequent annual elections and dislodging of the pro-Congress president of the Dal as a referendum for support for the Punjabi Suba among the Sikhs.
1953 States Reorganisation Commission
Though the calls for a Punjabi Suba were initially disregarded by the central government, the problem did not subside, and for the sake of the democratic functioning of the new democracy,
"The true test of democracy, in the opinion of the Shiromani Akali Dal, is that the minorities should feel that they are really free and equal partners in the destiny of their country…to bring home a sense of freedom to the Sikhs, it is vital that there should be a Punjabi speaking language and culture. This will not only be in fulfilment of the pre-partition Congress program and pledges, but also in entire conformity with the universally recognized principles governing formation of provinces…. The Shiromani Akali Dal has reason to believe that a Punjabi-speaking province may give the Sikhs the needful security. It believes in a Punjabi speaking province as a autonomous unit of India."[32]
The Congress in Punjab, on the other hand, proposed the state integration of East Punjab, PEPSU, and Himachal Pradesh, which was similar to the submitted memoranda of the Arya Samaj and the
The Akali Dal entered the 1955 Punjab SGPC elections on this platform and won resoundingly, winning all 110 seats it contested against the Punjab Congress, which had contested under the banner of the “Khalsa Dal,” which had only won 3 out of 132 contested seats.[37][41] The results proved a strong morale booster for the party, which had demonstrated strong Sikh support for its platform, and felt encouraged to start a movement for the Punjabi Suba. The opportunity presented itself when on 6 April 1955 the Punjab Congress banned the shouting of Punjabi Suba slogans; twenty days later the Akali Dal issued an ultimatum to rescind the ban by 10 May or face an agitation.[37]
1955 Slogan Agitation
Following the verdict of the Commission, the Akalis commenced the Punjabi Suba Slogan Agitation of 1955. Large numbers of summoned volunteers congregated at the
The Congress government did not lift the slogan ban, and the agitation began as promised on 10 May, with Tara Singh and ten companions being arrested for shouting Punjabi Suba slogans,[37][31] as were successive groups of Akalis as they embarked from the temple doing the same.[42] In the next five days more than 1,000 prominent Akali leaders were arrested;[43] in nearly two months, 12,000 Sikhs had been arrested for the Slogan Agitation,[42] and by the end of July as many as 21,000 Akalis were jailed in Congress efforts to quash the growing movement,[43] which nevertheless continued steadily.[42] Attempted negotiations with Congress led the agitation to be adjourned twice, though Jawaharlal Nehru continued to reject the demand for Punjab Suba.[42][31]
On 12 July, the government under Sachar used the pretext of a “Nehru's triumphal return from peace mission abroad” to lift the ban on Punjabi Suba slogans and appealed for peace.[43][38] However, Akali Dal did not celebrate the lifting of the ban on Punjab Suba slogans.[44] Sachar government also announced the release of Akali prisoners in installments, which proved slow to be implemented; Tara Singh was released on 8 September, and the last Akalis were not released until 18 October.[43]
1955 Golden Temple raid
A flashpoint during the agitation occurred on 4 July 1955, when a group led by
The Guru Ram Das Serai and Shiromani Akali Dal offices were also raided, and batons used and tear gas and shells fired to disperse the protestors gathered on the periphery of the temple, damaging the periphery and sarovar, or pool, of the temple.[43][38] The government stopped volunteers on the way to the Golden Temple, and troops were ordered to flag-march through the bazaars and streets surrounding the site.[38]
According to Khalistani separatist Lakhbir Singh Rode, "fire was opened at Akal Takht and Golden Temple, and many Sikhs were killed".[46]
Amritsar Convention
The States Reorganization Committee submitted its report to the Government of India on 10 September 1955[38] where it was considered and published on 10 October.[47] The Commission recommended the integration of PEPSU and Himachal Pradesh with the Punjab, which was rejected by the Akali Dal a day after the report's release.[39] Tara Singh took the opportunity to exhibit Sikh unity and resolution on this point, summoning a representative convention of Sikhs of all parties and organizations at Amritsar on 16 October 1955;[39] nearly 1,300 invitees attended.[22]
The Amritsar convention strongly rejected the Commission's proposal, castigating it for bias against Sikh claims,
Government talks
The first meeting took place on 24 October 1955 in
Further meetings were put on hold in December due to the announcement of a general session of the Congress Party to be held in February 1956 in Amritsar; [51] the Shiromani Akali Dal's announcement of its own parallel congress, the orderly five-hour-long procession of which dwarfed in size that of the Congress convention,[51] provided another show of Sikh solidarity, with a large turnout of Sikhs from all over Punjab and beyond, with conservative estimates of over 100,000 marchers.[51] Nehru biographer and contemporary observer Michael Brecher estimated the figure to be over double that,[51] with participants being old and young, men and women, with many of them wearing the traditional Akali symbols of the kirpan and the blue turban, and observed the processioners raising chants of "Punjabi Suba Zindabad" ("Long live a Punjabi State") and "Master Tara Singh Zindabad," with intermittent music. The success of the Akali march helped talks with the government to resume.[48] Talks again stalled by 26 February 1956 after the Sikh delegation perceived a lack of action during the meetings, but were resumed after Joginder Singh, a Sikh parliamentarian from Uttar Pradesh, persuaded the Sikhs to rejoin the talks.[52]
The Regional Formula
Eventually both parties managed to break the impasse with a preliminary compromise based on a proposal first made in January 1956 by Hukam Singh:[48] while stopping short of a Punjabi Suba, the state would be split into two regions in what would be called the Regional Formula: Punjabi and Hindi, with each region having its own committee consisting of its own share of Punjabi legislators, with powers to deliberate on all matters except law and order, finance, and taxation.[52] The region would remain bilingual, but Punjabi in Gurmukhi would be the "regional" language, and the official language of the "Punjabi zone;" additionally, the Punjab Government would set up a separate department for the development of Punjabi alongside the one for Hindi, the central government would finally encourage Punjabi like any other regional language, and only PEPSU, and not Himachal Pradesh, would be merged with Punjab.[48] The Regional Formula was put to a vote at a general meeting of the Shiromani Akali Dal at Amritsar on 11 March 1956.[52][48] While there were critical voices raised, on grounds of constitutional propriety as well as the perceived inadequacy of the measure, and Giani Kartar Singh conceded that what was offered was not the Punjabi Suba of their conception, leaders including him, Jodh Singh, and Sardar Ajit Singh advocated acceptance of it as the beginning point, or tentative promise, of a Punjabi Suba.[52] Master Tara Singh, however, was apprehensive of accepting the measure, which would weaken the Akali negotiating position,[52] though it would go into effect on 1 November 1956.[53]
On 23 September 1956 after approving the Regional Formula, the Akali Dal renounced its political programme, as part of its deal with Congress. Shifting its focus to the promotion of Sikh religious, educational, cultural, social and economic interests, and protecting Sikh fundamental rights,[53] it was proposed that its large number of politically active members, including Giani Kartar Singh, be presented to Congress[52] to further Akali political goals by joining and working through Congress.[52][41] However, when the Congress assigned the Akali entrants 22 nominations for the Punjab Assembly and 3 for Parliament,[52] Master Tara Singh, though now on good terms with Nehru,[53] considered this as grossly inadequate, and considered the settlement void as far as he was concerned, though the Akali Dal continued to abide by it. Among the options left to him were to put up his own candidates against the Congress, which proved unsuccessful, and to politically reactivate the Shiromani Akali Dal, which he still controlled and set out to do.[52][54]
Opposition to the Formula
Due to the insistence of the Sikhs of Punjab to not only have Punjabi as the official language as the basis for their proposed state, but also for Punjabi to be written exclusively in the Gurmukhi script, Hindus viewed the movement as an arrogant attempt to impose upon them the script of the Sikh religion and culture, as Hindus preferred and traditionally used the Devanagari script.[55]
The Regional Formula met with resistance from Punjabi Hindus who opposed the formation of a Sikh-majority state,[56] was opposed by Hindi language supporters of Punjab as being harmful to their interests, and under the Hindi Raksha Samiti, campaigned to have it annulled.[52] The Arya Samaj regarded the Regional Formula as worse than the Sachar Formula they had ignored earlier, as the Punjabi-speaking "region" did not retain the Hindi option in the area for parents who wished to "choose" it as their language, and started a "save Hindi" movement supported by Arya Samajis including newspaper editors and educational board members; government concessions to their ideological demands compromised the language aspect of the Formula.[54] Languages had been communalised far before independence, when Hindi was selected to be the symbol of Hindu nationalism, regardless of whose actual native language it was.[57]
In 1957, the Hindi Rakshi Samiti launched slogans like langri bhasha nahin parenge, gandi bhasha nahin parenge, jabri bhasha nahin parenge (we won't study a crippled language, we won't study a dirty language, we won't study a language made obligatory," despite being based in Punjab; such behavior from the Hindi agitation until the end of the movement would leave lasting bitterness in Punjab.[58] Nationalist leaders opposed the Punjabi Suba movement, believing it to undermine secular precepts and national unity.[59]
During the course of the Hindi movement over several months,[54] several Sikh gurdwaras had been desecrated,[52] and the new Congress government, which had commenced on 3 April 1957 and was headed by the influential Partap Singh Kairon as Chief Minister and former Akalis and current cabinet members Giani Kartar Singh and Gian Singh Rarewala who served under him, dealt with it harshly,[52] though as a result of the protests, the Regional Formula was not implemented by Kairon.[54] The replacement of the Regional Formula became even more imperative for the central authorities with growing opposition to the usage of Punjabi and Gurmukhi among Punjabi Hindus even in the Punjabi zone.[45]
Sikh sentiments remained hurt by the violent desecrations, the Sikh masses had not enthusiastically accepted the Regional Formula either, and though the post-independence intellectual and cultural context that had driven Punjabi advocacy and the initial drive toward the Formula did yield institutions like Punjabi University in 1956,[60] the Formula was increasingly viewed as an inadequate solution to the Punjab problem, with neither the government or the political parties seeing potential in it.[60] While the Akali Dal supported the Formula until March 1958, Tara Singh stated in June that he would be compelled to restart the Punjabi Suba struggle if the Resolution was not implemented, holding a Punjabi Province conference in October.[61] Language frontiers had become communal frontiers, and Master Tara Singh considered the Punjabi Suba as the only solution against rising Hindi fanaticism.[60] He called a general meeting of the Shiromani Akali Dal at Patiala on 14 February 1959, which 299 out of 377 members attended.[60] The convention strongly supported restoring the political operation of the Akali Dal.[52]
Partap Singh Kairon was himself an advocate of Punjabi and the founding of the Punjabi University for the support and development of the language along with Giani Kartar Singh.
Renewed efforts for the Punjabi Suba
The Punjab Government under Kairon remained as politically firm dealing with rival supporters of Punjabi as it had done over the supporters of Hindi,
While in November 1958 Kairon narrowly dislodged Tara Singh from the SGPC presidency, his subsequent unconstitutional attempt to dilute the SGPC's democracy under the action of accommodating PEPSU representatives in the SGPC earned strong opposition from non-Congress Sikhs, which Tara Singh capitalized on by announcing another SGPC bid on the platform of the Punjabi Suba, securing the presidency and 132 out of 139 seats for the Akali Dal.[61] The 1960 election was another contest between Kairon's Congress and Tara Singh's Akalis. Congress Sikhs worked to defeat the Akalis; Giani Kartar Singh even resigned from his ministry to focus solely on campaigning, and with help from the state government created the Sadh Sangat Board to contest the elections. The Shiromani Akali Dal overwhelmingly won the elections however, taking 136 seats to the Sadh Sangat Board's four.[63] All the Akali members assembled at the Akal Takht on 24 January 1960 to pledge to resume the Punjabi Suba struggle.[63][61] Another Punjabi Suba convention was held on 22 May 1960, to which members of the Swatantra Party and Praja Socialist Party were invited.[63] Presided over by Pandit Sundar Lal and former Congress member Saifuddin Kitchlew, the main resolution was moved by Sardar Gurnam Singh, calling upon the government "not to delay any more the inevitable formation"[63] of a Punjabi-speaking state, especially when language-based states had been carved out in other parts of the country.[63]
With the movement again gaining momentum,[61] another march was announced to commence on 29 May 1960, going through the Punjabi countryside to end at Delhi to join a Sikh procession on 12 June 1960, stopping at important Gurdwaras to make speeches to rally support for the Punjabi Suba.[64][61] Tara Singh was arrested and detained in jail on the night of the 24th, and the government cracked down heavy-handedly on the Akalis, with large-scale arrests made throughout the Punjab,[64] including many other Akali leaders and legislators,[61] and lines of arrests at Amritsar, at which the Golden Temple was the main center of mobilization, and Delhi. Nearly 18,000 Akalis courted arrest by July, and Akali newspapers were suppressed.[61] Akali leaders made stirring speeches asserting the Sikhs’ right to self-determination, and the evening divans, or assemblies, at Manji Sahib attracted vast audiences.[64] Nehru, recommending bilingualism for everyone in the province, continued to oppose its bifurcation, though Kairon would start to release some Akali protesters from jail to give the impression that they were easing their position.[61] Four detainees would be killed in police fire while agitating for their release.[61]
Under Sant Fateh Singh
With Tara Singh in jail, his second-in-command[42] Sant Fateh Singh directed the movement from the Golden Temple in his absence,[61] assisted by the Sikh Students Federation in delivering speeches drawing from Sikh history to garner support,[64] in 1960.[3] A religious leader without a long background in politics, Fateh Singh was nevertheless an effective leader, and presented the demand for the Punjabi Suba as based on linguistic considerations alone, bringing it in line with the country's declared goals of democracy and secularism, and what was considered most important was the creation of a unit comprising all Punjabi-speaking areas, with Punjabi as the official language, over religious demography.[64][32] He tactically stressed the linguistic basis of the demand, while downplaying its religious basis — a state where the distinct Sikh identity could be preserved,[65] though, in regard to the additional significance of minority rights,[32] stating, "No status is given to the Punjabi language, because Sikhs speak it. If non-Sikhs had owned Punjabi as their mother tongue, then the rulers of India would have seen no objection in establishing a Punjabi State."[40] As a Jat Sikh, he held a strong constituency among, and furthered the shift in political power to, the rural peasantry and the gurdwaras.[42]The government resorted to rigorous measures to put down the agitation, but volunteers continued to join and the movement continued, even as thousands of Sikhs were put in jail.[64]
On 29 October 1960, Fateh Singh wrote to Jawaharlal Nehru saying that if the Sikhs’ democratic and constitutional demand for a Punjabi-speaking area was not accepted, he would go on a fast (a novelty in Sikh tradition), seeking to impress upon him the Sikhs’ sense of grievance and the repressiveness of the Congress-run Punjab Government,[64] and arguing that it was necessary to give his life to save the country from "dictatorial rule under the garb of democracy."[66] Nehru did not intervene, and the fast commenced on 18 December 1960.[66] Before entering his hut on the Golden Temple premises, he addressed a large gathering of Sikhs, instructing them to keep the movement peaceful, saying that damage to the country was damage to themselves.[67] A roster of ten Sikhs was drafted to continue the movement in case Fateh Singh's fast ended in death.[67]
Indian leaders of diverse opinion attempted to intervene to persuade Fateh Singh to abandon the fast, though he would not withdraw from his resolution.[67] With growing national concern over his life, Nehru in a speech in Chandigarh on 20 December 1960 admitted that Punjabi was the dominant language of the Punjab and that it must be promoted in every way; this was repeated in a speech in Rajpura later in the day.[67] On 23 December[66] and again on 31 December he made a personal appeal to Fateh Singh to stop the fast.[67]
Assurance from Nehru
Chief Minister Partap Singh Kairon, under the advice of his old teacher and informal counsel Jodh Singh, set Tara Singh free on 4 January 1961,[67] ostensibly to consult Fateh Singh, but in the hopes of reducing the chances of agreement between him and Nehru.[66] Tara Singh immediately called on Fateh Singh, severely weakened from his fast, then arranged to meet Nehru while he was in Bhavnagar, Gujarat for the annual Congress session. On a specially chartered flight from Delhi to Bhavnagar, he was accompanied by Harbans Singh Gujral, Lachhman Singh Gill, Hargurnad Singh, Harcharan Singh of Bathinda, and Seth Ram Nath, one Punjabi Hindu who openly espoused the cause for a Punjabi-speaking state. While in flight the group held mutual consultations and reduced their minimal demand in writing.[67]
On 7 January 1961, Tara Singh held a two-hour meeting with Nehru, who was convinced that the demand of Punjab Suba was actually a communal demand in the garb of linguistic reorganization, without result.[68] The next day, Nehru added a postscript to what he had told Tara Singh, that the formation of forming linguistic states had not halted due to any discrimination against Punjab or distrust of the Sikhs, and that "Punjab state is broadly speaking a Punjabi Suba with Punjabi as the dominant language,"[67] conveying consideration to making all of Punjab unilingual.[66] He also expressed concern regarding Fateh Singh's health and wished to see his fast ended.[67] This reassured Tara Singh, who had a call made to Amritsar stating that the obligations of his vow had been fulfilled, and asking him to terminate his fast,[66] a motion also adopted by the Working Committee of the Akali Dal, who on behalf of the Khalsa, told Fateh Singh that they were satisfied the his pledge had been complied with and that he must end his fast.[67]
Fateh Singh ended his 22-day fast with a glass of juice on 9 January 1961, marking the end of the seven-month-long morcha, or movement.[67][66] According to official government figures, 30,000[67][66] Sikhs had been placed in jail over the course of the morcha[67] which had taken place over the period of 1960-1961;[42] they were released when Fateh Singh ended his fast.[66] In total, 57,129[67] Sikhs would be placed in jail over the course of the movement.
Ascendance of Fateh Singh
Political negotiations resumed between the Akalis and the government, with three meetings between Fateh Singh and Nehru on 8 February 1961, 1 March 1961, and 12 May 1961. While cordial, they did not yield solid results; Nehru offered to extend protection to the Punjabi language and look into Sikh grievances, but continued not accept Punjabi-speaking areas forming a separate state, which was not accepted by Sikhs.[4][66] In addition to Nehru's own view on the matter, political pressure on him and false propaganda from other communities began to depict Akalis as foreign agents, which the Akalis took offense at.[66] To impress this point, Tara Singh himself embarked on a fast on 15 August 1961, during which notable Sikh mediators like Maharaja Yadavinder Singh of Patiala, and Hardit Singh Malik kept in touch with Nehru and Home Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri on one hand and Akali leaders on the other. Hardit Malik had come to Amritsar as an emissary of Nehru, and Tara Singh ended his fast during his visit. Seeing this as a sign of an impending settlement between the Akalis and Congress, anti-Punjabi lobbies reacted strongly, with Arya Samaj ideologue and news editor Lala Jagat Narain, who had resigned as minister due to the Regional Formula, warning on 6 October that "the Hindus of Punjab would never accept the settlement."[69]
Having ended his fast without concrete progress on the issue after 48 days on 1 October 1961, criticism among Sikhs and damage to his reputation among them began to grow, as the pledge solemnized at the Akal Takht was perceived to have been broken without achieving the stated target, and was thus seen as violating a religious vow. The responsibility for having Fateh Singh's vow ended was also directed at Tara Singh.
Sikh votes, often divided among the Congress and Akali Dal, were consolidated for the Akalis in the 1962 elections; while Congress won with 90 out of 154 votes, Kairon only narrowly re-won his office, regarded by many as resulting from rigging.
Partap Singh Kairon's administration had also been attracting corruption charges amidst ebbing support in 1963; he resigned on 14 June 1964,[73] though leaving behind a legacy of attempted communal harmony, Punjabi University, helping Punjab's agricultural peasantry with farming loans and techniques, electric power, infrastructure to attempt to draw the Jatts and other agriculturalists away from the Akalis, and the beginnings of Punjab's Green Revolution,[74] which would go on to have strong influence on Punjab's political course in the coming decades, though Akali disagreement with Congress also alienated Sikh peasantry from Congress.[62]
Das Commission
Meanwhile, following the pending settlement made up to that point, Nehru appointed a commission chaired by S. R. Das to address the question of Sikh grievances in December 1961.[69] The Akali Dal did not agree with its composition or its scope, and did not present its case to it, though the commission carried on regardless, and rejected suggestions of anti-Sikh discrimination while denying the demand for a Punjabi-speaking state as a Sikh state.[4] The few recommendations that were fielded by the Das commission included those by Arya Samaj editor Virendra who denied the separate status of Punjabi and the legitimacy of Gurmukhi as anything more than a religious script, and Balraj Madhok of the Jan Sangh who cited the Regional Formula and regional committees as the real sources of trouble to be scrapped.[69] Submitting its report in February 1962, which was accepted immediately by the central government in light of rapidly approaching elections, it relayed that the Regional Formula had been delayed but not blocked, and therefore no injustice had been done.[69]
Nalwa Conference
Following a conference in Ludhiana beginning in May 1965,[62] attention to the Punjabi Suba, the shared objective of both factions of the Akali Dal, was renewed on 4 July. Named the Nalwa Conference after famed Sikh general Hari Singh Nalwa of the Sikh Empire, the main Conference resolution was drawn up by eminent Sikh scholar and intellectual Kapur Singh, and moved by Gurnam Singh, then leader of the opposition in the Punjab Legislative Assembly, and seconded by Giani Bhupinder Singh, then president of Tara Singh's faction of the Akali Dal.[72] The resolution read as follows:
1. This Conference in commemoration of General Hari Singh Nalwa of historical fame reminds all concerned that the Sikh people are makers of history and are conscious of their political destiny in a free India.
2. This Conference recalls that the Sikh people agreed to merge in a common Indian nationality on the explicit understanding of being accorded a constitutional status of co-sharers in the Indian sovereignty along with the majority community, which solemn understanding now stands cynically repudiated by the present rulers of India. Further, the Sikh people have been systematically reduced to a sub-political status in their homeland, the Punjab, and to an insignificant position, in their mother-land India. The Sikhs are in a position to establish before an impartial International Tribunal, uninfluenced by the present Indian rulers that the laws, the judicial processes and the executive actions of the union of India are consistently and heavily weighed against the Sikhs and are administered with bandaged eyes against Sikh citizens.
3. This Conference, therefore, resolves, after careful thought and consideration that there is no alternative for the Sikhs in the interests of their self preservation but to frame their political demand for securing a self-determined political status within the Republic of the Union of India.
While the demand had been for a self-determined status within the Union, the Hindi and Urdu presses interpreted this as a call for a sovereign Sikh state.[75] Later in an agreement in October 1968, a resolution which would reflect the ideas of Kapur Singh, who would become the senior vice president of the Akali Dal in 1969, would state that the Khalsa was "a sovereign people by birthright," the command of Guru Gobind Singh, and by the course of Sikh history, advocating for autonomous status in a demarcated territory within India, and that the national Constitution "should be on a correct federal basis and that the states should have greater autonomy," referring to the powers of all states of the country.[76] This had been "the Congress party in power has abused the Constitution to the detriment of the non-Congress Governments, and uses its power for its party interest."[76]
Government deliberations
On 24 July 1965, Tara Singh ended his self-exile from politics, and on 2 August, he addressed a press conference in Delhi, applauded and pledged support for the Nalwa Conference resolution, calling for the Sikhs’ "place in the sun of free India."
Formation
In 1963, the Sikhs and the Punjab had contributed massive amounts of wealth to the war effort against China in 1962, with over 20 million rupees to the defense fund including 50,000 rupees directly from Fateh Singh to Nehru, and gold double the weight of Nehru, encouraged by the Akalis[73] who groups opposed to the bifurcation of Punjab had earlier attempted to portray as traitorous.[66] Only following the change in Akali Dal leadership and the role of the Sikhs in the 1965 war, which generated strong support among the Sikh population, did the center begin to consider acceding to the long-standing Sikh demand.[56]
The
The period for receiving
The Parliamentary Committee's report was handed in on 15 March 1966; the Congress Working Committee had already adopted a motion on the 6th recommending the government to carve out a Punjabi-speaking state out of the erstwhile East Punjab state.[79] The report was made public on 18 March, and the demand was conceded on 23 April, with a commission appointed on 17 April[80] to demarcate the new states of Punjab and Haryana, and transferring certain areas to Himachal Pradesh.[81][82][83][42] The Punjab Reorganisation Act, 1966 was passed on 18 September in the Lok Sabha, and on 1 November 1966, a Punjabi-speaking state became a reality.[79][80]
Implementation
The Akali Dal took issue with the conceived form of the state of Punjab as presented, the form in which it continues to exist currently. Akali Dal opposed the implementation of the Punjab Reorganisation Act on 1 November 1966 and Akali leaders protested against it.
The trifurcation was to done by tehsil, rather than village, and would further skew the process. two Commission members had proposed the exclusion of Kharar tehsil from Punjab, which, while unimplemented, had been the first sign that the adjacent Chandigarh was potentially not to go to Punjab state.[80] Chandigarh had been the planned capital of Punjab and was built to replace Lahore, the capital of erstwhile Punjab and of the Sikh Empire,[17] which became part of Pakistan during the partition.[84][85][3] Chandigarh was claimed by both Haryana and Punjab. Pending resolution of the dispute, it was declared as a separate Union Territory which would serve as the capital of both the states,[86] while Haryana would ostensibly set up its own capital city.[13] Though the Union Government had decided to give Chandigarh to Punjab as solely its capital in 1970, per a formal communication issued by the Union government on 29 January 1970, and Haryana was granted five years and a proposed budget of 200 million rupees to set up its own capital, this has not been implemented, though Chandigarh had been conceived to be the capital of a single state.[86] However, the 1970 decision to be implemented in 1975 was made contingent on the transfer of territory in Fazilka to Haryana, to be made accessible through a corridor,[87] and the process again stalled.
Akali leader Fateh Singh declared he would commit self-immolation on 27 December 1966. The Union government was concerned at this announcement and continued negotiations on the demands. An hour before the scheduled time of 4 pm on 27 December for immolation, after Hukam Singh arrived in Amritsar and told a large congregation at the Golden Temple that Indira Gandhi, who had assumed power on 20 January 1966,[80] had agreed to arbitrate on the outstanding issues and that Chandigarh belonged to Punjab, Fateh Singh called off his immolation bid[3] under this understanding, though she would state on 8 January 1967 that no assurances had been made on Chandigarh, and talks were unsuccessful.[50] He would fast again before the 1970 decision.[87] He would continue to demand the inclusion of Chandigarh and other Punjabi-speaking areas left out of Punjab until his death in 1972.[3]
The demand was additionally advanced by
Despite the success of the movement in the creation of the state of Punjab, its implementation left many unresolved issues behind, including the allocation of the capital city of Chandigarh,[79] which is the only state capital in the country to be shared with another state, adjustment of some of the territorial claims of Punjab,[79] with many large Punjabi-speaking areas left out of the allocated state, and the distribution of river waters which remains unresolved.[79] The national government's centralizing impulses, as manifest in issues like wheat procurement, water resources, and power resources, generated further Sikh disaffection, strengthening the belief that New Delhi was trying to impose a "political brake" on the community's economic and social advancement. This unresolved tension would lead to campaigns for more state autonomy throughout the 1970s.[56] To this end, the Akali Dal would draft the Anandpur Sahib Resolution in the 1970s, and re-launch the movement in the form of the Dharam Yudh Morcha in 1982; by 1983 more than 40,000 Akali protestors had courted arrest,[88] with thousands remaining in jail for months, and some for years.[3] These issues continue to figure prominently in Punjab politics and remain points of contention between the state and the central government.[79]
Bibliography
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- Doad, Karnail Singh (1997). Siṅgh, Harbans (ed.). Punjabi Sūbā Movement (3rd ed.). Patiala, Punjab, India: Punjab University, Patiala, 2011. pp. 391-404. ISBN 9788173803499.
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See also
References
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