Formation of Punjabi Suba

Brief Introduction �Punjab in 1947

• When India achieved independence in August 1947, the part of Punjab which came to the share of India was known as the East Punjab later called Punjab.
• At that time it consisted of territories (Punjab and Haryana)
• The Boundaries of the Punjab then extended from the district of Amritsar in the West up to the Southern districts of Hissar and Gurgoan. It was bounded by West Pakistan in the west, Jammu and Kashmir in the North, Rajasthan in the South West and Uttar Pradesh in the East.

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Ligustic basis

• Historically the principle of the formation of states on linguistic basis was recognised by the Indian National Congress long before the Independence.

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• In 1928 I.N.C appointed a high powered Committee under Pt Moti Lal Nehru to draft the blue print on the organisation of states on Linguistic basis.

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• In 1931 Congress in its resolution assured the people that the s language of every community will be safeguarded.

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• In the 1937 , the congress confirmed the policy of linguistic states.

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• In 1946, Pt Nehru , in order to give assurance to the Sikhs made the following statement: Redistribution of provincial boundaries was inevitable. I stand for semi autonomous units as well. If the Sikhs desire to function as such a unit, I shall like them to have a semi autonomous unit within the province so they may have a sense of freedom

Circumstances leading to the formation of a Punjabi Speaking State in 1966

British Self –interest

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Congress Assurance to the Sikhs

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Changes in the demographic pattern of

the Punjab after partitioning

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Language Controversy

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British Self Interests

• During the rule of Ranjit Singh, the Punjab was a secular state.

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• He attempted to reconcile the diverse and clashing interests of various communities inhabiting his Kingdom.

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• But the annexation of Punjab, the British encouraged the policy of divide and rule in order to encourage separatist feeling among the Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs.

British Self Interests contd…..

• The Government of India Act 1919 : Emphasized that the Sikhs representation in the administration and services should be consistent with their distinctive position.

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• The GOI Act 1919, Simon Commission Report 1930,Ramsay Mc Donald’s Communal Award 1932 and GOI Act 1935 considered the Sikhs as a separate entity and reserved seats for them in the Legislatures.

Congress Assurance to the Sikhs

• The Lahore Session in Dec 1929 passed a resolution which assured the Sikhs that no constitutional arrangement would be finalized without their consent.

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• It Said : No future constitution would be acceptable to the Congress that did not give full satisfaction to the Sikhs.

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• In 1946, in the Calcutta session, Pandit Nehru said: The brave Sikhs of the Punjab are entitled to special consideration. We see nothing wrong if an area is set up in the North where in the Sikhs can also experience the glow of freedom.

Changes in the demographic pattern of the Punjab after partition.

• According to the Census report of 1951, the Sikhs formed about 35% of Population in East Punjab as compared to 13% in the undivided Punjab.

While the Hindus in the East Punjab formed 62% population , thus forming a majority.

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• A Considerable increase in the percentage of the Sikhs and the majority status of the Hindus population was a new phenomenon.

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• The Sikhs refugees from the West Punjab were settled mostly in the areas between the rivers Ravi and Ghaggar . As a result the Sikh princely states and the districts of Gurdaspur, Amritsar, Ferozepur, Jalandhar,Hoshiarpur and Ludhiana had more than half of the Sikh population.
• It was for the first time that the Sikhs were concentrated in a large and contiguous territory. This new development gave impetus to the demand for the establishment of a Punjabi Speaking State.

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Language Controversy

• It is essential to understand the issue of Punjabi Speaking province.
• Urdu: During the British rule, Urdu was used as a language of administration.

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• Punjabi : Punjabi was the spoken language of the Punjab but written in Arabic script.

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• But the Social Reform movements of the Hindus and the Sikhs created the language problem

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Language Controversy Contd…….

• The Arya Samaj movement and its political counterpart , the Jan Sang , encouraged the urban Hindus to study Hindi and use of Devnagri Script.

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• On the other hand , the chief Khalsa Dewan took up the task of propagation in Gurmukhi script. It also propagated Sikh religion and Amrit Prachar .

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• As a result large number of books and pamphlets were published which helped in the propagation of Punjabi.

Language Controversy Contd….

• As a result of partition of Punjab,

The Muslims from the East Punjab migrated to Pakistan.

Similarly , Sikh and Hindu population from Pakistan migrated to India.

• Under the changed demographic pattern, the language confrontation shifted from

Urdu- Hindi to Hindi-Punjabi

The question of the state language of the Punjab appeared, which created communal tension between the Hindus and the Sikhs in the East Punjab.

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In Feb 1948, Master Tara Singh, the most prominent Akali leader said: We want to have a province where swe can safeguard our culture and traditions. But he made it lear that he was in no way demanding an independent sovereign state for the Sikhs.

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Main Stages leading to the Formation of the Punjabi Suba

• FORMATION OF PEPSU

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• DENIAL OF WEIGHTAGE TO SIKHS BY CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY

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• SACHAR FORMULA

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• STATES REORGANISATION COMISSION

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• PUNJABI VERSUS HINDI

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Main Stages leading to the Formation of the Punjabi Suba

• DEMAND FOR HINDI_ SPEAKING STATE FOR HARYANA

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• REGIONAL FORMULA 1956

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• ESTABLISHMENT OF REGIONAL COMMITTEES

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• CONTROVERSY ABOUT THE STATUS OF THE REGIONAL COMMITTEES

Main Stages leading to the Formation of the Punjabi Suba

• FORMATION OF A PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEE TO CONSIDER THE DEMAND FOR PUNJABI SUBA

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• REPORT OF THE PARLIAMENTARY COMMITTEE ON THE PUNJABI SUBA

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• REORGANISATION ACT OF 1966 AND FORMATION OF THE PUNJABI SUBA

Formation of Other Committees on the reorganisation of the states.

• The Congress in its sessions of 1920,1930 and 1937 stood on its state of organising states on the Linguistic basis.
• Dhar Committee , was appointed to study the language issue . It gave its verdict that financial efficiency, administrative convenience and capacity for future development should be the criterion of reoganisation rather than language.
• JVP ( Jawaharlal Nehru, Vallabh Bhai Patel and Pattabhi Sitarammaiya. It gave a warning against the linguistic principles for reorganisation.
• Nehru , a one time arch advocate of linguistic states, began to feel that unity of India must be given top priority.

Formation of PEPSU

• PEPSU is the abbreviated form of the

PATIALA AND EAST PUNJAB STATES�UNION.

• It comprised the erstwhile native states of Patiala , Nabha, Jind, Malerkotla, Faridkot, Kapurthala, Nalagarh and Kalsia with Patiala as its Capital.

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• On 15^th July ,1948, Sardar Patel inaugurated PEPSU and referred to it as a Sikh Homeland .
• The former ruler of Patiala, Maharaja Yadvindra Singh was appointed the Governor(Rajpramukh) for life.

Former Maharaja of Kapurthala was appointed as a deputy Governor( Up – Rajpramukh)

Maharaja Yadvindra Singh was made Governor and a caretaker government was installed in August 1948 under S. Gian S. Rarewala

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Area of PEPSU

• 10,000 sq miles and a population of 35 lakhs.
• Nearly 49.5% were Sikhs 2% Muslims and rest were Hindus

Formation of PEPSU 1948-1966

Denial of weightage to Sikhs by Constituent Assembly

• Before the actual partition of the
• Punjab, Baldev Singh and Giani Kartar Singh had met Lord Mountbatten to suggest that

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Either the Constituent Assembly should give weightage to Sikhs in new Constitution

OR

Hindi speaking areas should be separated from Punjabi speaking areas.

Denial of weightage to Sikhs by Constituent Assembly

• Lord Mountbatten reaction against the second proposal was negative , however he opined that reservation with joint electorates could be given with freedom to contest general seats .

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• In Oct 1948, The Shiromani Akali Dal passed a resolution demanding separate representation to the Sikhs in the Punjab Legislative Assembly.

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• After this Akali Dal made 13 demands , but these demands were not accepted by the Constituent Assembly of India. It said that there was no room for weightage to religious minorities and favored abolition of all such reservations.

Denial of weightage to Sikhs by Constituent Assembly

• Sardar Vallabh Bhai Patel reminded the Sikh members of the Constituent Assembly that they had agreed that the Sikhs would not demand more concessions if Sikh backward castes were given the same rights as given to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

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• Giani Kartar Singh , a prominent Akali leader opposed it.

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• The Political situation in the Punjab became further complicated by the attitude of the Hindu leaders.

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Sachar Formula

• After the partition of the Punjab , the Punjab was no longer a Muslim state. It now faced with communal differences between the Hindus and the Sikhs.

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• In June 1949 , the Senate of the Punjab University dominated by the Arya Samaj, refused to allow Punjabi in Gurmukhi script or even Devnagri script as medium of instruction in Schools.
• This led to a great resentment among the Sikhs. Consequently, the Punjab Government decided to find a solution to the problem.

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• Bhim Sen Sachar, the Chief Minister offered a formula regarding the medium of instructions in schools in place of Urdu. According to the Sachar formula , the study of both Punjabi and Hindi was made compulsory up to Matriculation. But the choice of medium of instructions was left to parents.

Sachar Formula contd….

• Majority of the Sikhs hailed the formula, however the Akalis criticised the right of the parents to choose the medium of instruction for the education of their child.

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• But the Arya Samaj and the Hindu Mahasabha severely opposed the Formula.

States Reorganisation Commission

• The issue of the state language and the choice of medium of instruction in the school got mixed up with the problem of reorganisation of the States.

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• The movement for linguistic states gathered fresh momentum, with P. Sriramulu dying fasting for the creation of Andhra Pradesh in the end of 1952.

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• On 29^th Dec 1953 the Government of India announced the formation of States Reorganisation Commission with Justice Fazl Ali as the Chairman , H.N Kunzru and K.M Panikkar as members.

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• This kindled both hope and fears in the Punjab.

Punjabi Verses Hindi

• Hindi agitation also started besides the Akali press starting a counter propaganda, the tension between the two communities even led to clashes at many places.

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• The Commission was ready to take the case of Punjabi Speaking State. The Akalis prepared their case on the basis of 1947 census arguing that an area of 35000 sq miles with population of 12 million was Punjabi speaking though the population of the Sikhs was less than half.

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• SRC rejected their demand on following Points

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S R C

1. The SRC rejected the demand for a Punjabi Suba in its report submitted on 30^th September 1955.
2. It was of the view that formation of the Punjabi Suba would not solve the script problem.
3. More over imposition of the Gurmukhi script would create more problems as the proposed Punjabi speaking state would remain a bilingual state with Hindi being used for examination purpose of the students of Punjab University.
4. But it recommended the merger of PEPSU with the East Punjab. ( Pepsu was merged with Punjab on 1^st N0vember 1956.

Demand for Hindi Speaking Area

• The agitation for a Punjabi speaking province encouraged the movement for a Hindi speaking state of Haryana.

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• The people of Haryana felt that they discriminated against more advanced Punjabi in all matters.

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• Like wise Himachal Pradesh demanded that they could be exploited by the Punjabi speaking state. They too wanted their interests to be safeguarded.

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Regional Formula

• The Akalis launched many agitations for a Punjabi Suba but the centre as well as Pratap Singh Kairon , then C.M of Punjab was totally opposed to it.
• A comprise was achieved in 1956 0n the Regional formula .
• The Punjab was to be bilingual and divided into two regions: Punjabi and Hindi.
• Punjabi was to be the official language of the Punjabi region and Hindi , the official language of the Hindi region.
• Both Languages were to be promoted by the Government .
• On the Political side Regional Committee was to be formed for each zone with power to legislate on 14 important subjects.

Establishment of Regional Committees

• The union Government created two Regional Committees of the Punjab Legislative Assembly

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• They were designed to advise the Punjab Legislative Assembly

Regional Committee for the Punjabi speaking area

Regional Committee for the Hindi speaking area

Controversy about the status of Regional Committees

• Controversy arose about the status of the Regional Committees.
• They started functioning as Sub Legislatures with all the powers of a regular legislature in own sphere of competence.

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• It was contended that they could function like a legislature with their own question hour and press coverage of their proceedings.

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• The matter was referred by the Speaker of the Punjab Legislative Assembly to the Union Government which gave the ruling that : Regional Committees were special committees of the Legislative Assembly but were no sense Sub –Legislatures.

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• They functioned in an advisory capacity and did not possess the power of the Legislature.

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The Punjabi Suba Morcha of 1960

• The Punjab Government did not implement the Regional Formula agreement in its true spirit, the Regional Committees were reduced to the status of Sub Committee of the Punjab Legislature. Their powers were curtailed and they hardly functioned.

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• This however gave Master Tara Singh the chance to say that the Regional formula had failed and Punjabi Suba was the only solution and the only way to achieve this was another Morcha.
• He started the Punjabi Suba Morcha in June 1960 , this was the most powerful agitation ever launched by the Akalis with great prestige and huge propaganda machinery.

The Punjabi Suba Morcha of 1960 Contd…..

• Master Tara Singh was arrested by the Kairon Government, but before that , he had appointed Sant Fateh Singh his successor as leader of the Morcha.
• Sant Fateh Singh addressed a huge public gathering at Akal Takht . He said : The Morcha was for Punjabi speaking state , it was not against the Hindus, but against the Government and the Morcha will be based on passive resistance.
• In this Morcha about 50,000 people were arrested . Fateh Singh announced his fast unto death to achieve his objective.
• It began of 18^th December 1960, Prime Minister Nehru intervened and made his formal announcement about Punjabi being a dominant language of the Suba.

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The Punjabi Suba Morcha of 1960 contd…..

• Pratap S. Kairon was in no mood to yield.
• Master Tara Singh met Nehru on Jan 7^th 1961 and after being assured that the Government would look into the grievances , urged Sant Fateh Singh.
• However the negotiations with the Government did not bear fruit, master Tara Singh undertook a fast on to death on 15^th August,1961 in the sanctuary of the Golden Temple . The Government refused to yield .
• After 43 days he gave up his sef imposed ordeal.
• Sant Fateh Singh emerged as the new leader.

The Punjabi Suba Morcha of 1960 contd……

• The Chinese aggression of 1962 shelved the Punjabi Suba for the period of emergency.
• Nehru’s death in 1964.
• Pratap Singh Kairon’s death in 1965 greatly disillusioned the movement.
• However Sant Fateh met Lal Bahadur Shastri but to no good.
• To secure a speedy national decision, Sant Fateh Singh declared on August 16,1965, his determination to fast from September 10 1965 and to go in for self immolation after fasting for 15 days.
• But before the final date was fixed by the Sant , the militarist rulers of Pakistan launched their massive attack on India . Punjab’s contribution was commendable

Formation of a Parliamentary Committee to consider the demand for Punjabi suba

• With the achievement of the cease fire on the Indo-Pak border on 26^th September 1965, the Central Government announced the formation of the Parliamentary Committee under the Chairmanship of the Lok Sabha speaker S Hukam Singh and a special Cabinet Sub-Committee whose member were Y.B Chavan, Indira Gandhi and Mahavir Tayagi, to investigate , discuss and make recommendations over the demand for a Punjabi Suba.
• The majority of the memoranda it had received were in favor of the Suba, and so was the majority opinion, irrespective of party differences inside the highly powered Parliamentary Committee

Reorganisation act of 1966

• Punjab Reorganisation Act, 1966. ... Out of the former East Punjab, the new state of Haryana was created; territory was transferred to Himachal Pradesh, then a Union territory;, and the city of Chandigarh became a Union territory to serve as the capital of both the residual Punjab and Haryana.

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