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The Shiromani Gurdwara
Parbandhak Committee elections in December
1954 returned a verdict totally in favour
of Punjabi Suba. The electorate in this
case was purely Sikh. Yet the Akali
Dal was stoutly oppposed on the Punjabi
Suba issue by the Khalsa Dal, a new
party created by Congress Sikhs with
the support of the government. The results
went overwhelmingly in favour of the
former. The Khalsa Dal was put to rout,
its tally being a bare three seats out
of the 132 contested. On the contrary,
the Akali Dal won all the 111 seats
for which it had put up its candidates.
The remaining seats went to those supported
by the Dal one Independent and seventeen
Communists. Sikh solidarity on the question
of Punjabi Suba was a proven fact.
The Congress government remained inflexible.
By its own past decisions, the Indian
National Congress was pledged to reconstituting
the provinces on a linguistic basis
. The Madras session of the Congress
in 1927 had lent support to the demand
for demarcating Sind as a separate province.
The resolution adopted declared: "The
Congress is of the opinion that the
time has come for the redistribution
of the provinces on linguistic basis,
a principle that has been adopted in
the constitution of the Congress. This
Congress is also of the opinion that
such readjustment of provinces be immediately
taken in hand and that any province
which demands such reconstitution on
the linguistic basis be dealt with accordingly."
The Nehru Report of 1928 had stated
that "the present distribution
of the provinces of India is on no rational
basis. It is merely by accident that
a particular area fell in a particular
province." About the principle
that should govern the redistribution
of the provincial boundaries, the Nehru
Report gave priority to "the linguistic
unity of the area concerned."
Jawaharlal Nehru had himself made a
statement on April 4, 1946, that "redistribution
of provincial boundaries was essential
and inevitable. I stand for semi-autonomous
units as well . . . I should like them
[the Sikhs] to have a semi-autonomous
unit within the province so that they
may experience the glow of freedom."
Yet the Congress government was stubbornly
set against the demand for a Punjabi-speaking
state. The drafting committee of the
Constituent Assembly had recommended
that a commission be appointed to enquire
into all relevant matters not only as
regards Andhra but also as regards other
linguistic areas.
Astill worse shock came from the report
of the States Reorganization Commission
appointed in 1953. To baulk the demand
for a Punjabi Suba, the Commission recommended
the integration of PEPSU and Himachal
Pradesh with the Punjab. Under what
prepossessions the Commission functioned
would be evident from the proceedings
of a sitting at Patiala. Pandit H.N.
Kunzru, one of the members asked the
Sikh spokesman, Hukam Singh, why he
had included Kangra and other Hindi-speaking
areas in the proposed Punjabi state.
Hukam Singh answered that, if they were
Hindi-speaking, they might be excluded.
Pandit Kunzru objected that, in that
case, the Sikhs would be turned into
a majority. Sardar Hukam Singh trapped
him quiping quickwittedly that, if the
Commission had been instructed to keep
Sikhs in a minority, they must well
obey. Pandit Kunzru had to escape from
the impasse into which he had been driven.
The growing tension exploded into an
open conflict with the government in
the summer of 1955. April 14 was the
day for the annual Baisakhi march for
the Sikhs in Amritsar. The Punjab government
imposed a ban on the shouting of slogans
in support of Punjabi Suba. Slogans
for Maha(Greater) Punjab byopponents
ofthe Akali Dal were also forbidden,
but the order was primarily aimed at
preventing the Sikhs from uttering Punjabi
Suba slogans in their Baisakhi procession.
The Sikhs refused to submit to the ban.
The march did take place and voices
were raised demanding Punjabi Suba.
The police put under arrest more than
a dozen leading Akalis.
The Shriomani Akali Dal continued to
protest against the ban as an attack
on the civic rights of the people. It
gave an ultimatum that, if the ban was
not withdrawn by May 10, 1955, it would
launch a mass agitation. On May 10,
Master Tara Singh led out the first
batch of ten volunteers in defiance
of the ban. He was detained along with
his companions. This was the beginning
of a long-drawn contest. The Sikhs started
pouring into Amritsar in large numbers
to court arrest. The strength of the
batches offering themselves for arrest
had to be increasedfrom 10 to 100. Master
Tara Singh's birthday on June 24 was
commemorated by accelerating the number
still further. The arrests continued
from day to day. Among those held were
the Head Granthi of the Golden Temple
as well as Jathedar of the Akal Takht,
Iqbal Singh (1889-1974), an eminent
educationist and acollege principal,
who was in the absence of Hukam Singh
abroad officiating as president of the
Akali Dal,and who was commander of the
Morcha, Parkash Singh Badal, along with
his brother Gurbilas Singh and uncle
Gurraj Singh, Sarup Singh. Gurmit Singh,
Bhopinder Singh Mann, Dhanna Singh Gulshan,
Ganga Singh, principal of the Sikh Missionary
College, Sadhu Singh Hamdard, eminent
Sikh journalist, Rajinder Singh of Sangrur
and Chaudhri Kartar Singh. Many more
filled the gaols. They included legislators,
writers and lawyers. In all, 12,000
were taken prisoners, among them 427
women.
The government further tightened its
repressive network. The Golden Temple
was besieged by the police and Guru-ka-Langar
occupied. Meetings and divans at Manji
Sahib, in the Golden Temple precincts,
were prohibited. The worst happened
on July 4,1955, when police entered
the sacred precincts in a body and exploded
tear bombs to scatter the assembled
Sikhs. This was a trespass without precedent
in history. On July 5, Bawa Harkishan
Singh, president of Shiromani Gurdwara
Parbandhak Committee, and Hukam Singh
were taken into custody. But government
soon realized the enormity of the outrage
committed, and retraced its policy.
The band of Sikh volunteers which turned
out on July 8 shouting Punjabi Suba
slogans was left untouched by the police.
The following day, a group of 139 ladies,
under the leadership of Bibi Gian Kaur
of Calcutta, volunteered for arrest.
Again, police did not interfere. On
July 12, the ban was formally withdrawn.
The chief minister, Bhim Sen Sachar,
presented himself at the Akal Takht
and made in an open divan apologies
on behalf of the government for the
sacrilege committed by the police on
July 4.
This was a graceful act much applauded
by the Sikhs. But the goodwill generated
by Shri Sachar's sincerity was dissipated
in the wake of the publication of the
report of the States Reorganization
Commission. The Commission had totally
rejected the Sikhs' demand and advised
them, on the contrary, to accept a larger
Punjab to be constituted by the amalgamation
of Himachal Pradesh with the existing
Punjab. "From the point of view
of the Sikhs themselves," it wrote,
"the solution that we propose offers
the advantage that the precarious and
uncertain political majority which they
seek will be exchanged for the real
and substantial rights which a sizable
and vigorous minority with a population
ratio of nearly one-third is bound to
have in the united Punjab in the whole
of which they have areal stake."
The argument was as unintelligible to
the Sikhs as it was derogatory.
Master Tara Singh grasped the opportunity
to exhibit Sikh unity and resolution.
He summoned a representative congress
of the Sikhs at Amritsar on October
16, 1955. Nearly 1,300 of the invitees
attended. With one voice, they rejected
the recommendations of the States Reorganization
Commission and vehemently castigated
it for treating the Sikh claims with
undisguised bias. The convention authorized
Master Tara Singh to devise ways and
means to bring home to the Government
of India Sikhs' sense of injury . His
first move—a conciliatory one—was
to call upon Prime Minister Nehru. The
ground for such a meeting had already
been prepared by the former Defence
Minister, Baldev Singh. Baldev Singh,
who had shunned meeting the Prime Minister
since he was dropped from his cabinet
and who in fact stayed away even from
social get-togethers at which he was
likely to be present, was persuaded
by Giani Kartar Singh and others to
act as a mediator between the Akalis
and the government. He showed Jawaharlal
Nehru the correspondence which had passed
between Sikhs and the Muslim League
leaders prior to the transfer of power,
and reminded him how the former had
rejected the League overtures and thrown
in their lot with India. Hukam Singh
carried to the Prime Minister a letter
written by Master Tara Singh, and October
24, 1955, was the date fixed for a bilateral
meeting.
Conciliatory intercession brought Jawaharlal
Nehru and the Sikh leaders round the
conference table. A regional formual
was devised, under which punjabi speaking
majority areas were to have all education
in Punjabi. The supporters of Hindi
assailed the Regional Formula as being
harmful to their interests. Under the
aegis of the Hindi Raksha Samiti, they
launched a fierce agitation to have
it annulled. The new Congress government
which had taken office in the Punjab
on April 3, 1957, with the mighty Partap
Singh Kairon as Chief Minister and former
Akalis, Giani Kartar Singh and Gian
Singh Rarewala, as two of the members
of his cabinet, dealt with the Hindi
protest firmly. But it could do little
to assuage the Sikhs' sentiment hurt
by the Hindi Raksha Samiti's acts of
animosity against them. During the course
of the Hindi movement, several Sikh
places of worship had been desecrated.
Language frontiers had become communal
frontiers. For Master Tara Singh, Punjabi
Suba was the only antidote to the rising
Hindi fanaticism. On June 14, 1958,
he resurrected the demand for it, repudiating
the Regional Formula which had anyhow
been the subject of his criticism and
sarcasm. Though accepted under the pressure
of circumstances, the Regional Formula
was no trustworthy solution of the Punjab
problem. The Sikh masses were scarcely
enthused by it. Essentially, it was
a tentative arrangement and, as it soon
became apparent, neither the government
nor any of the political parties was
keen to give it an earnest trial. Master
Tara Singh called a meeting of the general
body of the Shiromani Akali Dal at Patiala
on February 14, 1959. 299 out of 377
members attended. The convention resolved
by one voice to restore the political
character of the Dal.
The Regional Formula never seriously
put into effect by government and never
seriously accepted by the Sikhs, left
one permanent monument in the shape
of the Punjabi University. The idea
of such a university had taken birth
in the new intellectual and cultural
milieu created by national independence.
Educators and public men in the Punjab
vaguely spoke of a university for the
development and promotion of the language
of the state. But none could define
exactly Punjabi as the dominant language."
Master Tara Singh, felt reassured by
this elaboration and forthwith had a
call made to Amritsar. He assured Sant
Fateh Singh that the obligations of
his vow had been fulfilled and asked
him to terminate his fast. To Master
Tara Singh's appeal was added the weight
of a motion adopted by the Working Committee
of the Akali Dal and the command of
the Panj Piare or the Five Elect who,
speaking for the entire Khalsa, told
Sant Fateh Singh that they were satisfied
that his pledge had been complied with
and that he must forthwith end his fast.
On the morning of January 9,1961, Fateh
Singh took his first sips of nourishment
in twenty-two-days—a glass of juice
from the hands of Bhai Chet Singh, one
of the Golden Temple granthis. This
marked the end of the seven month long
morcha in which, according to official
figures,30,000 went to gaol and, according
to Akali reckoning,57,129.
Political negotiations ensued between
the government and the Akalis. Sant
Fateh Singh had three meetings with
Prime Minister Nehru, one on February
8, 1961. The meetings were friendly,
but yielded no definite results. Offering
to extend to the Punjabi language all
the protection it needed, the Prime
Minister was not wiling to slice off
Punjabi-speaking areas of the Punjab
into a separate state. The Sikhs were
far from pacified. To press home the
Punjabi Suba issue, another fast had
to be staged—this time by Master
Tara Singh. His trial began on August
15,1961, after a solemn prayer in front
of the Akal Takht. The Punjab again
was in a commotion. The crisis deepened
as days went by. Mediators arose to
try and settle the issue. Notable among
them were Maharaja Yadavinder Singh
of Patiala and Malik Hardit Singh. They
kept in touch with Prime Minister Nehru
and Home Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri
on the one hand and with the Akali leaders
on the other. Eventually Master Tara
Singh was persuaded to end his fast
on the 48th day (October 1,1961). The
glass of lemon juice, mixed with honey,
was given him by the Maharaja of Patiala
and Sant Fateh Singh.
In pursuance of the settlement made,
the Prime Minister appointed a commission
to go into the question of Sikh grievances.
The Shiromani Akali Dal cavilled at
its composition and refused to put its
case before it. But the commission carried
on with its work in spite of Akali Dal'
s non-cooperation. It gave its report
on February 9, 1962, rejecting suggestions
of any discrimination against the Sikhs.
Kapur Singh On August 2, 1965, addressed
a Press conference in Delhi, demanding
for the Sikhs "place in the sun
of free India." He appluaded the
Nalwa Conference resolution and pledged
his support to it.
But the initiative was again seized
by Sant Fateh Singh with the announcement
on August 16, 1965, that, to clinch
the Punjabi Suba issue, he would sit
a fasting from September 10, 1965, and,
in case the Government of India did
not melt, he would burn himself up on
September 25. The venue fixed for immolation
was the top roof of the Akal Takht;
time 4.30 p.m. Following upon the heels
of this declaration came the war between
Pakistan and India. In that moment of
crisis, everyone wished that Sant Fateh
Singh would revoke his decision.
Sant Channan Singh, president of the
Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee,
Gurcharan Singh Tauhra and Harcharan
Singh Hudiara went to Delhi on September
8, 1965, to take counsel with the leaders
of government and others. A high-level
meeting took place in the Speaker's
chamber in Parliament House attended
among others by Maharaja Yadavinder
Singh of Patiala, Yashwant Rao Chavan,
Defence Minister, Jaisukhlal Hathi,
Minister of State for Home Affairs,
Sardar Kapur Singh, Member of Parliament,
Dr Anup Singh, Member of Parliament,
Buta Singh, member of Parliament and
Dhanna Singh Gulshan. They were all
anxious that the tragedy be somehow
averted and unanimously sent a message
to Sant Fateh Singh requesting him to
defer the fast. Some of them, notably
the Maharaja of Patiala, added the assurance
that they would be on his side if the
government continued to circumvent his
demand after normalcy was restored.
Sant Channan Singh returned to Amritsar
with his colleagues by the night train
and conveyed to Sant Fateh Singh on
the morning of September 9 the message
they had brought. Sant Fateh Singh accepted
the advice and made a public statement
postponing the fast. Simultaneously,
he appealed to his countrymen, especially
Sikhs, to muster all their resources
to resist the onslaught from across
the frontier.
In the border districts, the Sikh population
rose to a man to meet the crisis. It
stood solidly behind the combatants
and assisted them in many different
ways. It provided guides to the newly
inducted troops and offered free labour
and vehicles, country carts, tractors
and trucks to transport war supplies
to the forward-most trenches. Instead
of evacuating in panic to safer places,
Sikhs right up to the frontier stuck
fearlessly to their homes, plying their
ploughs and tending their cattle. Along
the main approach routes to the front,
they set up booths serving refreshments
to the soldiers. Their most spectacular
feat was the way they swooped down upon
the parachutists dropped by Pakistanis
behind the Indian lines. On seeing the
parachutes open up in the skies, the
villagers rushed out gleefully with
whatever they had in their hands—lathis,
axes or swords, and seized the bewildered
paratroopers before they knew where
they were. A few were beaten to death
on the spot and the rest were handed
over to the army. A South Indian pilot
belonging to the Air Force, who had
made an emergency leap from his crashing
aircraft, had a hard time explaining
to his rugged, but prompt, captors that
he was an Indian national and not a
Pakistani spy.
Besides a vast number of Sikh troops
fighting all along the borders from
Kutch to Baltistan and Ladakh, almost
all senior commanders in the Punjab
sector were Sikhs. Lieut-General Harbakhsh
Singh, with his chief of staff, Major-General
Joginder Singh, commanded the entire
Western zone and was, as such, the principal
architect of India's victory. Involved
with planning at the army headquarters
was another Sikh officer, Major-General
Narinder Singh. Lieut-General Joginder
Singh Dhillon, a brilliant tactician,
with his Brigadier General Staff, Brigadier
Parkash Singh Grewal, and artillery
commander, Brigadier S.S. Kalha, commanded
the crops operating in the Punjab and
parts of Rajasthan. Major-General Niranjan
Prasad was replaced mid-battle by Major-General
Mohindar Singh, a tough and shrewd soldier,
as division commander in the Amritsar
sector, the other division commander,
in the Khem Karan sector, being Major-General
Gurbakhsh Singh. The two divisions not
only secured their first objective,
the Ichogil Canal, but at certain points
outstripped the target, holding Lahore
within artillery range. North of the
Ravi, Major-General Rajinder Singh 'Sparrow',
commanding an armoured division, recorded
a marvellous feat in the history of
tank warfare by a lightning putsch towards
Sialkot, Narowal, his Centurions humbling
Pakistan's prestigious American gifted
Pattons and Chaffees. The Khem Karan
sector, too, was turned into what came
to be known as the graveyard of the
Pakistani Patton tanks. South of the
Sutlej, Brigadier Bant Singh, commanding
an independent brigade group, defended
stoutly an extensive border covering
the entire Ferozepore and Ganganagar
districts. Both at Hussainiwala and
Fazilka, Sikh battalion commanders held
fast to their positions despite intensely
heavy shelling by Pakistan artillery.
The Indian Air Force, under the command
of the Sikh Air Chief Marshal, Arjan
Singh, made devastating strikes and
surprised military experts the world
over by decisively outpacing a far superior,
i.e. better equipped, force. Indian
Moths had routed Pakistani Hawks.
Within 21 days, Pakistan was brought
to heel. The ceasefire came about on
September 22. Legendary stories were
already in circulation about the patriotic
fervour and bravery Sikhs had displayed
during the war. Clearly, their moment
of fullfilment had arrived. On September
6, 1965, the Union Home Minister, Gulzari
Lal Nanda, made a statement in the Lok
Sabha saying that "the whole question
of formation of Punjabi-speaking state
could be examined afresh with an open
mind." On September 23, recalling
his statement of September 6, he announced
in the Lok Sabha: "The Government
have now decided to set up a committee
of the Cabinet to pursue this matter
further. The Committee will consist
of Shrimati Indira Gandhi, Shri Y.B.
Chavan and Shri Mahavir Tyagi. "
Addressing the Speaker, the Home Minister
said: "Sir, I would request you
and the Chairman, Rajya Sabha, to set
up for the same purpose a Parliamentary
Committee of members of both Houses
of Parliament presided over by you."
Continuing his speech, he expressed
the hope that "the efforts of this
Cabinet Committee and of the Parliamentary
Committee will lead to a satisfactory
settlement of the question." The
Congress party also took up the issue
in earnest. On November 16,1965, the
Punjab Congress Committee debated it
for long hours, with Giani Zail Singh,
General Mohan Singh, and Narain Singh
Shahbazpuri lending it their full support.
The Home Minister sent a list of nominees
from Rajya Sabha to the Chairman and
a list of nominees from Lok Sabha to
the Speaker Hukam Singh. The Chairman
forwarded his list to the Speaker. The
latter, however, did not accept the
Lok Sabha list given to him by the Home
Minister, and made five changes in it
at his own discretion. The twenty-two-member
committee announced by Hukam Singh represented
all sections of the House. Among them
were Hiren Mukerjee (Communist), SurendraNath
Dwivedi (Socialist), Atal Behari Vajpayee
(JanaSangh), Maharaja Karni Singh of
Bikaner(Independent), Dhanna Singh Gulshan
(Akali Dal), Bansi Lal (Congress), Sadiq
Ali (Congress), and Amar Nath Vidyalankar
(Congress), Surjit Singh Majithia (Congress)
and Daya Bhai Patel (Swatantra). The
first meeting of the committee was held
in the committee room of Parliament
House to lay down its procedure to work.
October I, 1965, to November 5,1965
was the period fixed for receiving memoranda
from various parties and individuals.
From November 26 to December 25, the
committee held preliminary discussions.
On January 10, 1966, Lachhman Singh
Gill, general secretary of the Shiromani
Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee, and Kawel
Singh presented the case for a Punjabi-speaking
state. On January 27, Giani Kartar Singh
and Harcharan Singh Brar appeared before
the committee on behalf of the Congress
group in the Punjab legislature. Both
argued in favour of Punjabi Suba. There
were nearly 2,200 memoranda submitted
to the committee favouring the Punjabi
Suba and 903 opposing it.
Hukam Singh was able to secure from
his committee a unanimous vote in favour
of the creation of Punjabi Suba. This
apparently dismayed Gulzari Lal Nanda,
the Home Minister, who soon after the
nomination of the Parlimentary Committee
had borne complaints to Prime Minister
Lal Bahadur Shastri alleging that the
Speaker was actively working for the
creation of a Punjabi-speaking state.
The Parliamentary Committee' s report
was handed in on March 15,1966. On March
9, 1966, the Congress Working Committee
had already adopted a motion recommending
to the Government of India to carve
a Punjabi-speaking state out of the
then existing Punjab. The only member
to oppose the resolution was Morarji
Desai. The report of the Parliamentary
Committee was made public on March 18,
1966. Mrs. Indra Gandhi who had, after
the sudden death of Lal Bahadur Shastri,
taken over as Prime Minister on January
24,1966, finally conceded the demand
on April 23,1966. A commission was appointed
to demarcate the new states of Punjab
and Haryana. On September 3, the Punjab
Reorganization Bill was introuduced
in the Lok Sabha and on November 1,
1966, Punjabi-speaking state became
a reality . The happiest man on that
day was Sant Fateh Singh. A life-long
bachelor, he greeted the announcement
with the words: "A handsome baby
has been born into my household."
With the birth of the new Punjab, Sikhs
had entered the most creative half-decade
of their modern history. The realization
of a dominant political ambition often
times heralds the advent of political
power. This came strikingly true for
Sikhs in the Punjab. On March 8, 1967,
Gurnam Singh, the Akali nominee, took
over as Chief Minister of the state.
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BIBLIOGRAPHY
Copyright © Harbans Singh "The
heritage of sikhs."
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