CHANDIGARH – UNRESOLVED SINCE 1966
India achieved Independence on 15th August, 1947. For the achievement of India’s independence, during the course of the freedom struggle, the contribution of the Punjabi Sikhs far exceeded their population ratio; out of the 181 freedom fighters hanged by the British, 93 were Sikhs, out of 2,646 patriots exiled to Kalapani (Andaman Island) 2,147 were Sikhs, and out of 1,202 people shot dead in Jallianwala Bagh, 709 were Sikhs. Of the 113 killed at Budge Budge Ghat, 67 were Sikhs; all of 91 killed in the ‘Kooka Movement were Sikhs. Overall, out of a total number 4733 people who were either hanged, killed or transported for life by the British, 3607 were Sikhs. This means 85.2% sacrifices were made by the Sikhs for getting freedom for India from the British government, as against their population ratio in India to a little less than 2%.
The partition in 1947 resulted in mass migration from west Punjab and lakhs of Sikhs and Punjabi Hindus became refugees. They settled mainly in East Punjab and in the adjoining states of UP and Rajasthan. Delhi also attracted large number of them. They tried to resettle and rehabilitate themselves in the shortest possible time.
Demand for Punjabi State
However, the chief cause of uneasiness of Sikhs in free India was due to being a minority. Also the system of proportional representation based on religion was discontinued and the rule of majority came into being thereby putting the Sikhs into disadvantage. Moreover, the Punjabi Hindus even started disowning their mother tongue and instead declared Hindi to be their mother tongue. No other linguistic group in India disowns its mother tongue. Moreover, Congress party in a resolution before partition had declared that after achieving independence, they will reorganize the states on linguistic basis.
In view of the Congress Party’s Resolution before partition, Master Tara Singh, the Akali leader pressed for the formation of Punjabi-speaking state on linguistic basis. No serious consideration was given to the demand. Because the Govt. of India refused to entertain the demand for a Punjabi speaking state, the Sikhs under the leadership of Master Tara Singh launched in 1955 a peaceful agitation for the formation of a Punjabi speaking state at the earliest. The state government imposed a ban on the mere shouting of slogan “Punjabi Suba Zindabad” – long live Punjabi state. In defiance of the ban, as the Sikh volunteers raised the slogan, they were arrested. This was most undemocratic on part of the government. More than 12,000 Sikhs courted arrest during this agitation. Ultimately the government realizing its mistake withdrew the ban on the above slogan, and as such the morcha was withdrawn.
Thereafter the government set up the State Re-organisation Commission in 1956. It recommended the creation of linguistic states in India. However, it did not concede the demand for a Punjabi speaking state. Instead, it merged PEPSU with East Punjab and this resulted in the reduction of Sikh population in PEPSU from 48.8% to 35% of the total population of bigger Punjab formed in 1956. Moreover, it was made a bilingual state with both Hindi and Punjabi being the state languages, because Punjabi Hindus declared Hindi as their mother tongue. This was the only example of a bilingual state except Maharashtra and Gujarat which were also clubbed together to justify the government’s decision on Punjab. C.D. Deshmukh I.C.S., a Maharashtrian and the then Finance Minister in Nehru’s cabinet, resigned as a protest. Hence, Maharashtra and Gujarat were separated in 1960 because of stiff resistance of the people there.
For the achievement of a unilingual Punjabi state another peaceful agitation was launched in 1956 under the leadership of Master Tara Sigh. Over 57,000 Sikhs courted arrest and about a dozen died during this agitation, but there was no move from the government side. So Sant Fateh Singh started a fast unto death. The government got panicky and released Master Tara Singh and invited him for talks with Pandit Nehru. However, the talks failed as Nehru refused to accede to the demand for a Punjabi state. The agitation was resumed and the government passed a special printers (Press) Act in 1961 banning the publication of any news items about Punjabi Suba or the agitation connected with it.
Ultimately the agitation was withdrawn on the assurance of the government that a high-powered commission will be appointed, to go into the demands of the Sikhs. Nothing came out of it as the government was not sincere to settle the issue without any communal considerations. Sant Fateh Singh became President of Akali Dal in 1965 and an agitation for achieving the Punjabi state was intensified. However, in September 1965, war started with Pakistan and in the interest of the country, the Akalis suspended their agitation and put their full might to defend the country.
Truncated Punjabi State Conceded
Mrs. Indira Gandhi, who became Prime Minister in 1966, after the war, instituted a parliamentary committee to consider the Sikh demand. The committee decided for the formation of a Punjabi speaking state and Haryana comprising of the Hindi speaking areas of Punjab. Hence on 1st November, 1966 a unilingual state of Punjab was formed, ten years later than the formation of other unilingual states of India. However, Una tehsil and enclaves of Dalhousie & Bakloh were given to Himachal Pradesh and Kharar tehsil which included Chandigarh were given to Haryana on communal considerations because these areas were in Punjabi region as demarcated earlier under Sachar formula. If language was the criteria, not communal considerations, then some adjoining tehsils of Hissar, Karnal and Ambala districts should have been included in Punjab. The fact was that non-Sikh Punjabis were in slight majority in these areas.
But due to threat of fast unto death by Sant Fateh Singh on this issue, Kharar tehsil was immediately restored in Punjab minus the city of Chandigarh which was made a union territory and common capital of Punjab and Haryana—the only example of this type in India. All other states have their own capitals. The Sikhs were not happy as the government took away Chandigarh which was built as Punjab’s capital after partition and rightly belonged to Punjab, took control of Bhakra and Beas Dams, made many common links with Haryana like a common Governor, High Court, Financial Corporation, Electricity and Housing Board.
Again Sant Fateh Singh started an agitation in December, 1966 for the restoration of Chandigarh to Punjab as its capital, inclusion of left over Punjabi-speaking areas in Punjab, the return of control of Bhakra Dam to Punjab and the abolition of all the common links with Haryana. He also declared his intention of going on fast and then to immolate himself on 27th December, 1966 if his demands were not conceded by then. He, however, broke his fast on the appointed day on the assurance of the then speaker of Lok Sabha Sardar Hukam Singh, who was specially flown to Amritsar by the government in an Air Force plane. He declared that “Chandigarh will go to Punjab” and he gave this assurance facing the Akal Takhat (Sikh Holy Place) before the gathered congregation. This solemn assurance was not implemented by the government.
Sardar Darshan Singh Pheruman
As Chandigarh continued to be a common capital, Sardar Darshan Singh Pheruman, a sincere and devout Sikh, took a religious vow at Akal Takhat, Amritsar from 15th August, 1969, that he would fast unto death to secure the inclusion of Chandigarh in Punjab. He accused the Akali Dal of weakness and insincerity in not making serious efforts for the inclusion of Chandigarh in Punjab. As his fast posed serious problems to the Punjab’s United Front Ministry, Pheruman was arrested and jailed, but he continued his fast. Subsequently, on account of his deteriorating health, he was transferred under police guard to the Government hospital, Amritsar where too he continued his fast, After 74 days of fasting, he passed away on 27th October, 1969. His body was cremated in his village. Inspite of his supreme sacrifice govt. did not transfer Chandigarh to Punjab. It may be noted that Potti Sriramulu, a Telugu activist, began his fast on 19th October, 1952 in Chennai for a separate Telugu speaking Andhra state and continued his fast until he died on 15th December, 1952. This caused widespread demonstrations. As a result Nehru’s government conceded the demand for a Telugu speaking Andhra Pradesh and it was formed in October 1953.
Sant Fateh Singh again decided to start another fast in January, 1970 for achieving the above demands. Because of the surcharged situation, Mrs. Indira Gandhi after three days of his fast, announced the decision of the government by way of an award that “Chandigarh will go to Punjab within 5 years time and Haryana will be given compensation of Rs. 10 crores for building a new capital which government hoped they will start constructing soon.” Haryana did not start construction because the congress govt. was not interested to implement the award.
In 1975 emergency was declared in India by Indira Gandhi. The Sikhs started an agitation against the emergency and the volunteers courted arrest every day. Over 45000 Sikhs courted arrest till the emergency was withdrawn in 1977. Soon after general elections were held and Indira Gandhi lost the elections and Janta Dal govt. under Morarji Desai took over in 1987 and remained in power till 1980, but he too did not address the long standing demand for transfer of Chandigarh to Punjab. In 1978 Akali Dal passed Anandpur Sahib Resolution which defined the centre-state relations so as to bring out the federal character of our constitution with purpose to provide greater autonomy to the states. Though it was purely within the framework of Indian constitution, yet the congress govt. called it secessionist
Since the transfer of Chandigarh and other demands were not given any serious consideration for so many years by the successive governments in spite of the fact that all the agitations so far were peaceful protests. In 1980 Indira Gandhi returned to power. She took no notice of the pending demands. Hence, from 4th May1982, Akali Dal under the leadership of Sant Harchand Singh Longowal started a Dharam Yudh Morcha for the implementation of Anandpur Sahib Resolution, transfer of Chandigarh to Punjab and other longstanding unresolved demands. Same year in October, Asian Games were held in Delhi and because of the Akali Morcha, every Sikh including those in army uniforms entering Delhi were singled out and thoroughly searched and humiliated. This created a sense of alienation in the minds of the Sikhs who underwent this ordeal.
Operation Blue Star
The Dharam Yudh Morcha continued for little over two years by which time, as claimed by the Akalis, more than 2,00,000 Sikh volunteers courted peaceful arrest for the achievement of their demands. For almost two years while the morcha was going on the government did not make any honest move to settle the issues involved. The angry Sikh youth lost patience and wrested the initiative from their elders. This caused the emergence of militancy among some sections of the Sikhs. This lead to the launching of Operation Blue Star on 2nd June 1984 by Indira Gandhi. A 36 hours curfew was imposed in Punjab and Chandigarh from 9 a.m. on 3rd June onwards. All communication systems in Punjab and Chandigarh were cut off from the outside world and all the newspaper reporters were ordered out. Army was moved in to launch the operation. This operation resulted in large scale casualties and destruction of the Golden Temple complex. As per government estimate 554 dead and 121 wounded. On the army side 92 dead and 300 wounded. About 5,000 survivors along with all the leaders were arrested and hence the Dharam Yudh Morcha came to a bloody end.
In such a surcharged atmosphere created by ‘Operation Blue Star’, two of the trusted Sikh bodyguards of Indira Gandhi assassinated her on 31st October 1984 at her official residence. This led to large scale killing of the Sikhs including burning and looting their properties. As per government estimate 2733 Sikhs were massacred. Many were burnt alive. It was a planned pogrom by the congress government because when Mahatma Gandhi was assassinated in 1948 by a Maharashtrian Hindu youth Nathu Ram Godse, not a single Maharashtrian was touched. (Later in 1991 when Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated by a Tamilian, no single Tamilian was harmed)
Rajiv-Longowal Accord
Thereafter, general elections were held in December 1984 and Rajiv Gandhi returned to power with thumping majority on sympathy wave. He had set Punjab as number one problem to be solved. He ordered release of all top Akali leaders from detention for negotiations which resulted in signing of the
Rajiv-Longowal accord of 24th July 1985 which was later passed by the parliament. It consisted of eleven clauses covering different demands of the Sikhs. Under it, Chandigarh was awarded to Punjab and was to be transferred on 26th January, 1986 along with transfer to Haryana some contiguous Hindi speaking villages as per the desire of late Mrs. Indira Gandhi. To determine the Hindi speaking villages on the above criteria, a commission under Justice Mathur was set up by the government. The commission could not find any Hindi speaking villages in Punjab contiguous to Haryana. Hence another commission under Justice Venkataramiah was appointed for the same objective and he gave the verdict that 75,000 acres of adjacent land of Punjab be given to Haryana in lieu of Chandigarh though he did not identify as to which areas except for 45,000 acres of 30 Hindu majority villages (though Punjabi speaking) which Punjab offered on its own. Since this fell short of his total figure of 75,000 acres, he stipulated that 25,000 more of Punjabi speaking acres be given to Haryana without identifying any such contiguous area. To determine this area a third commission under Justice Desai was set up on 20th June, 1986 to find out specific area within 24 hours!
Justice Desai threw up his hands in despair. The Akalis were willing to part with 45,000 acres of Hindu majority (though Punjabi speaking) acres but rightly refused to give another 25,000 Punjabi speaking Sikh majority acres. The government did not implement this clause of transferring Chandigarh to Punjab on 26th January, 1986 and hence the Accord remained unimplemented.
Consequently a “Sarbat Khalsa” was called and a Panthic Committee of five was appointed on 26th January, 1986 by the militants as Chandigarh was not transferred to Punjab on this day as per Rajiv-Longowal accord. Out of sheer frustration a resolution for the formation for “Khalistan” was passed on this day. As a matter of fact the demand for Khalistan was only as a reaction for non implementation of the Accord to transfer Chandigarh to Punjab on the appointed day. The violence had in the meantime escalated and the centre therefore dismissed on 11th May 1987 the duly elected Barnala Government and the State was put under President’s rule under S.S. Ray as the Governor.
Surjeet Singh Barnala blamed non-implementation of the accord by centre as one of the main factors for his failure to contain violence. The people of Punjab and Sikhs in particular became sullen and suspicious as centre was setting one commission after another which gave very unreasonable and unjustified awards on acres of land to be transferred to Haryana in lieu of Chandigarh. As a matter of fact Chandigarh which was built as Punjab’s capital after partition and being a Punjabi town should have, in the very first place, given to Punjab just as Shimla was given to Himachal Pradesh and Haryana should have built its own new capital just as Gujarat built Gandhinagar, Assam built Dispur and Arunachal Pradesh built Itanagar as their state capitals. Now recently created Andhra Pradesh has already started building their own new capital.
After the accord, Rajiv Gandhi was PM for full term of five years till 1989, but he did not implement the accord which was an Act of Parliament, although congress enjoyed absolute majority in the Parliament. Congress lost the next elections and after short stints by Janta Dal coalition PM’s, congress again came to power in 1991 under PV Narsimha Rao who served full term of 5 years till 1996, he too did not implement the accord. Congress lost the next elections and again there were short stints by BJP and Janta Dal PM’s. Fresh elections were held and BJP came to power with AB Vajpai as PM for full term from 1998 to 2004. Surprisingly even BJB govt. did not initiated steps to implement the accord during five years rule.
Congress won the next elections and Dr. Manmohan Singh took over as the PM from 2004 to 2009. He too did not implement the accord during five years term. He was again voted to power for the second time in 2009. During a media interaction in Ludhiana on 11th May 2009, he had given the following statement which was published in Tribune, Chandigarh.
“Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said the Rajiv-Longowal Accord, signed by late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and Sant Harcharan Singh Longowal in 1985, is still relevant and not a “dead issue”. “Though lot of water has flown down the Sutlej since the signing of the accord, since it was passed by the Parliament, we stand by it. Since the accord had been passed by the Parliament, it held good and could not be called a “something in the past.” Although Dr. Manmohan Singh completed his second full term as PM, in spite of the above statement, Chandigarh was not transferred to Punjab.
General elections were held in 2014. BJP swept the elections with majority of it’s own and Shri Narendra Modi took over as PM. It was the most opportune time to settle this outstanding issue especially when both Punjab with Akali Dal as it’s ally and BJP government is in Haryana. But this issue was not resolved as Badals miserably failed in getting the needful done. In March 2017 Congress party won the state assembly elections and Capt. Amarinder Singh took over as the Chief Minister of Punjab. It is hoped this time he will get the Rajiv-Longowal award implemented and get the Chandigarh transferred to the state of Punjab.
The central govt. under Shri Narendra Modi who commands absolute majority in the parliament should get this issue resolved and win the goodwill of all Sikhs and Punjabis who have emotional attachment with Chandigarh, since they have been unfairly denied their capital which was especially built for Punjab after partition in place of Lahore which went to Pakistan and Shimla later on to Himachal Pradesh. No other Indian state, big or small, has a joint capital. Why should center administer a city.
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