A state is reborn

Celebrated on November 1, Punjab Divas marks the formation of a Punjabi-speaking state under the Punjab Reorganisation Act (1966). The day also marks the creation of Haryana and distant states, namely, Kerala, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh.

‘Punjab’ was drafted by combining two Persian words ‘panj’ and ‘aab’, meaning the land of five rivers — Beas, Chenab, Jhelum, Ravi and Sutlej. However, the region had other names during ancient times.

According to Vedic literature, it was known as Saptha Sindhu, and the Greek named it Pentapotamia. During Mahabharata and Ramayana, it was called Panchnada and Braham Vrata. ‘Taki’ was another name the region got from the powerful tribe of Taki that inhabited the land of Punjab in the past.

It was due to the persistent demand being raised by a section of Punjabis that in 1966, the then Union Government led by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi agreed to carve out the present Punjab on linguistic basis.

The region inhabited by Sikh-dominated and Punjab-speaking population was demographically made ‘new’ Punjab while Haryanvi-speaking Hindu-dominated southern end was rechristened as modern Haryana. Hindi-speaking hilly areas were included in Himachal Pradesh UT, which was later given the full status of a state on January 25, 1971.

The reorganisation was done on the basis of recommendation of the Punjab Boundary Commission, headed by Chairman Justice JC Shah, that was constituted to recommend the adjustment of existing boundaries of Hindi and Punjabi-speaking regions of contemporary Punjab to secure linguistic homogeneity, and further to indicate boundaries of hill areas of the present state that were contiguous to Himachal Pradesh and had cultural and linguistic affinities.

Until 1966, Punjab was a Hindu majority state (63.7 per cent), but during the linguistic partition, Hindu majority districts were removed from Punjab. The modern planned Chandigarh city built to replace Punjab’s pre-partition capital Lahore was claimed jointly by Punjab and Haryana. It was declared as a UT to serve as capital for both states, even though claims and counterclaims exist.

The birth of present-day Punjab has genesis in a long struggle launched by the Sikhs in general, and the Akalis in particular, under the banner of the Punjab Suba Movement. It was an agitation for reorganisation of the state on a linguistic basis. The Union Government was wary of creating a Punjabi-speaking state as it would mean creating a Sikh majority state.

Nightmares of pre-partition violence had induced a sense of insecurity among the Hindus who would be living as a minority in Sikh majority new state. Vernacular press played a significant role in buttressing and suppressing the Punjabi Suba Movement as Hindi media exhorted Hindus to cite their ‘mother tongue’ as Hindi during the census whereas Punjabi media impressed on citing Punjabi as the language of all residents. This caused a rift among the Hindus and Sikhs.

The case for creating Punjab Suba was placed before the States Reorganisation Commission in 1953, but it was rejected on the ground that Punjabi was not a language grammatically very distinct from Hindi.

However, Akali Dal leaders continued their agitation after the merger of PEPSU in the state. Morchas, protests and dharnas were organised frequently and hundreds of activists were arrested from time to time.

Master Tara Singh and Sant Fateh Singh had emerged as prominent leaders of the Akali Dal representing Sikhs of the state, and it was the determined approach of the organisers of the Punjabi Suba Movement that present-day Punjab was constituted in 1966.

The first PM of India, Jawaharlal Nehru had varied opinions on the issues at different times. He initially opposed the creation of states based on language, but later revised his opinion. Nehru and the then Deputy PM, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, believed that the nation had already been divided on the religious basis, and that multicultural and multilingual states would help build a united nation.

Nehru’s views changed after years of protests and he was convinced by then that the concerns of minorities should be considered in linguistic states. He was also influenced by Russia’s linguistic reconstruction programme, which gave scripts to more than 50 languages lacking scripts.