A look at events leading to and the aftermath of three different partitions of Punjab after the emergence of British rule
By Yadwinder Singh
Migration Causes • Circumstances created by communal riots forced minorities to quit their homes and migrate to new palaces. • No question as to the exchange of population arose even after announcement of 3rd June plan. • Chaudhry Rehmat Ali “we must not have our minorities in Hindu lands ….not must we keep hindoo and/or Sikh minorities in our own lands even if they are themselves willing to remain wit or without any special safeguards. For they will retard our national reconstruction and in times of crisis they will betray us and bring about our destruction” • Mr Jinnah also stated several times that exchange of population was necessary alongside the partition of India. • Role of Refugees • Transfer of Civil and Public Officers. • Infection of Police • Indifference of Dominion Governments. • Mutual Differences. • False Rumors and Resultant Panic • Vague Decisions.
Migration process • The partition of Punjab was not intended to, and did not solve the minority problem. • More than 4 million Muslims were left in east Punjab and more 4 million Hindu and Sikhs in west Punjab. • Establishment of Military Evacuee Organizations. • Evacuation by Motor Transports. • Evacuation by Trains. • Foot Convoys. • Forcible Conversions. • Recovery of Abducted Women
Aftermath: Refugee concentration and resettlement • In East Punjab the agriculturist, belonging to particular districts of the west Punjab were directed to proceed to the specific districts in east Punjab under the following agreements: • About 350,000 peasant and cultivator families from the west Punjab were move straight to the Muslim evacuee villages by the east Punjab government. Refugee land holders from Punjab Resettlement in the East Punjab Lahore and non-colonists from Montgomery Districts Ferozepur District Rawalpindi, Sheikhhupura and Gujranwala Districts Karnal Districts Shahpur and Gujrat Districts Ambala District Multan District Hissar District Jhang and Muzaffargarh Districts Rohtak District Dehra Ghazi Khan and Mianwali Districts Gurgaon District Sialkot District Hoshiarpur, Amritsar and Gurdaspur District
Sikh and Hindu landholders suffered a heavy loss by migrating to the East Punjab. • Non-Muslims held 6.7 million acres of cultivable land in West Punjab while Muslims had 4.7 million acres in East Punjab. • Non-Muslims left 20 lakh acres in excess of what Muslims of East Punjab had left behind. • Non-Muslims who had migrated to the East Punjab had a greater urban element and higher standard of living than Muslims of East Punjab who had predominantly rural character. • Non-Muslims who had very good houses in west Punjab had to live in poorly built houses left by Muslims of East Punjab. • There was wide disparity in the occupations pursued by outgoing and inflowing people which resulted in many economic problems in the both states.
Social Effects • Sharp decline in the morals of the people • About 50 thousand women were abducted in both Punjab. • Lawlessness was common in Punjab. • Inter mixture problem in refugees. • Social strains by “Biradari” were relaxed, severe blow to common village system. • Many new social developments in local social setup of both sides of Punjab due to mingling with refugees. • Urban Non-Muslims who settled in in villages of West Punjab quickened the pulse of social life. • Free and easy culture of the west Punjab had a liberalizing influence on the women of east Punjab. • West Punjab lost its social and cultural variety.
Partition of Bengal • On 20 June 1947, the Bengal Legislative Assembly met to decide the future of the Bengal Presidency, on whether it would be a United Bengal within India or Pakistan; or be divided into East and West Bengal • In 1905, the first partition in Bengal was implemented as an administrative preference, making governing the two provinces, West and East Bengal, easier • While the partition split the province between West Bengal, in which the majority was Hindu, and the East, where the majority was Muslim, the 1905 partition left considerable minorities of Hindus in East Bengal and Muslims in West Bengal • While the Muslims were in favor of the partition, as they would have their own province, Hindus were not. This controversy led to increased violence and protest and finally, in 1911, the two provinces were once again united Before the official Radcliffe line was drawn these were the religious demographics: • Muslims majority districts: Dinajpur, Rangpur, Malda, Murshidabad, Rajshahi, Bogra, Pabna, Mymensingh, Jessore, Nadia, Faridpur, Dhaka, Tippera, Bakerganj, Noakhali and Chittagong. • Non-Muslim majority Districts: Calcutta, Howrah, Hooghly, Birbhum, Burdwan, Bankura, Midnapore, Jalpaiguri, Darjeeling, 24 Pargana, Khulna and Chittagong Track hills. Final division: • Pakistan: East Dinajpur, Rangpur, Rajshahi, Bogra, Pabna, Mymensingh, Sylhet (except Barak valley), Khulna, Bakerganj, Tippera, Noakhali, Chittagong, Jessore, East Nadia, Chittagong Track Hills. • India: West Dinajpur, Jalpaiguri, Darjeeling, Malda, Murshidabad, West Nadia, Calcutta, 24
Millions of Hindus migrated to India from East Bengal. The majority of them settled in West Bengal, a smaller number went to Assam, Tripura and other states. • Violence was limited only to Kolkata and Noakhali. And hence in Bengal migration occurred in a much more gradual fashion and continued over the next three decades following partition. • Among Hindus in East Bengal those who were economically better placed often had relatives and other connections in West Bengal and were able to settle with less difficulty. Muslims followed a similar pattern. The urban and educated upper and middle class left for East Bengal first. • However, poor Hindus in East Bengal, most of whom belonged to lower castes found it much more difficult to migrate. Their only property was immovable land holdings. Many sharecropped. They didn’t have any skills other than farming. As a result, most of them decided to stay in East Bengal. • Throughout the next two decades Hindus left East Bengal whenever communal tensions flared up or relationship between India and Pakistan deteriorated. • The situation of the Hindu minority in East Bengal reached its worst in the months preceding and during the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971, when the Pakistani army systematically targeted ethnic Bengalis regardless of religious background as part of Operation Searchlight.
Patiala and East Punjab States Union (PEPSU) • The Patiala and East Punjab States Union (PEPSU) was a state of India uniting eight princely states between 1948 and 1956. • It was formed on 5 May 1948 by merging together of eight East Punjab princely states of Patiala, Jind, Nabha, Kapurthala, Faridkot, Kalsia, Malerkotla and Nalagarh. • It was formally inaugurated on 15 July 1948 by Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, Deputy Prime Minister of India. • The government of the Union started functioning on 20 August 1948 when Maharaja Yadavinder Singh of Patiala took over as Rajpramukh or governor. Maharaja Jagatjit Singh of Kapurthala was made Uparajpramukh or Deputy Governor • Gian Singh Rarewala was sworn in as first chief minister on 13 January 1949. • State Reorganization Commission which was established in December,29 1953 submitted its report in 1956 and recommended the merger of PEPSU in Punjab. • 1 November 1956 PEPSU merged with the state of Punjab
Bifurcation of Punjab in 1966 •The idea of Punjabi speaking state was projected soon after the independence of the country. • In 1958, Government Of India made 2 regional committees of Punjab legislative assemblies. • One for Punjabi speaking areas • other for Hindi speaking areas • The committees were to advice Punjab legislative assembly and to recommend legislative measures. • But people were not satisfied and wanted a Unilingual Punjab State.
Punjabi Suba Morcha 1960 • Master Tara Singh proclaimed that regional formula had failed, that Punjabi Suba was the only solution and that the only way to achieve this was another MORCHA. • He before his arrest by Kairon government appointed Sant Fateh Singh his successor. • The Sikh jathas assembled inside golden temple, prayed and marched out shouting Punjabi Suba slogans and were promptly arrested. • The main aim of the morcha that it was for Punjabi speaking state. • In this morcha about 47000 persons were arrested. It was the biggest ever mass mobilization, with largest ever arrest in any struggle launched in Punjab. • To secure a speedy national division, Sant Fateh Singh declared his determination to fast and to go in for self-immolation if the Punjabi Suba was not created. • Before the final date fixed by the Sant, the militarist rulers of Pakistan
With the achievement of the cease fire on the Indo-Pakistan border, the central government announced the formation of a parliamentary committee under the chairmanship of the Lok Sabha speaker to discuss the demand for Punjabi suba. • On 23 April 1966, 3 member Punjab Boundary Commission (Chairman Justice Jyantilal Chotelal Shah, members: S. Dutt and M.M. Philips) was set up to recommended. • The adjustment of existing boundary of Hindi and Punjabi regions of present state of Punjab to secure linguistic homogeneity. • To indicate boundaries of the hill areas of the present state which were contagious to Himanchal Pradesh and had cultural linguistic affinities. The commission was required to apply linguistic principle with regard to the census figure of 1961 and other relevant considerations: administrative convenience: economic well- being; geographical contiguity; and facility of communications were main factors to be taken into consideration. • The commission submitted its report on 31st may 1966. • On recommendations of Shah Commission, the Punjab region was to form a Unilingual Punjabi speaking state. It was to comprise Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur, Ludhiana, Firozpur, Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Patiala, Bhatinda, Kapurthala districts and parts of Ambala and Sangrur district. • The hilly areas of Punjab i.e. the areas of Kangra, Shimla and Lahol and Spiti were to be merged with Himachal. • The remaining areas of the Hindi speaking region were to be formed into a separate state called Haryana. It was to consist of Hissar, Gurgaon, Karnal, and Mohindergarh districts and parts of Ambala and Sangrur districts. • Chandigarh was made into a union territory and capital of both states of Haryana and Punjab. (Concludes)
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Courtesy: Slide Share
