INTRODUCTION
The demand of Azad Punjab among Sikhs before partition and demand of separate Punjabi speaking state for sikh after partition led to the formation of separate state for all Punjabi from Hindi and pahari speaking people, led to the creation of Punjab , Haryana as separate state in 1966 while pahari speaking district were merged in Himachal Pradesh.
FACTORS GAVE RISE TO DEMAND OF PUNJABI SUBA :-
- LANGUAGE :- After the partition the entire Sikh and Hindu community migrated to India which emerged the confrontation between Hindi- Punjabi language. During the decision of the state language to choose, a dispute occurred between Punjabi and Hindi speaking people.
- DIVIDE AND RULE POLICY :- Communism in Punjab was promoted by Britishers who utilised different communities to promote their policy of divide and rule. Simon commission, Government of India Act of 1919 and 1935, referred to Sikhs as separate entities.
- SIKH ASSURANCE :- During the Lahore session of 1929 post independence it was assured to all Sikhs that no constitutional arrangements will be finalised without their consultations.
- FORMATION OF PEPSU :- The new state called PEPSU (Patiala and East Punjab States Union) was inaugurated by Sardar Patel on July 15, 1948 which was referred as Sikh homeland. Half of the population of this area was Sikh. Former Maharaja of Patiala and Kapurthala was made the Governor and Deputy Governor respectively for life
- STATES REORGANISATION COMMISSION :- the conflict started between Hindu and Sikh related to state language and medium of language yo be used in educational institutions. Although it was not complicated but got mixed with Reorganisation of states. On 22 December, 1953 State Reorganisation commission was set up to organise states on the basis of language. Sikhs demanded for the creation of a new state state while economically backwards people of Haryana too demanded for a separate state against Punjabis, the people of Himachal Pradesh also demanded to safeguard their interest against any encroachment from the people of Punjab.
- DIVISION IN AKALI DAL :- In November 1966, Master Tara Singh who was found guilty for breaking not only his fast but also persuaded sant Fateh Singh to break his fast without any purpose was punished to perform Akhand Path. But Sikh was not interested to listen him so he got removed from the post of president of SGPC with no confidence motion and Fateh Singh won the election in 1962
PUNJAB REORGANISATION ACT :-
According to the report of the Consultative Parliamentary Committee of 1966 was recommended to create one unilingual Punjabi state, Haryana for Hindi speaking people and Hilly areas to merge with Himachal Pradesh and proper boundaries to be set up between three states.
For setting up boundaries, a Boundary Commission consisting of Justice J.C.Shah, M.M.Philip, S.Dutt was appointed in April 1966 to secure linguistic homogeneity among the people of Punjab and Haryana.
As per commission Hindi speaking areas came under Haryana, Punjabi under Punjab and hilly areas were merged with Himachal Pradesh. The only point of dispute was the capital city Chandigarh which was turned into Union territory by the central government to be shared by both states as capital.
Under the Punjab Reorganisation Bill of September 18, 1966 , Punjab got divided again into three parts and new Punjab Came into existence on 1st November 1966.
CONCLUSION
From The above discussion it is clear the Punjab got divided into three parts. The conflict between Hindi speaking and Punjabi speaking people turned out to carve two inherited states from Punjab. The new Punjab after the division came into existence on November 1, 1966 which turned out to unilingual Sikh state.
BOOK REFERENCE ( CLICK TO BUY )
The Sikhs of the Punjab (The New Cambridge History of India)