Rajiv-Longowal Accord on Chandigarh

Recently, BJP has started to advocate Rajiv-Longowal Accord and pushed the demand for transferring Chandigarh to Punjab as it is listed in the accord. But this move of the BJP is not for the benefit of the Punjab State. It will further dwarf the exploited and crippled State. According to the accord, only the capital area of Chandigarh will be transferred not the entire city of Chandigarh. The capital area back in 1985 was significantly smaller and no official document provides any insight on what constitutes the entire capital area and its boundaries.

The three member Boundary Commission, presided over by Justice Shah, which demarcated the boundaries of the Punjabi speaking State, decided to award Chandigarh and many important Punjabi speaking areas to Haryana. This was done on the basis of the communal census of 1961. In 1961, the city was inhabited mostly by Government employees, majority of whom were Hindus, who though they were actually Punjabi speaking had got their mother tongue registered as Hindi, on account of communal considerations. However, the Commission’s recommendation to transfer Chandigarh to Haryana was not implemented and the town was kept as a Union Territory, as the capital of both the States and the seat of the common High Court.

In exchange, Punjab will have to give up its Punjabi speaking areas to Haryana. This is unjust and unfair in light of the fact that keeping Chandigarh as a union territory was an unconstitutional move to begin with. Chandigarh was built by Punjab Government but now it stays there as a tenant. While elsewhere in the country the state capitals were retained by the parent States, e.g. Bombay in Maharashtra and Madras in Tamil Nadu, Chandigarh was not given to Punjab. The extreme unfairness of the Boundary Commission is indicated by the fact that whereas Simla, the Capital of Punjab from 1947 to 1954 was allotted to Himachal Pradesh, Chandigarh, the new capital of Punjab from 1954 to 1966 was transferred to Haryana. Even the Gobind Sagar lake and the uninhabited area around, though adjacent to Nangal Town and a part of the Bhakra Nangal Project, always administered by Punjab, were not transferred to Punjabi Suba.

Haryana was created as a rival State under a scheme of the government to further cause fights and disruptions in the Northern area and to deprive Punjab of its constitutional rights. Whenever Punjab raises a demand for its natural resources, autonomy and Chandigarh, Haryana is always there to oppose such a move and the entire issue turns into a Sikh-Hindu conflict on communal lines. This is observed by S.M Sathananthan (London), K.T. Lalwani (London), S. Raghunath lyenger (Lagos), Prof. G. P. Mansukhani (Bombay), Asha Bhatnagar (Jaipur) et. al. in ‘Hindu-Sikh Conflict In Punjab: Causes and Cure’ by These persons belonging to different professions came all the way from far off places to personally study the Punjab situation. They moved from place to place in the State and met a cross section of the people and concluded as under:

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"The present Hindu-Sikh conflict is the saddest tragedy of post-partition Indian History. Its genesis lies in a narrow-minded attitude of certain sections of the community, that totally refutes the traditional Hindu virtues of tolerance and understanding. One also wonders, why the Sikhs are always pushed into agitation for their basic constitutional demands, the kind of which were never denied to other States and communities. Why was Punjab the last linguistic State to be formed (10 years late)? Why is Punjab the only state in India whose capital Chandigarh is governed by the Central Government? There are many such unanswered questions which deserve serious probing and full national exposure. Indian news agencies and papers will do well to investigate the reasons for Hindu-Sikh conflict arising from Hindu opposition to Sikh demands, even though their demands were made to the Government (and not to the Hindus of Punjab and Haryana). While most of the Sikh demands are for the welfare of Punjab State, not one demand is anti-Hindu or hurts Hindu sentiments in any way.”

During the Punjab (Sikh) agitation, the government tried sham negotiations and expressed its helplessness to appease both Punjab and Haryana. The government knew fully well that Haryana will naturally oppose Punjab’s constitutional demands for transferring control of water and hydel projects and Chandigarh because Haryana loses much of its free wealth it gets from Punjab. Due to Haryana’s opposition, the issue turned into a communal Sikh-Hindu conflict. Instead of talking economic and politics, the government sidetracked the issue to religion. This caused much anti-Sikh violence in Haryana and Punjab. The media played its biased role of siding with the government. The government let the violence spread and then sent in the army under the pretext of maintaining “law and order”. Hundreds of thousands of Sikhs were killed in order to make them submissive and suppress them to the point of never raising their demands ever again. In the meantime, Punjab continued (and still continues) to get exploited of its wealth.

The ‘Guardian’, London (June 8, 1984) made a good analysis of this policy of the Prime Minister in the following words:

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“All through the tangle in Punjab, the Government has preferred to talk religion instead of economics and politics in its dealings with the Akali party, which represents the interests of Punjabi peasants and farmers, the majority of whom are Sikhs. The farmers say, “Give us more of our own river waters to irrigate our fields or refer the matter to the Supreme Court.” The Government replies, “We allow you to broadcast religious music over All India Radio, as for the water we shall appoint a tribunal to give a ruling on the dispute.” The Akalis say, “Chandigarh, which happens to be in the heart of Punjab, should not have to be shared as a capital with neighbouring Haryana. The Government retorts, “But how can we persuade the Government of Haryana to agree!”.... The Akalis say that Punjab and other States throughout India should be given greater economic powers and allowed to manage their own affairs. New Delhi retorts, “This is a talk of secession, it must be inspired by a foreign power.”

Much more can be written on the subject. What we need to understand is that the government will never change its policies towards Punjab and the Sikhs. Any move by the government will never bring any benefit to the Punjabi State. It will always have something behind curtains. If the capital area of Chandigarh is given back, Punjab will lose some part of its territory despite the fact that Chandigarh has always belonged to Punjab. BJP, Congress, AAP or any other Indian party will not stand behind Punjab lest the majority Hindu become upset.

Bhai Sahib jio, this a political stunt by BJP to increase Punjabi base and set Badal straight due to his recent involvement in Haryana elections. Eventhough BJP has full majority in Lok Sabha and they can do whatever they want but at the same Mr. Modi is not going to make any move soon on disputed areas especially related to Punjab. At least not in his first term.

Secondly, we can't blame Union government solely for their behavior towards Punajb. The responsibility of this mess also lies on Akaali Party too. First their refusal of separate state in 1947 then making Punjab State a Soobee in 1966. ਲਮਹੋਂ ਨੇ ਖਤਾ ਕੀ ਔਰ ਸਦੀਉਂ ਨੇ ਸਜ਼ਾ ਪਾਈ. There is no solution on the horizon when Akaali party run by traitors of Sikh Kaum.

Nothing good can be expected from union government who doesn't even entertain a simple Riparian law which is widely accepted globally to resolve water rights.

Solution to all the Geo-political issues are in hands of Sikhs themselves, whether they realize or not. Sooner they understand, better they would be otherwise more Khuaari exist there anyway.

While I completely agree that the useless Akali Party especially Baldev Singh and Tara Singh made a huge blunder by not accepting a separate Sikh State, but the blame of Punjab problem cannot be put on them. This is entirely the Center government’s fault and communal thinking.

Akalis wanted a Punjabi State on linguistic basis just like Tamil Nadu, Maharastra, U.P. Gujrat, Kerala etc. Nehru regime did not want this to happen and Indira Gandhi pursued the same policy. Due to Sikh heroic role and contribution to the 1965 war the support for the Sikh agitation was extended from other circles. Indian Army too appealed for the creation of a Punjabi State. Shastri set up a Parliamentary Committee and appointed Hukam Singh as its chairman fully knowing that the latter was against the Sikh demands. Hukam Singh had made it clear to Shastri that the Punjabi Sooba will not benefit the Sikhs. Knowing this, the Central government wished to use a Sikh against the Sikhs. Little did they know that Hukam Singh was not a traitor and he supported a federal structure (as opposed to unitary structure of India) in which minority rights were safeguarded. He stated:

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“To-day India is almost free of foreign domination and we pride ourselves on the freedom of our country. But the real content of our freedom can only be felt if the minorities are given due protection and provided safeguards for the development of their culture, language and religion.”

Indira Gandhi felt insecure about appointing a Sikh to decide the matter on Punjabi Sooba creation. She tried her best to ensure that he did not give a report in Sikh favor. In her autobiography, ‘My Truth’, she wrote:

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“My father had been strongly opposed to the idea (Punjabi Suba), but, by 1966, the demand had grown so strong that the Centre was in no position to resist it ... Unfortunately Mr. Shastri had made Sardar Hukam Singh, the Speaker of the Lower House, Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Punjabi Suba, although he was biased in favour of Punjabi Suba ... I went to Mr. Chavan and said that Sardar Hukam Singh was going to give a report in favour of Punjabi Suba and that he should be stopped.’’

Indira Gandhi and Chavan met Shastri in this connection. Shastri said that they need not bother as he was fully in touch with the situation. Prompted by Indira Gandhi, Shastri contacted Home Minister Nanda and conveyed to him the concern about the feared report. Nanda admitted that he had suggested Hukam Singh’s name for the Chairmanship of the Committee under the mistaken impression that he (Hukam Singh) was opposed to the Punjabi Sooba demand. Indira Gandhi writes:

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“But I was very bothered and I went round seeing everybody. Of course, once, the report came, it was too late to change it. This startling reversal of Congress policy was totally unexpected. While a Sikh agitation had been averted, Hindu minority in the projected Punjabi Suba felt let down.”

Hukam Singh later wrote,

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“The intention of the government then was to use me against my community, secure an adverse report and then reject the demand.”

Once Punjabi Sooba became inevitable, Indira Gandhi along with Gulzari Lal Nanda took unconstitutional steps in reducing the Punjabi Sooba and stripping away everything it had to grow economically. Nanda wrote provisions 78-80 in Punjab Reorganization Act of 1966 according to which Punjab’s water and hydel power came under Center’s control, Chandigarh became the shared capital, education, finance, Punjab’s revenue and spending, government grants etc. came under direct control of the Center government. Punjab was reduced to a sub-State and a dwarfed one. It had nothing to grow economically.

Akalis never agreed to such a State nor were they ever consulted. They even filed a case against the Center government in Supreme Court but Indira Gandhi quickly introduced President’s Rule in Punjab, ousted the Akali government, appointed a Congress stooge and then demanded him to withdraw the case from the Supreme Court. From 1966 to 1997, Akalis were never allowed to rule for more than a year. It is too long to list everything here but it is very interesting to read the political history between 1977-84. It throws a whole new light on Operation Blue Star, Wood Rose and subsequent massacres. While I think Akalis were weak and fools in the game of politics, their demands were valid and they struggled for the Sikh cause. Their agitation was constitutional. The blame for Punjab’s problem entirely lies with the Center government that has always had a communal thinking of appeasing the Hindu minority instead of seeking the welfare of the State.

The only solution for the Sikhs is to establish a separate State. Even if the majority Hindu agrees to change the structure of the government, rewrites the Constitution, returns Chandigarh, High Court and Punjabi speaking areas to Punjab, returns control of water and hydel power to Punjab, grants more autonomy to the States, makes Punjabi a required language for all living in Punjab, stops supporting the living fake gurus, stops interfering with Sikh religious affairs and SGPC elections so on and so forth….but one problem will never go away and that is the majority rule on numerical basis. Current democracy advocates majority vote that is purely numerical while Sikhi does not support this because this system suppresses minorities who will never have any majority win in India. Sikhs will always be at the mercy of the majority rule. If the majority can grant equal rights to Sikhs, it can also take them away and suppress them in the name of “law and order”, “curbing terrorism” etc. This happened during Mughal rule and we have witnessed this in the last 30 years.

We as Sikhs need to become progressive and proactive by start thinking for solutions rather than raise questions in opposition. If Sikhs won’t come up with solutions for the Sikh problems then who will? If Sikhs won’t talk about Khalistan and Khalsa Raj then who will? May Guru Sahib bless us with knowledge and wisdom in politics, economics etc. so we can successfully beat the Indian regime.

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