Political temperature rises in Punjab and Haryana over issues including transfer of Chandigarh rooted in history

 

Chandigarh dispute between Punjab and Haryana symbolises political dishonesty of ruling classes

 

Ground Zero

Jagtar Singh

Chandigarh was one of the two dream projects of Prime Minister Pt Jawahar Lal Nehru, the other being the Bhakra Dam.

Chandigarh was designed as capital of post 1947 Punjab as Lahore became part of Pakistan. Bhakra was to be the dynamo to drive the Indian Punjab.

None of these two projects are now part of what remains Punjab.

Haryana was carved out of Punjab in 1966 when Chandigarh was declared capital of the two states but as a central territory under union home ministry.

Both Chandigarh and Bhakra went under the central control on November 1, 1966 on the day Punjab was reorganised under the Punjab Re-organisation Act on the recommendation of a 3-member Punjab Boundary Commission.

One of the members S Dutt dissented with his two other colleagues as he argued with logic for retaining Chandigarh in Punjab.

What was unleashed on November 1, 1966 was a deadly politics in this region that is rooted in the brazen opportunism of the political classes.

Chandigarh now is a classic symbol of dishonesty of the ruling classes.

This city came up by acquiring land of the villages that were Punjabi speaking and this region is known as Puadh. While the Punjabi speaking population was uprooted from here, Hindi speaking population came to be settled beginning with the construction sector thereby upsetting its demographic character.

It is pertinent to mention here that Ghaggar river was perceived to be the boundary dividing Punjabi and Hindi speaking regions of Punjab.

Historically, there is one very important aspect.

The area that constituted Haryana at one time that includes areas like Gurgaon was never part of Punjab.

These areas along with Delhi were transferred by the British rulers in 1858 and this dimension is all the more important.

Punjab, a sovereign country, became part of India when the Sikh Empire that extended from Khyber Pass to Satluj river and touched Tibet, got defeated in the Second Anglo-Sikh War in 1849.

The British army that annexed the Sikh Empire was known as the Bengal Army that included native troops who later rebelled in 1857.

Delhi and Haryana were transferred to Punjab to punish this region for rebellion. Delhi became a division of Punjab as Calcutta was then the capital of the British.

Delhi was taken out of Punjab when the British decided to shift to this ancient capital and planned New Delhi.

However, Haryana areas, that too should have been reverted to their original regions, continued to be part of Punjab. That is the genesis of the problem. These areas were taken out in 1966.

The arrangement announced  on November 1, 1966 was not accepted by the Shiromani Akali Dal whose long agitation had dictated this reorganisation as what was left was a truncated Punjab divested of even its capital.

Akali Dal chief Sant Fateh Singh, on his return from foreign tour said on November 5, 1966, that he would announce his programme on November 12, 1966. “He said that he had given an ultimatum to the Government that he would wait till November 12, for the abolition of the common links between the two States, restoration of the control over the power and water sources and inclusion of the Punjabi-speaking areas and Chandigarh in the Punjabi Suba.” (Ajit Singh Sarhadi, Punjabi Suba, p 452).

Punjab witnessed yet another agitation and this time it was for transfer of Chandigarh. Other issues were to follow.

“Prime Minister Indira Gandhi offered a solution that failed to satisfy  neither Punjab nor Haryana. She announced the formula on January 29, 1970 under which Chandigarh was to be transferred to Punjab while Fazilka and Abohar along with 104 villages from Punjab to Haryana. As this area was not contiguous to Punjab separated by Punjabi speaking Kandukhera village, it was to be linked by a 200 meter wide and about seven kilometres long corridor that was just unprecedented. A commission was to be set up to settle the remaining territorial claims. Haryana was to be given a grant of Rs 100 crore by the centre to build its new capital. This solution was junked by both the parties to the dispute.” (Jagtar Singh, Rivers on Fire-Khalistan Struggle, p 251).

Chandigarh was among the main demands on which the Shiromani Akali Dal launched its Dharamyudh Morcha on August 4, 1982 when violence as a means to conflict management had already surfaced in Punjab.

Transfer of Chandigarh was one of the clauses of the Punjab Accord signed between Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and Akali Dal President Sant Harchand Singh Longowal on July 24, 1985.

Here are the clauses of that Accord relating to transfer of Chandigarh and other territories:

“7.1     The capital project of Chandigarh will go to Punjab. Some adjoining areas which were previously part of Hindi or the Punjabi regions were included in the Union territory.  With the capital region going to Punjab the areas which were added to the Union territory from the Punjabi region of the erstwhile state of Punjab  will be transferred to Punjab and those from Hindi region to Haryana. The entire Sukhna lake will be kept part of Chandigarh and will thus go to Punjab.

7.2       It had always been maintained by Smt. Indira Gandhi that when Chandigarh is to go to Punjab, some Hindi speaking territories in Punjab will go to Haryana. A commission will be constituted to determine the specific Hindi speaking areas of Punjab which should go to Haryana in lieu of Chandigarh.

The principle of contiguity and linguistic affinity with a village as a unit will be the basis of such determination. The commission will be required to give its findings by 31st December, 1985 and these will be binding on both sides. The work of the commission will be limited to this aspect and will be distinct from the general boundary claims which the other commissions referred to in para 7.4 will handle.

7.3       The actual transfer of Chandigarh to Punjab and areas in lieu thereof to Haryana will take place simultaneously on 26th January, 1986.

7.4       There are other claims and counter claims for readjustment of the existing Punjab- Haryana boundaries. The government will appoint another commission to consider these matters and give its findings. Such findings will be binding on the concerned states. The terms of reference will be based on a village as a unit, linguistic affinity and contiguity.”

The transfer of Chandigarh to Punjab was stalled on January 24, 1986 when invitation to the function had already been sent by the Akali Dal government headed by Surjit Singh Barnala. He should have resigned in protest but he did not. His government was finally dismissed in May 1987.

Here is detailed account of what happened subsequently:

“The transfer of Chandigarh to Punjab on January 26 was deferred on January 25 ostensibly on the logic that the Mathew Commission had failed to identify the villages to be transferred to Haryana. The commission upheld the criteria of contiguity on the transfer of Abohar and Fazilka areas. Bhajan Lal and Barnala met Union Home Minister S. B. Chavan for the second time on January 26 but failed to identify the areas to be transferred to Haryana. Bhajan Lal did not agree to the principle of linguistic contiguity. The main obstruction coming in the way of the transfer of Chandigarh was the forthcoming Assembly elections in Haryana.  The Prime Minister telephoned Barnala on January 24 expressing the inability of the Centre to transfer Chandigarh to Punjab at least for four months in view of the forthcoming elections to the Haryana Assembly.

Finance Minister Balwant Singh advised Barnala to resign in protest against the failure of the Centre to transfer the city to Punjab saying sooner or later, the government, anyway, would have to go. Barnala did not agree. The Barnala government had made all preparations for the big show slated for midnight and journalists from Delhi had also descended on the City Beautiful to cover the transfer which eventually ended as a non-event. The state government had also sent out invitation for the ceremony. The situation would have taken a new turn in case the Barnala government had resigned on the issue. Barnala seemed to be under some kind of pressure from the government in Delhi. He was later suitably rewarded by appointing him as Governor. However, he had once again betrayed the Sikhs.

The Centre decided to appoint another commission consisting of Justice E. S. Venkataramiah, a judge of the Supreme Court to determine the Hindi speaking areas to be transferred to Haryana from Punjab. Both Bhajan Lal and Barnala welcomed the setting up of the new commission. Barnala, on April 3, reaffirmed his government’s commitment to complete the construction of the Satluj-Yamuna Link Canal. He said the remaining construction of the carrier channel would be entrusted to a public sector undertaking in consultation with the Planning Commission (The Indian Express, April 4, 1986).

Justice Venkataramiah submitted his report on June 12 and awarded an area of 70,000 acres to be given to Haryana.  Interestingly, he proposed the setting up of another commission to identify this area. It was also proposed that Haryana should build its own capital. The Haryana government accepted the recommendations after a cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Bansi Lal. The government constituted Justice D A  Desai Commission on June 20 for this purpose. This commission was asked to submit report by June 21 forenoon. Meanwhile, it was announced in Delhi that the transfer of Chandigarh to Punjab had been postponed to July 15. This followed the meeting Barnala had with Gandhi.  On Barnala’s suggestion on June 21, the Centre amended the terms of reference of this commission. The decision to amend the terms of reference was taken by the political affairs committee of the cabinet following night long consultations between the Prime Minister, Home Minister Buta Singh and Barnala.

The operative part of the original terms of reference said: “Having regard to the award of  Shri Justice Venkataramiah and also having  regard to the Government of India’s resolve to transfer Chandigarh to Punjab on June 21, 1986, simultaneously with the territories in lieu thereof to Haryana, the Government of India have decided to refer the question of specifying the territories consisting  about 70,000 acres to be transferred from Punjab to Haryana in lieu of Chandigarh to hon’ble Shri Justice D A Desai, retired judge, Supreme Court of India and Chairman, Law Commission of India whose name has been recommended by the hon’ble Chief Justice of  India. All the relevant materials including the report of Shri Justice K N Mathew and the report of Shri Justice E. S. Venkataramiah are being placed at the disposal of Shri Justice D A Desai”.

The amended terms of reference said, “Hon’ble Shri Justice D. A. Desai should keep in view the parameters stipulated  in para 7.2 of the memorandum of settlement  and consider the 30 villages measuring about 45,000 acres identified by the Justice Venkataramiah Commission, provided they fall  within the purview of  para 7.2 of the memorandum of settlement”. The deadline for the transfer was now July 15, instead of June 21, 1986. Justice Desai was to submit his report by that date.

 Punjab had earlier on June 21 rejected this commission taking objection to its terms of reference. The resolution adopted at a meeting of the cabinet stated that the appointment of higher legal authority was not warranted even by the Venkataramiah Commission which had suggested the appointment of another commission and not a higher legal authority. The resolution said the appointment of Desai Commission was aimed at slicing away large Punjabi speaking areas of Punjab in utter disregard and utter violation of the letter and spirit of the Accord.  Barnala, on July 7, formally informed the Desai Commission of his government’s decision to boycott it as the terms of reference were not in consistent with the Punjab accord.

Consequently, Barnala sought postponement of the transfer of Chandigarh to Punjab slated for July 15. He gave this indication at a joint meeting he had with Buta Singh and his Haryana counterpart Bansi Lal on July 10. He proposed the setting up of yet another commission on territories on the terms of reference mentioned in the Punjab accord. The government later extended the date of submission of report by the Desai Commission. The decision was taken by the political affairs committee of the cabinet which met twice on July 14. The Prime Minister reviewed the situation earlier in the day with Buta Singh and the senior Home Ministry officials.

The report of the panel on territorial dispute headed by Justice Venkataramiah submitted on June 10, 1986 was discussed by the Political Affairs Committee of the cabinet. Home Minister Buta Singh also consulted BJP President L K Advani, Congress (S) leader K P Unikrishanan, Harkishan Singh Surjeet from the CPM and Inder Deep Sinha from the CPI on the recommendations of the panel. The commission identified about 45,000 acres to be transferred to Haryana while 25000 acres were to be identified by another commission or the Central government.” (Jagtar Singh, Khalistan Struggle-A Non-movement, pp 241-243).

The mattered ended there.

That faultine has now been stirred by Union Home Minister Amit Shah thereby raising political temperature in Punjab and Haryana.