Khalistan: How the Dream was shattered in 1947? - Part 4

C. Avinash Hingorani, Historian of Edinburg University of Scotland

The Third Study "The Role of Sikhs during the Partition of India" has been reported by Avinash Hingorani [23] in 2014. He reports that after creation of Khalsa by Guru Gobind Singh, the Sikhs aspired for their political identity and fought for independent political status in Punjab: From the time of Guru Nanak (1469-1539) to the last Guru, Guru Gobind Singh (1666-1708), Sikh followers began to acquire their own political identity which was independent from that of the Hindus and Muslims. Due to religious persecutions, the Sikhs wanted to create their own empire that was independent from Mughal rule, and this led to a war between the Sikhs and the Mughal Empire. Guru Gobind Singh inaugurated a group of Sikh authoritative leaders known as the Khalsa. Guru Gobind Singh then sent Banda Singh Bahadur, a Sikh general, to go fight the Mughal rulers".

Avinash has identified the Sikhs as a separate nation and presented their case with full justification and sympathy for the Sikh cause. The main points of this study are summed up as follows:

1. But there was a third religion which was the odd man out in this situation, and this, was Sikhism. When partition occurred in 1947, the Sikhs wanted their own state in the Punjab region. Unfortunately the British Raj categorized the Sikhs as merely being a subdivision of the Hindus and never considered giving them their own separate nation.

2. While the Sikhs shared many similarities to the Hindus it would be unfair to consider them as merely being a subdivision or a caste of Hinduism.

3. In the Lucknow pact "50 percent of seats were reserved for Muslims under this League-Congress pact and Sikhs were completely ignored." Sardar Gajjan Singh of Ludhiana, a Sikh representative recommended an amendment calling the addition of a similar pact that the Muslims had received but both Hindus and Muslims ignored his wishes. The Sikhs were vastly underrepresented in the Indian politics as they only had two Sikhs in the legislative assembly.

4. In 1928, the Chief Khalsa Diwan, an apolitical Sikh organization believed the Sikhs should cooperate with the rest of India in creating a unified country, but still believed that the Sikhs needed to maintain their individuality. In response to this the Sikhs decided that they would be the first religious group in India to welcome a national government, which would be based purely on merit and not favour political leaders from a particular caste or religion.

5. The British did not acknowledge the Sikhs grievances, and in 1943 it became clear that the Muslims would be given their independent state of Pakistan. In response to this Giani Kartar Singh called for a separate state called Azad Punjab, which was to be comprised of Ambala, Jullundar, Lahore, Multan, and Lyallpur divisions. Many Sikh leaders supported this independent state of Azad Punjab. Lahore was once the capital of the Sikh empire and the Sikhs wanted Lahore most of all. Giani Kartar Singh asked "if Pakistan was to come out of compulsion because Mr. Jinnah's demand could not be resisted, why not give an independent state to the Sikhs also?".

6. In 1944, Sikh leader and activist Master Tara Singh led the Sikhs in declaring their own independent state. Tara Singh believed that the creation of Azad Punjab would be necessary to protect Sikhs and Hindus from Muslim rule. Tara Singh believed that Azad Punjab could "take out the overwhelming majority of the Hindus and Sikhs from Muslim domination and get rid of the present Pakistan".

7. Master Tara Singh feared that if Pakistan were created the Sikh community would be "lost forever". After making these comments Tara Singh was invited to a round table conference at Simla at the end of the Second World War by Governor-General Lord Archibald Wavell to represent the Sikhs of India and to quell the political relations between the different religious groups of India. Tara Singh argued that the creation of Pakistan would be more injurious to hiscommunity than to any other community". He strongly encouraged against the demand of Pakistan by the Muslims and coincidentally
made several Muslim enemies.

8. Muhammad Ali Jinnah learned of Tara Singh's disapproval of Pakistan and decided to meet with him with to discuss their disagreements. At this meeting "Mr. Jinnah, who outwardly maintained an attitude of sullen and studious disregard towards the Sikhs, tried to cajole them privately. He knew in his heart of hearts that Sikh opposition to Pakistan was one real obstacle in his way and made several secret overtures to the leaders of the community. He chided them for being too subservient to Congress influence and held out all kinds of allurements, including the formation of an autonomous Sikh area within Pakistan. Some British officers also conveyed similar offers to Sikh leaders.

9. It can be argued that the Muslims were able to achieve their own separate state from India because they were more assertive than the Sikhs. The Sikhs did not use violence against the other ethnic groups of India like the Muslims chose to do.

10. The Sikhs were ultimately the odd man out in India's partition and now had to make a difficult choice between India and Pakistan. For most Sikhs India seemed like the better option even if it meant leaving behind their homes, their livelihoods, and their ancestral villages".

11. They also argued that an independent Punjabi Sikh majority state "was promised to the Sikh leader Master Tara Singh by Nehru in return for Sikh political support during the negotiations for Indian Independence".

12. This promise would finally be fulfilled on November 1st, 1966 and Punjab would finally become a Sikh majority state. Before 1966 Sikhs "constituted just over 33 percent of Punjab, after 1966, they made up a majority at 66 percent". The Sikhs finally had power again in the land of their ancestral history and even though Lahore was still a part of Pakistan, the Sikhs were at least once again the majority group in Punjab.

[Contd...]