Khalistan: How the Dream was shattered in 1947? - Part 6

E. Conclusions

1. Sikhs were caught unawares as they were not prepared for the Partition of Punjab. First they wanted Azad Punjab with 40 % Muslim, 40 % Hindu and 20% Sikh population. When this proved to be a utopia, then they passed a resolution in favour of an independent Sikh State. Master Tara Singh and Giani Kartar Singh were their front rank leaders but they passed the baton to Baldev Singh and Swaran Singh. I consider this as a big blunder.

2. Swaran Singh was a staunch Congressman and Baldev Singh was prevailed upon by Pandit Nehru to go with the Congress plan. He was the weakest link to present the Sikh case at London round table conference as his personal interests lay in joining India to save his business.

3. Sikh masses were kept in the dark and Sikh elites were holding the reins of Sikh Panth. The elites (Baldev Singh, Surjit Singh Majithia, Ujjal Singh etc.) were in favour of joining India.

4. The Akali leadership was not united and had no clear cut policy to protect the interests of Sikhs. Master Tara Singh failed to provide leadership at this crucial juncture of history. He wanted to remain in the background and his nominees (Baldev Singh et al.) had personal political ambitions to join India.

5. Sikh leaders' antagonism against Muslim League proved to be another hurdle in their decision making. Ultimately, Master Tara Singh, Baldev Singh and Giani Kartar Singh crumbled under the Congress pressure and together on 18 April 1947 met Lord Mountbatten to demand the Partition of Punjab into Muslim and non-Muslim areas.

6. Sardar Kapur Singh squarely blames Master Tara Singh for failure of the Sikhs to get an independent Sikh State in Sachi Sakhi.

7. Lord Mountbatten blames the entire Sikh community for its failure during the Partition of Punjab in 1947: "It must be pointed out that the people who asked for the partition were the Sikhs. The Congress took up their request and framed the resolution in the form they wanted. They wanted the Punjab to be divided in two predominantly Muslim and non-Muslim areas. I have done exactly what the Sikhs requested me to do through the Congress. The request came to me as a tremendous shock as I like the Sikhs, I am fond of them and I wish them well" (quoted by Dr Kirpal Singh in [20]).

8. It is evident from the letter of Prof. Puran Singh and other studies based on documents retrieved from the British archives that there was neither a strong case presented by the Sikh leadership nor any offer made by the British to divide India into three parts just for accommodating the Sikhs as equal partners with Hindus and Muslims.

9. Out of all options available to the Sikhs, joining India was considered to be the most viable option by the Sikh leadership due to their cultural affinity with the Hindus.

10. It is no use fighting for the lost opportunity during the Partition of Punjab in 1947 by raking up the issue of Sikh State (Khalistan). As the saying goes: "It is like beating a dead horse".

[End]

References:

1. Akhtar Hussain Sandhu, International Journal of Punjab Studies, September 2012, https://www.researchgate.net/publication/273602638.

2. Kirpal Singh, Select Documents on Partition of Punjab. National Book Shop, Delhi. Revised and enlarged edition, 2006.

3. Justice Harnam Singh, The Idea of Sikh State, page 27 & 46.

4. Congress te Sikh (Punjabi), by Master Tara Singh (1945), pages 3-4.

5. Swagati Address Azad Punjab Conference, Amritsar (Punjabi), 28th February, 1944,

6. Papers relating to the Cabinet Mission Plan in India, p. 61

7. V.P. Menon, Transfer of Power in India, Calcutta, 1957, p. 291

8. Memorandum submitted to Cabinet Mission, Sikh History Records (S.H.R.) Folio No. 1815, Khalsa College, Amritsar

9. Indian Annual Register 1941, Vol. I, Calcutta, p. 244

10. Ibid

11. "Mr. Jinnah's offer of Sikh State," Maharaja Patiala's article. The Tribune Ambala, July, 19, 1959. This would have left the Hindus of the Punjab in Pakistan either of its Punjab part or in the newly created Sikh Province of Pakistan.

12. Statement of Master Tara Singh, The Tribune, Ambala, July 23, 1959

13. Punjab Partition (PP), Vol. I, pp. 6-7

14.C. & M. Gazette, June 15, 1947

15. The Hindu, Madras, July 16, 1947

16. C. & M. Gazette, July 10, 1947

17. Lord Ismay, Memoirs of Lord Ismay, London, 1961, p. 420

18. S.H.R, Folio No. 3755, Khalsa College, Amritsar. It is based on author's interview with Major J.M. Short in UK.

19. V.N. Datta, in: Spectrum, The Tribune, Chandigarh, Dec. 3, 2006,

20. Justice Din Mohammad, 5 August 1947, in: Kirpal Singh, Select Documents on the Partition of the Punjab, p. 377.

21. Akhtar Hussain Sandhu, Sikh Failure on the Partition of Punjab 1947;
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/273602638; punjab.global.ucsb.edu journals > volume19 Sandhu

22. Gurmit Singh, Failures of Akali Leadership, 1981, p.99.

23. Avinash Hingorani, www.academia.edu » The Role_of_Sikhs during the_Pa...

24. Amarel Crowe, www.academia.edu > The_Sikhs and the Partition _of_th...

25. Kapur Singh, www.panjabdigilib.org , searches > display Page

26. Abul Kalam Azad, India Wins Freedom: An Autobiographical Narrative, Orient Longman, Hyderabad, 1988.

27. Gurdial Singh Grewal, Freedom Struggle of India, By Sikhs and Sikhs in India, The Facts the World must know, Vol. II, Sant Isher Singh Rarewala education trust, Ludhiana, 1991.

28. Gopal Krishan, Demography of the Punjab 1849-1947, Journal for Punjab Studies, 2004, Vol.1 (11), p. 83.

29. Report of Justice Teja Singh, 4 August 1947, in: Kirpal Singh, Select Documents, p. 335.

30. Lucy P. Chester, Borders and conflict in South Asia: the Radcliffe Boundary Commission and the partition of Punjab, Manchester University Press, Manchester, 2009, p.13.

31. Kirrpal Singh, Select Documents, p. xiv.

32. Baldev-Sikander Pact, in: Carter (ed.) Punjab Politics, Vol. II, p. 417-18.

33. Tan Tai Yong, Prelude to Partition: Sikh Responses to the Demand for Pakistan, 1940-46, International Journal of Punjab Studies, 1994, Vol. 2 (1), p. 173.

34. Amarel Crowe, The Sikhs and the Partition of Punjab, Appendix 2.

35. Master Tara Singh, "Azad Punjab Scheme", The Tribune, Lahore, 23 July 1943, quoted in: Satya M.Rai, Partition of the Punjab, Asia Publishing House, London, 1965, p.37.

36. Mansergh and Moon (eds.), The Transfer of Power, Vol. VI, p.1090.

37. Khosla, Stern Reckoning, pp. 93-94.

38. Mark Tully and Satish Jacob, Amritsar, Mrs Gandhi's Last Battle, Jonathan Cape Ltd, London, 1985, p. 35.

39. Sikh leaders to Lord Ismay, 30 April 1947, in: Kirpal Singh, Select Documents, p. 51.

40. Mansergh and Moon (eds.) Transfer of Power, Vol. VII, p. 582.

41. Letter from Master Tara Singh to the Secretary of State, 25 May 1946. India (cabinet mission). Papers relating to (a) the Sikhs, (Parliament Papers: 1946).

42. Situation Report on the Sikhs, 11 June 1946, in: Kirpal Singh, Select Documents, p. 720.

43. Times of India, 5 June 1947, p.7. Quoted in Transfer of Power, Vol. XI, p.136.

44. Amarel Crowe, The Sikhs and the Partition of Punjab, Appendix 2.

45. Mansergh and Moon (eds.), The Transfer of Power, Vol. X, p. 322.

46. Amarel Crowe, The Sikhs and the Partition of Punjab, Appendix 3.

47. Note by Giani Kartar Singh given to H.E. at interview on 20 June 1947, in: Kirpal Singh, Select Documents, p. 137.

48. Mansergh and Moon (eds.), The Transfer of Power, Vol. XI, p. 69. Also see appendix 7.

49. Mansergh and Moon (eds.), The Transfer of Power, Vol. XII, p. 18.

50. Master Tara Singh, in: Kirpal Singh, Select Documents, p. 406.

51. Note by Jenkins, 10 April 1947, in Carter (ed.), Punjab Politics, Vol. IV, p. 129.

52. Pakistan Times, 2 March 1947, in: Ahmed, Punjab, bloodied, partitioned and cleansed, p. 119.

53. Khushwant Singh, Cambridge Oral Archives. 54. Note by Jenkins, 26 May 1947, in: Carter (ed.), Punjab Politics Vol. IV, p. 216.
55. Jagjit Singh, Cambridge Oral Archives.

56. S. Gopal (ed.), Select works of Jawaharlal Nehru, Vol. X, Oxford University Press, Delhi, 1990, p. 6.

57. Joyce Pettigrew, The Sikis of the Punjab, unheard voices of state and guerrilla violence,
Zed Books, New Jersey, 1995, p. 30.