Sikh Failure on the Partition of Punjab in 1947 (original) (raw)
Related papers
2022
From the proclamation of Pakistan in 1940 to the eventual partition of Punjab, the Sikh community resisted the formation of Pakistan and the loss of their heartland to Muslim domination. The Sikhs saw the possibility of complete Muslim domination as a threat to their existence, as even under the Unionist government, Sikhs found their way of life undermined and endangered. The Sikhs responded to proposals by the League, the British and Congress with their own demands. In response to the Lahore Resolution, Sikhs presented the idea of Khalistan. To counter various British and Congress proposals, the Sikhs envisioned a Sikh area within Pakistan and the separate Azad province. They demanded a redrawing of partition lines based on Sikh connection and importance to areas in Punjab and not just population. The Sikhs aimed to secure an area where no community was in the position to dominate, and where Sikh interests were safeguarded. A separate Sikh state was not desired, and any proposal of a Sikh state, or an area that would have a Sikh tint, was presented only to weaken the prospect of Pakistan. Sikh leadership endeavoured to prevent the division of India, however as the prospect of Pakistan became more probable, the Sikh agenda was to retain as much of Punjab for themselves and India. In this dissertation, I argue that the Sikhs did not want their own nation nor desired to dominate any region. Their responses to the proposals made by critical actors of the 1940s were entrenched in saving Punjab from domination, in safeguarding their cultural, religious, and political interests, and in protecting their very existence as a distinct community.
Journal of Punjab Studies, USA
The All-India Muslim League achieved Pakistan, the Indian National Congress secured India but the Shiromani Akali Dal got nothing on the eve of the British departure in 1947 although the Sikh community had collaborated closely with the colonial power. The demand of the Sikh community for a separate Sikh state and accession of more territories to this state came to naught as a consequence of partition of Indian subcontinent. The decision of joining India by the Akali leadership enslaved this community to a mammoth majority in which they were only one per cent. Different scholars took variety of directions in exploring the roots of the Sikh failure in the final breakdown. According to Sher Muhammad Grewal, Sikhs failed to achieve something beneficial in the political arena staged in 1940s because they were very simple people and could not apprehend the sensitive situation of Punjab politics.1 Sangat Singh claims that the principal reason behind the Sikh failure was the incompetent Akali leadership2 while Sardar Hukam Singh opines that situational politics left no positive options for the Akali leaders, therefore their decision to join India was the best choice.3 These scholars tried to solve this tangle by pointing out some specific aspect of the question which still leaves many gaps. Actually, there were ample reasons which combined and resulted in the Sikh failure. This article traces the factors which compelled the Sikh political leadership to reject Pakistan and decide in favour of India in 1947.
Shiromani Akali Dal and Politics of the Partition of Punjab
isara solutions, 2023
In economic terms,the Sikhs are highly a secure community in India. The Sikhs have higher per capita income and higher life expectancy than the national average. The Sikhs constitute a higher proportion of the Indian army and of all central government employees. The Sikhs are about 2% of the population of India.The present paper discusses events during the Nationalist Politics in the Punjab and community perception during those times. The Sikh community has played a very important role in politics of the Punjab. Punjab was the seat of political powerof the Sikhs andcenter of their religious activitieswith the fresh awareness of identity based on religion, the Sikhs gradually became conscious of their religious, social and political limitations. In the Punjab the Sikh minority was trying to establish its distinct identity. The new institutions and leadership emerged among the Sikhs to reform and revitalize their community.It is believed that religion and politics are combined features in Sikhism. In India, political movements have been organized to fulfillthe claims of religious communities for sharing power and to fashion them in a way that would ensure the permanence of politics of IRJMSH
Cabinet Mission Proposals of 1946 and its Implications on the Muslim-Sikh Politics
Abstract The Shiromani Akali Dal diverted its strategy from the Azad Punjab scheme to the call for an independent Sikh state, an idea which it had aired from time to time. The All-India Muslim League went for Pakistan while the Hindu groups continued fighting for united India. The arrival of the Cabinet Mission on 23 March 1946 was an important milestone on the road to Indian independence. The Mission tremendously affected the Indian politics and definitely Punjab was no exception in this regard. It ramified in many ways the acceptance of the standpoints of the major stakeholders which the British had been trying for. The Plan dwindled down the traditional interaction between the Muslims and Sikhs and increased communal tension throughout the region. Many consider the acceptance of the plan by Quaid-i-Azam M. A. Jinnah as a reversal from the creed of Pakistan but actually it was a strategic step by the League leadership which proved the fact that the Hindu leadership was always reluctant to conclude compromise with the Muslims. The Sikhs supported the Indian National Congress and went far and far from the League. The British divided India into Groups fulfilling the desires of the local leadership but even then this plan could not satisfy the major political parties. Voluminous work has been produced on the subject but the British decision making regarding this Plan and its impact on the Muslim-Sikh relations have hardly been taken up. This article aims to see as to how the British government initiated the idea of sending the Cabinet Mission and what was the contingency plan to be used in case of Indian recalcitrance. The study declares the stand justifiable taken by the Indian leaders of the major communities to the constitutional suggestions; the Sikh responses however added to the ill-will and uncertainty in the Punjab.
Cabinet Mission of 1946 and its Implications on the Muslim-Sikh Politics
Pakistan Perspective, 2012
The Shiromani Akali Dal diverted its strategy from the Azad Punjab scheme to the call for an independent Sikh state, an idea which it had aired from time to time. The All-India Muslim League went for Pakistan while the Hindu groups continued fighting for united India. The arrival of the Cabinet Mission on 23 March 1946 was an important milestone on the road to Indian independence. The mission tremendously affected Indian politics and definitely Punjab was no exception in this regard. It reflected in many ways the acceptance of the standpoints of the major stakeholders which the British had been trying so for. The plan decreased the traditional interaction between the Muslims and Sikhs and increased communal tension throughout the region. Many consider the acceptance of the plan by Quaid-i-Azam M. A. Jinnah as a reversal from the creed of Pakistan but actually it was a strategic step by the League leadership which proved the fact that the Hindu leadership was always reluctant to come to any compromise with the Muslims. The Sikhs supported the Indian National Congress and went further away from the League. The British divided India into Groups fulfilling the desires of the local leadership but even then this plan could not satisfy the major political parties. Voluminous work has been produced on the subject but the British decision making regarding this plan and its impact on the Muslim-Sikh relations have hardly been taken up. This article aims to see how the British government initiated the idea of sending the Cabinet Mission and what was the contingency plan to be used in case of Indian recalcitrance. The study declares the stands taken by the Indian leaders of the major communities to the constitutional suggestions as justifiable; the Sikh responses, however, added ill-will and uncertainty in the Punjab.
Journal of Research Society of Pakistan, 2018
The history of Subcontinent remembers the year of 1947 as a year of political chaos where leading communities of Indian Subcontinent comprising Hindus, Sikhs, and Muslims strived to secure their territorial ambitions in wake of partition of India. In this strife, Punjab gained cardinal status where its leading stakeholders comprising Sikh and Muslim communities had to face irreconcilable differences towards each other. These unbridgeable differences led to partition of Punjab. The paper aims at exploring the rationale of Sikh proposals regarding their plan of partition in a comparative fashion with its opposite perspectives. The Sikh community aligned with Congress and opted for accession to India instead of Punjab. The article analyzes that alliance of Sikh community with Congress rendered them unsuccessful to materialize their ambition of having Azad Punjab or Khalistan, however it served Congress' ambition of giving a truncated and moth eaten piece of land to Muhammad Ali Jinnah. Moreover, it is analyzed that Sikh community could not gain autonomy or sovereignty; instead they preferred Hindu domination to Muslim domination. The major ambitions of Sikh comprised securing their stakes in canal colonies, preserving their holy shrines, and eschewing large scale Sikh migration. However, they failed to achieve none of their objectives. The study attempts to find out the rationale and objectives behind Sikh community's demand of division of Punjab; moreover, it attempts to explore the extent of success in pursuit of these ambitions.