Get Complete Information on Annexation of Haryana to Punjab

The region of the present-day Haryana was made a part of Punjab in 1858 by the British. Due to the active role of the people of Haryana in the Revolt of 1857, this region was punished and no significant development work took place.

The people of Haryana region were treated as second-class citizens. Moreover, there were many differences between the people of these two regions like language, clothing and other habits. The demand for a separate state got a boost with the demand of Master Tara Singh for a Punjabi Suba in 1948.

Moreover, there were problems due to the language conflict between the Hindi- speaking and the Puojabi-speaking people. Note that during the medieval age and also during the British rule, Punjab was called the Panjab. But after independence, it came to be known as Punjab. Hence, from now onwards, we shall mention it as Punjab.

In order to solve this problem the then Punjab Chief Minister, Bhimsen Sachchar, introduced the Sachchar formula on 1 October, 1949. According to this formula, the State was sub-divided into two parts: 1. Punjabi Area 2. Hindi Area. The Hindi area included the districts of Rohtak, Hissar, Gurgaon, Kangra, Karnal and the Tehsils of Jagadhari and Naraingarh.

It was decided that the official language of the Punjabi area would be Punjabi (Gurumukhi script) and the official language of the Hindi area would be Hindi (Devnagari script). The then State PEPSU also decided to follow the same formula. But the Sachchar formula could not succeed and it became especially unpopular in the Hindi area.

On 25 December 1953, the Indian Government set up a Commission under the Chairmanship of Syed Faizal Ali for suggesting the reorganization of States according to language and culture. The proponents of Panjabi Suba and Haryana both appeared before the Commission with their respective demands. But the Commission did not approve of the division or reorganization of Punjab. This decision of the Commission caused great despondency in the region.

Punjab government tried to find a solution to this difficult problem by suggesting the division of the state into Panjabi-speaking and Hindi- speaking areas. According, in April, 1956, the Indian Government declared Punjab to be a dual-language state divided it into Panjabi Area and Hindi Area.

Both Hindi and Panjabi were declared its Official languages. The Hindi Area included the districts of Hissar, Rohtak, Karnal, Gurgaon, Mahendragarh, Shimla, Kangra and the tehsil of Ambala, Jagadhari, Naraingarh, Jind and Narwana. But in 1957, due to certain actions of Pratap Singh Kairon, the then Chief Minister of Punjab, these solutions too failed.

The Demand for Statehood:

The failure of this solution accelerated the demand for separate states in both the regions. In 1960, Master Tara Singh launched a morcha for his demand of Punjab Suba. He was promptly arrested on the orders of Punjab CM, P.S. Kairon. On the arrest of Master Tara Singh, Sant Fateh Singh took over the leadership of the agitation. Because Sant Fateh Singh was a secular person and well connected with the masses, he became more popular.

He went on a fast unto death to force the Government to accept their demand for the Punjabi Suba. More than 57,000 people went to jail in this Satyagraha. Both the Union Government and Punjab Government were shaken by this agitation. The wily Punjab Chief Minister, Kairon, then played his trump card and released Master Tara Singh from jail.

Master Tara Singh was greatly disturbed by the increasing popularity of Sant Fateh Singh. He took the leadership of the agitation back from Sant Fateh Singh and persuaded him to break his fast. Then, he himself, decided to go on a fast unto death, but broke the fast after 48 days.

This caused Master Tara Singh to lose his popularity and Sant Fateh Singh became the leader of Panjabi people, especially of the Sikhs. Meanwhile discontent kept simmering among the people of Haryana region for a separate state.

In 1965, Sant Fateh Singh again decided to go on a fast on 10 August, 1965 to press for the demand of the Panjabi Suba. He further threatened self-immolation if the demand was not accepted within 25 days. The Hindus of the Panjabi Area opposed the demand for the division of the State, fearing that they would be in a minority in the new State.

The local Press, which was also controlled by the Hindus, too joined them and openly opposed the division. The People of Haryana region, except for RSS and Jan Sangh followers, supported the demand for the division of Punjab into Hindi-speaking and Panjabi-speaking states.

Reorganisation of Punjab:

Finally, bowing to the growing pressure from the people of both the regions, the Indian Government announced the setting up of a parliamentary committee for reorganization of Punjab on 23 September, 1965. This committee was headed by Sardar Hukam Singh. Meanwhile, in October, all the legislatures belonging to the Haryana region got together and discussed the issue of the new state.

On 17 October, 1965, in a meeting in Rohtak, three important resolutions were passed. They were: (A) A new Hindi-speaking State should be formed, which shall include, in addition to the Hindi-speaking areas of Punjab, some areas of Delhi, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. (B) If the States of Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh do not agree, then the new State should be formed consisting of Hindi speaking areas of Punjab. (C) The people of Haryana region would not tolerate any division of the Hindi-speaking areas and whole of this area should constitute the State of Haryana.

The Hukam Singh Committee agreed to division and reorganization of Punjab and recommended that a Boundary Commission may be set up to facilitate this division. On 23 April, 1966, acting on the recommendation of the Hukam Singh Committee, the Indian Government set up the Shah Commission under the Chairmanship of Justice J.C. Shah, to divide and set up the boundaries of Punjab and Haryana.

Haryana was carved out of the Indian State of Punjab on 1 November, 1966. This State was formed on the recommendation of the Sardar Hukam Singh Parliamentary Committee. The formation of this committee was announced in the Parliament on 23 September, 1965. On 23 April, 1966, acting on the recommendations of the Hukam Singh Committee, the Indian Government set up the Shah Commission under the Chairmanship of Justice J.C. Shah, to divide and set up the boundaries of Punjab and Haryana.

The Commission gave its report on 31 May, 1966. According to this report, the districts of Hissar, Mahendragarh, Gurgaon, Rohtak and Karnal were to be a part of the new State of Haryana. Further the Tehsils of Jind (district Sangrur), Narwana (district Sangrur) Naraingarh, Ambala and Jagadhari were also included. The Commission recommended that Tehsil Kharar (including Chandigarh) should be part of Haryana. After receiving the report of Shah Commission, the Indian Government passed Punjab reorganization Bill, (1966) on 18 September, 1966. According to this Bill, the boundary of Haryana was demarcated as follows:

The districts of Hissar, Rohtak, Gurgaon, Karnal and Mahendragarh; the Jind and Narwana tehsils of Sangrur district; the Ambala, Jagadhari and Naraingarh tehsils of Ambala district; the Pinjore circle of Kharar tehsil (district Ambala); and the part of Mani Majra circle of Kharar tehsil, it was also decided that the two States of Haryana and Punjab would have a common High Court, called the Punjab and Haryana High Court. The other parts of the Bill dealt with issues like division of the Parliamentary seats in the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha.

A State is born :

Finally on 1 November, 1966 the state of Haryana emerged on the Indian peninsula, after a lot of turmoil, political negotiation and movements on a mass scale.