Final week, because the Centre proposed bringing Chandigarh below Article 240 of the Structure—which might empower the President to border laws and legislate straight for the Union Territory—a political hue and cry ensued in Punjab. All political events, apart from the Bharatiya Janata Occasion (BJP), raised an alarm. This was one more transfer by New Delhi to decrease Punjab’s declare over Chandigarh, town meant to be the state’s “soothing balm”, events claimed.

Even BJP leaders privately raised issues. In line with experiences, Punjab BJP president Sunil Jakhar spoke to Union House Minister Amit Shah late Saturday, with the Centre beating a hasty retreat after. It “clarified” that the proposal was nonetheless into consideration and that it had no intention of introducing any Invoice to this impact within the upcoming session of Parliament in December.

“Chandigarh is an integral a part of Punjab, and the Punjab BJP stands firmly with the pursuits of the state, whether or not it’s the subject of Chandigarh or the waters of Punjab. No matter confusion arose relating to Chandigarh shall be resolved by discussing it with the federal government. As a Punjabi myself, I guarantee you that for us, Punjab at all times comes first,” Jakhar stated Sunday, emphasising the emotional significance of Chandigarh for Punjabis.

With the query of who controls Chandigarh—Punjab, or Punjab collectively with Haryana, or the Centre—changing into a political subject once more, ThePrint explains why, for many years, Chandigarh, together with Punjab’s claims over it, has been a politically charged and emotionally uncooked subject for Punjabis.

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‘The crowning glory of Punjab’

On the delivery of Unbiased India, the Sikhs, significantly the Akali Dal management, felt three main blows. First, the violence and displacement of Partition. Second, the lack of Punjab’s cultural-economic coronary heart of Lahore that additionally symbolised Sikh political power. And third, the bitter understanding that—as a spiritual minority—they stood little probability of ruling by a democratic majority.

With the creation of Chandigarh, Nehru sought to handle the primary two blows.

The lack of Lahore was adopted by animated discussions on a brand new capital metropolis for the Indian Punjab. Amritsar, Jalandhar, Ludhiana, and Ambala have been all within the reckoning. However a couple of folks, together with Nehru, wished a wholly new metropolis to be the capital of Punjab.

Within the speech talked about earlier on this report, Nehru had additionally stated, “It was felt that to construct a brand new metropolis to be the capital of the Punjab would give the folks one thing new to sit up for. We wished them to look to the long run with new hope after the trauma that that they had been by. We felt that the brand new capital could be an emblem of recent hope.”

In March 1948, the Authorities of Punjab, in session with the Centre, authorised the foothills of the Shivaliks as the positioning for the brand new capital. The Swiss-French architect Le Corbusier, with a workforce of English and Swiss architects of impeccable reputation, arrived and commenced to, in Nehru’s phrases, “erect a finely deliberate metropolis which must be an instance to others”.

The method of constructing a wholly new sort of metropolis from scratch started at nice expense for the cash-strapped governments on the Centre and in Punjab. But, for each Nehru and Punjab, Chandigarh’s political and emotional significance far outweighed the monetary prices borne for constructing it.

For Nehru, together with the Bhakra-Nangal dam, Chandigarh was to be the “crowning glory of Punjab”. “… we wished to indicate the world that even at a time after we had been severely wounded, we had the spirit and daring to take up such huge initiatives, and having taken them up, to complete them efficiently. Chandigarh and Bhakra have proved to be the crowning glory of Punjab,” he stated in 1957.

Virtually as an ideal image of Nehruvian planning, Chandigarh turned the primary Indian metropolis to be deliberate from scratch. “We wished it to be not solely aesthetically lovely however to have fashionable comforts and good working and dwelling situations, and quite a lot of different issues, which town planners within the olden days didn’t perceive,” Nehru stated.

“As an illustration, the situation of faculties is a vital matter. The youngsters mustn’t need to go very far or cross busy thoroughfares. Then, there must be purchasing malls in each a part of town.”

All of the sources for this completely deliberate metropolis got here from Punjab, says political scientist A.S. Narang. “It was a wholly new metropolis, and copious quantities of cash have been spent on constructing it,” he stated. “All of this got here from Punjab. After all, on the time, Haryana was additionally a part of Punjab, however the wealthy components of the state from which sources may very well be drawn have been in Punjab…Haryana’s area was too backward, and likewise too uncared for, to contribute,” he added. “Due to this fact, Punjabis proceed to really feel that Chandigarh rightfully belongs to them.”

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‘Loss’ of Chandigarh

Whereas Chandigarh was being constructed with gusto, the third blow felt by the Akalis was enjoying out within the backdrop—the realisation that they might by no means come to energy in a democratic setting in a state the place Sikhs have been a minority. “Within the 50s, the Akalis realised that they might by no means come to energy in a Hindu majority state, and it was too late to ask for a Sikh homeland,” Ok.B.S. Sidhu, a retired IAS officer from Punjab, tells ThePrint. “Language turned the fig-leaf for his or her politics.”

Whereas the reorganisation of states alongside linguistic strains occurred in 1956, Punjabis weren’t given a linguistic state of their very own. The denial of a Punjabi-speaking state, due to this fact, gave the Akalis a raison d’etre within the new political framework. And thus started the Punjabi Suba motion for a brand new, additional truncated Punjab.

The motion continued for over a decade until 1966, when the state of Punjab was lastly trifurcated on linguistic strains into Punjab, Haryana, and Himachal Pradesh. As Sikhs turned the bulk within the new Punjab, the Akalis might lastly hope to come back to energy.

Nevertheless, the Punjab they obtained was hardly the Punjabi Suba that they had fought for.  “It completely backfired for Punjab,” says Sidhu. “The Punjabi-speaking areas of Ambala, Kalka, Pinjore, Chandigarh, Karnal, Una, Dalhousie, and components of Ganganagar weren’t included within the Punjabi Suba,” he provides.

“Whereas the demand was for a Punjabi state, what Indira Gandhi gave was primarily a Sikh-majority state. Punjab, which had surrounded Delhi by 270 levels, misplaced the border with the capital to Haryana. It misplaced the hills and pure sources to Himachal Pradesh. Its river water needed to, now, be divided,” he says.

But, the gravest loss for Punjab was the lack of the unique declare over Chandigarh. Underneath the Punjab Reorganisation Act, 1966, town assumed the distinctive distinction of being the capital of each Punjab and Haryana, even because it was declared a Union Territory and positioned below the Centre’s direct management.

“You see, the Boundary Fee that had been arrange had advisable that Chandigarh must be given to Haryana as a result of it falls within the Kharar area, which was largely Hindi-speaking,” says Narang. “Nevertheless, the Centre got here up with this distinctive association, which successfully handed on the management of Chandigarh to the Centre…For Punjabis, this was an affront.”

A brand new motion

Contemporary agitations adopted.

Sant Fateh Singh, who, following Grasp Tara Singh, had simply taken over the management of the Akali Dal, started a starvation strike—first in 1965 after which once more in 1966—demanding that Chandigarh be handed over to Punjab. Throughout the second quick, in an try to escalate strain on the Centre, he organized for an agnikund on the roof of a home adjoining to the Akal Takht, publicly vowing to burn himself alive if his calls for have been ignored.

Finally, although, he deserted the quick after receiving the Centre’s assurances, which, later, have been revealed to be unfaithful. Instantly after, he misplaced all legitimacy, as indignant Sikhs accused him of saving his life with out attaining the promised objective. Wherever he went, Fateh Singh confronted the taunt: “Why are you continue to alive?”

Darshan Singh Pheruman, one other distinguished Sikh chief, then entered the scene. In 1969, he started a quick unto dying, swearing that he wouldn’t be a “coward”, like Fateh Singh. After 74 days of fasting, he died for the reason for Chandigarh.

The Centre was caught in a bind. It thought of a number of choices, together with dividing town of Chandigarh, which proved to be unfeasible. So, it started to tilt in the direction of Punjab and requested the Haryana authorities to make use of the workplace and residential lodging in Chandigarh just for 5 years until it shifted to its new capital. It even provided the brand new state Rs 10 crore as a grant and the identical quantity as a mortgage to construct its personal capital.

On 29 January 1970, almost three years after Haryana got here into being, the Centre issued a proper communication on this regard. In line with the Centre’s notice submitted to the Lok Sabha, it was stated, “After very rigorously weighing the claims of the 2 states, the capital challenge space of Chandigarh ought to, as an entire, go to Punjab.”

In 1971–72, Indira Gandhi as soon as once more promised Chandigarh to Punjab. However her ‘award’ got here at a worth: the give up of Fazilka-Abohar and different Hindi-speaking tracts to Haryana. This proved to be a stalemate. “These areas don’t share a border with Haryana, so for them to be given to Haryana required {that a} hall be created reducing by Punjab,” says Narang. “So, the entire demand obtained misplaced in these situations and ifs and buts.”

Since then, the Centre has repeatedly acknowledged that Chandigarh will ultimately be given to Punjab. Till June 1984, the UT of Chandigarh had a Chief Commissioner, a senior civil servant reporting on to Delhi. However that system was dismantled on the eve of Operation Blue Star, Sidhu wrote in his weblog.

The Governor of Punjab was then given further cost as Administrator of Chandigarh; the Chief Commissioner was redesignated as Adviser to the Administrator. Thereby, Punjab obtained the peace of mind that at the same time as Chandigarh remained a UT, it belonged extra to Punjab than to Haryana.

“The Governor’s twin function turned a each day reminder that Chandigarh was, and is, Punjab’s capital first, even when it serves Haryana and the Union, as properly,” writes Sidhu.

In 1985, Rajiv Gandhi sought to consolidate this assurance within the historic Punjab Accord with the favored Sikh chief and Shiromani Akali Dal president Sant Harchand Singh Longowal.

The accord acknowledged, “The Capital Undertaking Space of Chandigarh will go to Punjab. Some adjoining areas, which have been beforehand a part of Hindi or Punjabi areas, have been included within the Union Territory. With the Capital area going to Punjab, the areas which have been added to the Union Territory from the Punjabi area of the erstwhile state of Punjab shall be transferred to Punjab and people from the Hindi area to Haryana. Your complete Sukhna Lake will thus go to Punjab.”

Nevertheless, on 26 January 1986, Chaudhary Devi Lal’s huge demonstration reached the Parliament Home, opposing the transfer. Rajiv Gandhi, thereafter, backtracked, and the stalemate remained.

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The current scenario

In his weblog, Sidhu explains, “At this time, Chandigarh is ruled by a extra layered mechanism. Parliament extends appropriate Punjab legal guidelines to the Union Territory or enacts particular laws for it. That is time-consuming and generally clumsy, nevertheless it does one essential factor: it forces a measure of parliamentary debate. Punjab’s MPs can object, negotiate, demand amendments, or no less than put their protest on file.”

Through the years, successive governments have maintained the established order relating to Chandigarh, and three causes are behind it, defined Narang. “Firstly, as quickly because the Akalis come to energy, they abandon the causes which they agitate over when out of energy. This contains Chandigarh. Secondly, the Congress, and now the BJP, are pulled in reverse instructions as a result of they can not anger their very own social gathering items in both Punjab or Haryana by siding with one state,” he says. “And thirdly, folks of Chandigarh have developed vested pursuits in letting town be a UT, in perpetuity, as meaning rule of the forms, which is usually extra environment friendly than that by an meeting.”

Individuals on each side of the border have come to phrases with the truth that Chandigarh may stay a UT perpetually, at the same time as Punjabis can declare symbolic victory that successive governments have validated their declare over Chandigarh, he provides.

The Centre’s Invoice disrupts that precarious steadiness, he says. “That’s the reason even the Punjab BJP was caught in a clumsy scenario as a result of the social gathering can’t hope to develop there, independently, in the event that they antagonise Punjabis over such a sentimental subject.”

The Invoice, if it sees the sunshine of day, would imply “shedding even the skinny, oblique line of affect that at present runs by parliamentary procedures,” wrote Sidhu. “Regulation for town will largely come by presidential regulation, drafted in North Block, notified within the Gazette, and applied by a forms that doesn’t reply to Chandigarh’s residents or to Punjab’s legislature.”

(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)

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