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| Indian Independence and Partition of Punjab |
On August 15, 1947, as India celebrated its independence, Punjab witnessed only tears and bloodshed in the wake of partition. Never in the history of the world was there a bigger exchange of population attended with so much bloodshed. The Sikh population was vivisected almost in the middle. As a result, the Sikh community suffered far greater losses than the Hindus and the Muslims. Almost 2.5% of the Sikhs population was brutally massacred in the communal holocaust. Nearly 40% of the Sikhs were forced to abandon their homes and hearths and become refugees. V.P. Menon, a contemporary observer, noted that 'the Sikhs bore the main brunt of the communal fury. In his book 'The Transfer of Power in India.' He wrote, "One must appreciate that the Sikhs had been driven out of their homes cornary to all their hopes and expectations; that they had been deprived of their lands and property, their shrines and holy places; that their losses in men and property had been comparatively greater than those of any other community affected by the communal upheaval; that nearly forty percent of the entire Sikh community had been reduced to penury and had become refugees with the necessity of having to start life afresh." The spearpoint of the Muslim League attack was mainly aimed at the Sikhs who had opposed the Muslim demand for entire Punjab, with all the force at their command.
Apart from the gruesome tale of horror and bloodshed, the agricultural and economic interests of the community were also jeopardised. About seventy percent of the fertile, irrigated and rich lands of the community were left in Pakistan. Prosperous colonies developed by an industrious and capable peasanty had to be abandoned. Uprooted peasants had to start life anew, on lands far less productive and greatly reduced in area. As against an area of 67 lakh acres of land, equivalent to 39,35131 standard acres, abandoned by the Hindu-Sikh landholders in West Pakistan, only 47 lakh acres, equivalent to 24,48830 standard acres, were available in East Punjab and PEPSU. The gap in area to the extent of 20 lakh acres, or 14, 86 301 standard acres, i.e. 38 per cent of the total area abandoned, precluded possibilities of full compensation being given to displaced landholders.
The gap in area was bad enough, but the position was actual ly much worse when we consider factors like fertility of the soil and means of irrigation. Our land owners left 43 lakh acres of irrigated land as against 13 lakh acres of irrigated area left by the Muslims. Out of the irrigated area left in West Pakistan, 22 lakh acres were perennially irrigated, as against 4 lakh acres of such land left by Muslims in East Punjab and PEPSU. In the pre-partitioned Punjab, the Sikhs paid forty percent of the total land revenue, which meant that they were possessing that much percentage of land before 1947. In order to make the distribution of land equitable, a scheme of graded cuts was introduced (even upto 95% in case of bigger land holdings) and the rich and prosperous Sikh community was reduced to the level of other Indian communities.
The urbanite Sikh was even more adversely hit than the peasant. Urban property left behind by the Muslims was infinitesimal compared with what the Sikhs left in Pakistan. But the actual position after partition is thus stated by Sir Campbell Johnson, "The Muslims had won everything they had hoped for. The leaders of the Muslim League, and the leaders of the Congress had won, not all that they had hoped for, but, in the final analysis, more than either had expected. The Sikhs had lost everything they valued, their homes, their property, irrigated rich lands and their holy places."
The Sikhs realised that no one seemed to care very much as to what happened to minorities so long as the Congress and the Muslim League were satisfied. Jinnah probably did not care, while Nehru and Patel were not particularly interested. The five rich rivers that gave to Punjab its name were split, leaving a truncated homeland for the Sikhs. The Boundary Commission awarded 13 out of the 29 districts of the Punjab to the Indian Union. Lahore, the capital of Punjab, was given to Pakistan. It was the worst migration that took place under the threat of murder and massacre. Actually more than six per cent of the Sikh population inhabiting West Punjab lost their lives before they could escape to East Punjab. In addition, their most sacred shrines, Nankana Sahib and seven hundred others, were left in Pakistan which became a foreign land. It is against this background that the position of the Sikhs on the eve of India's independence has to be viewed. While the Muslims had become the sovereign rulers of Pakistan and the Hindus had got Hindustan, the Sikhs were, once again, on the cross-roads of history. The community was left entirely at the mercy of the Hindu majority, represented by the Congress. The Sikhs who had thrown their lot with India in the wake of solemn assurances of the Congress leadership, expected a fair deal in free India.