The next two days will
mark the Independence Day of both India and Pakistan. However, what does
Independence mean to Panjabis?
To give a brief
background, the border of India and Pakistan is mainly divided on the region of
Panjab.”Panj-ab” loosely translates to the “land of five rivers”. However, in
1947, this land of five rivers was divided between two nations which were built
on the concept of religion- two religions that have struggled to maintain
harmony for centuries. While Pakistan Panjab received 2/3 of the traditional
region, India Panjab received a 1/3 of the portion.
Panjab, like many other
regions in South Asia was an ethnic region that had its own independence prior
to the British rule and the subsequent forming of the two nations. It is never
mentioned in history books that the Sikh empire of Maharaja Ranjit Singh
spanned from the Khyber Pass to Patiala (if we include the smaller princely
states that maintained their own “land”, the empire would span close to modern
day Delhi). Further, while most of India was under British rule beginning in
the late 1600s to early 1700s, Panjab did go under full British rule until
1849- this means that Panjab was only ruled by the British for a mere 98 years.
It is important to note
that the Sikh empire was not a Sikh only state. Although the rulers were Sikhs,
they had a majority of Hindu and Muslim residents. In fact, Muslims and Hindus played important roles in the
development and maintenance of the empire. However, without going into too much detail,
the Sikh empire was defeated and the British prevailed.
In the years of
struggle for independence, over 80% of those who were sent to the gallows or
imprisoned during the British rule were Sikhs from Panjab, all while Sikhs only
made up 2% of the population. Panjab gave the world Bhagat Singh, Udham Singh,
Kartar Singh Saraba, and many other freedom fighters.
With the partition of
1947 came mass migration that resulted
in 12-14 million people crossing the borders on both sides, with Sikhs
and Hindus going to India and Muslims going to Pakistan. Over 1 million people
were killed, both sides murdered each other like barbarians, and neither side is
less guilty than the other.
The correlation of Sikhs and Panjab?
Sikhs were mainly
farmers and rural people. The land in western Panjab is often considered more fertile,
and due to their large roles in the British army, they were given enormous
amounts of land and property for their services in the world wars and other
efforts. They moved to India amidst
promises from Nehru and Gandhi that the Indian state will recognize Panjab as a
semi-autonomous state, and that Sikhs will receive representation for their
valiant efforts in regards to Independence. But none of this occurred, with
Nehru eventually stating that circumstances had changed.
The 1960s marked the
further linguistic divide of Panjab on linguistic lines. While Sikhs declared
their mother tongues Panjabi, their Hindu brothers declared their mother
tongues Hindi, and Haryana was created. The 1970s marked the green revolution
and gradual decline of the Panjabi farmer. Then, due to societal, economic, and
religious strife the 1980s-1990s marked the violent murder of Sikhs throughout
Panjab.
At the end of the day, the Muslims in Panjab
have a sense of identity with Pakistan and the Hindus of Panjab have a sense of
identity in India. But the Sikhs are stuck, on one end they gave their lives
for India- and feel they should be able to have that sense of pride, but the
betrayal and struggle since August 15, 1947 begs them to want more.
The Sikhs remained
Panjabi. Their language, their scripture, their culture – it is Panjabi. To
many such as myself, I despise the border created by the British and the
selfish leaders who claimed to be the voice of millions (Jinnah, Zail Singh, or
Nehru). In Panjab- Sikhs, Hindus, Muslims and other faiths lived in harmony under
the Sikh empire. With the partition, the Hindus received India and the Muslims
received Pakistan, but the Sikhs received nothing. This is the sole reason that
Sikhs struggle for their own cause of freedom and identity, because unfortunately not many of their Muslim
or Hindu Panjabis feel the need to join them. While the other two enjoy nationalistic pride, the
Sikhs are left wondering what they are. They suffered and continue to suffer in
a nation that promised them autonomy and independence, and would probably have
suffered in Pakistan as well.
I
leave you with my final thoughts.
Today marks the
beginning of a week of remorse, as it marks the death of 1 million people. The ones killing each other were Panjabi. Suddenly, these
Panjabis were killing based of the religion of the other person. They did not understand
that the women they were raping were their own sisters. The men they were
killing were their own brothers, and on this day 65 years ago- Panjabis lost
their identity, and divided themselves. Such division is used to this day to
divide, control, and destroy Panjab, Panjabis, and Panjabiyat.
