0) n •^ i SI u j. SHO lllllHlllllllllll Punjab's Role in National Freedom Struggle (Special reference to Parja Mandal Movement in erstwhile Princely States) Edited by : Dr. Jasbir Singh Ahluwalia, Director, Archives & Cultural Affairs, Pb Celebration of Archives Week January 20-26, 1987 at Patiala Under the guidance of Shri Nusrat Ali Khan, Minister of State for Cultural Affairs, Punjab and Shri S. L. Kapur, Financial Commissioner & Secretary, Department of Cultural Affairs, Punjab. Contents Punjab's Role in National Freedom Struggle : (Contribution of Parja Mandal Movement in erstwhile Princely States ) M. L. Ahluwalia Punjab's Role in National Freedom Struggle. Jagjiwan Mohan Walia INTRODUCTION Wi^h its galaxy of martyrs and heroes, Punjab has played historic role in National Freedom Struggle. Its record is unique in terms of sufferings and sacrifices for the independence of India, as also for its unity and integrity. The cult of the swadeshi; civil disobedience; non-co-operation; satyagraha; non-violent resistence, and other similar concepts of the Gandhian praxis had their first appearance and trial in Punjab. Kuka movement, Singh Sab'ha awakening; peasant uprising; Ghadar movement; Gurdwara reform struggle; Akali agitation; Babar Akali movement; Anti-Rowlatt Bills crusade; Khilafat upsurge; non-co-operation movement; activities of the revolutionaries; Praja Mandal movement; Quit India agitation — all these reflect Punjab's leading role in the freedom struggle. DR. JASBIR SINGH AHLUWALIA, Director, Archives & Cultural Affairs, Punjab. 20th January, 1987# ** % - v *• NIIMW • $1 • ^s :<:. +. « • - *. % ^ V ' V ** >M#* 1 ^ - H 4 * * * I ., S. Sewa Singh Thikriwala. (1878—1935) J \ PUNJAB'S ROLE IN NATIONAL FREEDOM STRUGGLE M. L. AHLUWALIA M.A. (Hons,.) PUNJAB'S ROLE IN NATIONAL FREEDOM STRUGGLE WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO PRAJA MANDAL MOVEMENT IN ERSTWHILE PRINCELY STATES Punjab's role in the freedom struggle of the country has been unique in many ways, even if one were to exclude here a reference to the fact that the people of Punjab had carried out a relentless compaign against the extension of the British rule in that area for nearly half a century before the birth of the Indian National Cong­ ress itself. During which time, the Namdhari movement had even given the first trials to Swadeshi, and non-cooperation on a mass scale. And when a country-wide movement of the Indian National Cong­ ress, in the form, of non-cooperation was started by Mahatma Gandhi in 1919, the people of the Punjab had responded whole-heartedly through out the British Punjab Province, even not deterred by the declaration of material law, the massacre of hundreds of innocent people at the Jalianwala Bagh in Amritsar, and in the face of un- relenting reign of terror let loose by the British in the length and breadth of the Province. So much so, that when in 1923 Mahatama Gandhi had suddenly withdrawn the Non-Cooperation Movement, after the agitationists at Chaura Chauri in Bihar had burnt alive teii police constables in retaliation, the Ghadarites the Bharat Nau- Jawan Sabha, the Kirti Kisan Party and the Babbar Akalis, carried on the struggle on their own. In the process Punjab had come al­ most first in the role of honours of its martyrs led by Shahid Bhagat Singh and produced as many nationalist leaders of all India eminence, as any other British Province in India could boast of: such as Lala Lajpat Rai called the Punjab Kaisari, Baba Kharak Singh, called the uncrowned King of Punjab, Bhai Parmanand, Lala Hardyal, Barkatullaha, Dr. A. D. Kitchlew, to mention only a few. It was also on the patriotic soil of the Punjab where the Indian National Congress had adopted at Lahore in 1929 the revolutionary resolution of Puran Swaraj, as against the demand of a Dominion Status, claimed by the Motilal Nehru Committee Report of 1928. • •• r ? • *\ f • It is a matter of great significance that in the process even the people of the Princely States of the Punjab did mfr lag behind. Since this aspect of the freedom struggle in Punjab has not been ... r * ' 2 fully explored by the scholars, therefore, the Government of Punjab thought it proper that the role of the Praja Mandal Movement in the Punjab States be highlighted as a part of the Archives-Week Programme of this year. Before dealing with the main theme it may be necessary to ap­ pend here a few paras to explain as to why a separate organisation or platform like the Praja Mandals or the States Peoples' Conference "were necessary to carry on the struggle for India's Freedom from the British Yoke. This was necessary because constitutionally speaking during the days of the British Raj, there were two Indians. One was the British India, which was ruled and administered direct- ly by the British Government through the agency of the Governor- General in Council at the Centre and the Governors in the British Provinces. By the side of British India, there existed a Princely India which comprised of a conglomeration of nearly five hundred Prin­ cely States and Chief ships which as a result of many historical factors enjoyed varying degrees of sovereign authority over their people, as was conceded to them by the Suzerain authority of the British Crown from time to time. This Suzerain authority was administer- ed through the Governor-General, who for this purpose was desig­ nated as the Viceroy or the Deputy of the British Crown in India. At the centre, a separate Department called the Political Depart- ment controlled the affairs of the Princely States through the agency of Residents and Political Agents depending upon the status of each Princely State or a group of such States. Very often, the Commis- sioner or a Deputy Commissioner of the British Provinces in which area, small chiefships existed, also functioned as a Political Agent to administer the relations between those chiefs and the Viceroy. This was so because the offices of the Governor-General and the Viceroy were vested in the same person and authority. Because of this constitutional anarchism the Indian National Congress decided at its Bombay Session held in 1927, that the struggle in the Princely States for constitutional and socio-economic reforms should be taken up by the Praja Mandals to be set up in each State under the over- w all control and direction of an All India body which came to be known as the All India States Peoples' Conference. This body was 3 set up in 1927 itself and functioned as an ndian National Congress. The People of the Punjab States, who had by that time become politically conscious as a result of the activities of the Indian National Congress and the local parties like the Akalis, the Ghadar party, the Kirti Kisan party and others, at once responded to the clarion call of the Congress and set up a Provincial branch of the All India States Peoples' Conference at Lahore in 1928. The head­ quarters of this States Peoples' Conference had to be set up at Lahore because of two reasons. One was that following the Province-wise agitation against the enactment of the Rowlatt Act since 1919, and the simultaneous launching of the Gurdwara Reform Movement, the Princely States of Punjab had practically banned all types of politi- cal activities within the States. Secondly, because of the attempt made to extend the Gurdwara Reform Movement to the Sikh States in Punjab as examplified by the launching of the Jaitu morcha by the Akalis, which was in the erstwhile Nabha State, all these States, viz., Patiala Nabha, Jind, Faridkot and Kapurthala were put under extra political vigilance of the Political Department, as well as by. their respective rulers. No ruler could dare to follow any other than repressive policy, as was seen by the example set by the British in dethroning Maharaja Ripudaman Singh of Nabha for the simple fault of having aroused the suspicion of the Political Depart­ ment for his extraordinary frank view on his sovereign status. More also, the dubious role of the Maharaja of Patiala in the Gurdwara Reform Movement had made him very unpopular with the Sikh masses. FORMATION OF THE RIYASTI PRAJA MANDAL The formal decision to start a Praja Mandal movement was taken in a convention of political and social workers held in the M was given a formal shape on 10th August, 1928, in a meeting held on 10th August, 1928 at Amritsar in the office of the Akali Dal. At this meeting the Riyasti Praja Mandal decided among things on a programme of action and also that the movement be restricted not only to the few Sikh States but it should be extended in stages to all the States and 4 chief ships in Punjab, namely, Bahawalpur, Pataudi, Loharu> Nahan, Mandi, Suket, Bilaspur, Chamba and others, and even up to Jammu and Kashmir. COMMON PROGRAMME DRAWN UP In this meeting a common programme of action was also decid­ ed upon which included,—(1) Curtailment of Privy purses and privi­ leges of the Princes; (2) democratisation of legislatures where- ever these existed and setting up of similar popularly elected bodies where (3) from cutive; (4) abolition of begar or forced labour; (5) abolition of Nazul aws 1m making tenancy laws more equitable; (8) opening of more grant of freedom of association and freedom of Press, et< MOVEMENT STARTS FROM PATIALA * Since Patiala was the largest and most influential State in the eastern Punjab and Haryana region and as sueh was a pace-setter for other Princely States, it was in Patiala that the Praja Mandal movement was first started and also tested for its ability to stand up and face an autocratic government.