EXPLORING ISSUES AND PROJECTS FOR COOPERATION BETWEEN EAST AND WEST PUNJAB WORLD PUNJABI CENTRE Monographs and Occasional Papers Series The World Punjabi Centre was established at Punjabi University, Patiala in 2004 at the initiative of two Chief Ministers of Punjabs of India and Pakistan. The main objective of this Centre is to bring together Punjabis across the globe on various common platforms, and promote cooperation across the Wagah border separating the two Punjabs of India and Pakistan. It was expected to have frequent exchange of scholarly meetings where common issues of Punjabi language, culture and trade could be worked out. This Monograph and Occasional Papers Series aims to highlight some of the issues which are either being explored at the Centre or to indicate their importance in promoting an appreciation and understanding of various concerns of Punjabis across the globe. It is hoped other scholars will contribute to this series from their respective different fields. Monographs 1. Exploring Possibilities of Cooperation among Punjabis in the Global Context – (Proceedings of the Conference held in 2006), Edited by J. S. Grewal, Patiala: World Punjabi Centre, 2008, 63pp. 2. Bhagat Singh and his Legend, (Papers Presented at the Conference in 2007) Edited by J. S. Grewal, Patiala: World Punjabi Centre, 2008, 280pp. Occasional Papers Series 1. Exploring Issues and Projects For Cooperation between East and West Punjab, Balkar Singh & Darshan S. Tatla, Patiala: World Punjabi Centre, Occasional Papers Series No. 1, 2019 2. Sikh Diaspora Archives: An Outline of the Project, Darshan S. Tatla & Balkar Singh, Patiala: World Punjabi Centre, Occasional Papers Series No. 2, 2019 EXPLORING ISSUES AND PROJECTS for cooperation between EAST AND WEST PUNJAB Balkar Singh & Darshan S. Tatla World Punjabi Centre Exploring Issues and Projects for Cooperation between East and West Punjab Occasional Papers Series No. 1 @ Balkar Singh and Darshan S. Tatla 2019 Published Director, World Punjabi Centre Punjabi University, Patiala, 147 002 Punjab, India Typeset by Roshan Lal in Garamond Normal (11) and Printed at Twentyfirst Century Printing Press, Patiala Contents Introduction 7 I. The World Punjabi Centre: A Cooperative Venture 10 between the Two States of Punjab II. Punjabis Appeals for Open Borders and Cooperation 13 III. The Punjabis: Divided People with Shared History, 17 Language and Culture IV. 1947: The Partition of Punjab: The Tragedy, 20 Resettlements and Laments V. Indo-Pakistan Relations: A Catalogue of Hostilities 28 VI. The Wagah Parade: A Unique Ceremony of Statehood 33 VII. Punjabis’ Lament for the Partition: Literature, 37 Museum and Lobby for Open Borders VIII. Catharsis through Literature 39 IX. World Punjabi Centre: Assessing Possible Projects for 45 Exploration 1. Punjabi Language and Literature as 46 Shared Bond between two states of Punjab (a) Rallying around Punjabi and the 57 Punjabiyat Movement in West Punjab (b) The State of Punjabi Language and 70 Literature in East Punjab (c) The Role of WPC on shared 76 Punjabi Language and Literature 2. Cultural Bonds: Films, Dramas and 77 Cultural Ties 3. Exploring Economic Ties 83 4. Religious Pilgrimage, Visitors and 91 Scholarly Exchange 5. Punjabi Diaspora Concerns 98 Concluding Remarks 107 Map of Punjab, Punjab States and Delhi Courtesy of the Royal Geographical Society, London EXPLORING ISSUES AND PROJECTS for cooperation between EAST AND WEST PUNJAB Introduction The establishment of World Punjabi Centre in 2004 at the Punjabi University campus at Patiala was an uncommon event. It came into being during a short period of reprieve granted to two states of Punjab in India and Pakistan who have a long history of discord since 1947. An emotional meeting between two chief ministers, Amarinder Singh of East Punjab (India) and Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi of West Punjab (Pakistan) took place at Punjabi University Patiala in December 2004 when a World Punjabi Conference was organized at the university campus. There was large delegation of writers, and statesmen from the West Punjab eagerly met by academics and writers from East Punjab. Dalip Kaur Tiwana, a prominent Punjabi writer presented a formal welcome amidst song renditions of Baba Farid, a little of Waris Shah BweIAW bwJ nw mihPlW soNhdIAW ny, (No gathering flourishes in the absence of kin) and Mohan Singh’s poem nI A`j koeI AieAw swfy ivhVy (Look, someone arrived in our yard) amidst great Punjabi comraderies. Right from its inception, there was a pertinent question of what should be the scope of the World Punjabi Centre and what could it do within its budget as also the limitations imposed by the political developments within Pakistan and India which impact upon the two states of Punjab. It is fifteen years since its launch and it is time to see what directions it could take in the future. Its first Director was Professor J. S. Grewal, a distinguished historian of Punjab, who was followed by Deepak Manmohan Singh, a don from Punjab University Chandigarh, then came a brief stint of Dalbir Singh 7 8 / Exploring Issues and Projects Dhillon. In a way, each director, more or less has worked out the programme as they found fit. In consonance with original intention of WPC each has endeavoured to thrash out common issues of two states of Punjab in India and Pakistan and to see how the Centre can facilitate further developments in this direction. Deepak Manmohan Singh focused upon common heritage of Punjabi literature by participating in various literary meetings in East and West Punjab as well as among the Punjabi diaspora. In fact, the first director Professor J S Grewal was acutely aware of both of its limited financial resources as well as the political framework within which this Centre was to operate. Immediately after taking charge of the Centre he had called on various experts, from different fields of studies, to offer their opinions as to the best direction this Centre could take as also to set out task in their particular fields of expertise. Thus among the participants to December 2006 conference held at Punjabi University Patiala, there were historians (J. S. Grewal, Indu Banga), political scientists (Bhupinder S. Brar, Gurpreet Mahajan, Harish Puri, Neera Chandhoke); economists (Such Singh Gill, R. S. Ghuman, Raghbir Singh); linguists and writers (Rana Nayar, H. S. Mahta, Swarnjit Mehta, Satish Kumar Verma, Joga Singh, Harbhjan Singh Bhatia). As a result of conference, a document was published, titled Exploring Possibilities of Cooperation among Punjabis in the Global Context –Proceedings of the Conference held in 2006 (Ed. J. S. Grewal, Patiala: World Punjabi Centre, 2008, 63p). Taking up some suggestions of this conference, Grewal called for an assessment of life and times of a Punjabi hero celebrated on both sides of the border and published an edited volume as Bhagat Singh and his Legend, (Papers Presented at the Conference in 2007, (Ed.) J. S. Grewal, Patiala: World Punjabi Centre, 2008, 280p). As Professor Balkar Singh became the fourth director of the Centre in May 2018, he asked Darshan S. Tatla, a Sikh diaspora specialist to join him at the Centre. They held a round of talks with various individuals, and adopted a project involving Punjabi-Sikh Diaspora Archives as a significant part of work at WPC for the next three or four-year programme. A separate paper provides the scope of that project. In their deliberations, it was felt we should undertake a survey of what are the common bonds between the two states of Punjab (India) and Punjab (Pakistan) and how these can be promoted Exploring Issues and Projects / 9 by the Centre. Thus, the aim of this paper is to set out possible tasks this Centre can undertake in the light of its objectives as laid-out in the status of as a charitable society registered by the Government of Punjab, India. In order to see what possible projects can be carried at the WPC, it first undertakes a broad narrative of the shared history, language and culture by Punjabis as experienced during the period under Sikh rule when a sense of common Punjabi nationality was emerging. Then, of course, it was the colonial rule under which various events and circumstances so colluded leading to the Partition of Punjab in 1947. The great tragedy saw a genocidal destruction of homes in which at least a quarter of a million lives were lost leading to a world-record of mass migration crossing the newly demarcated border between two states of Pakistan and India. However, despite the animosity and ferocious communal riots during the partition, Punjabis on both sides of the border were keen to forget the tragic past and showed much enthusiasm to build common bridges for the future. Out of this desire for cooperation and sharing common issues of language and culture, led to the birth led to the establishment of the World Punjabi Centre at Patiala. However, if the tragedy of the Partition somehow implicated the colonial regime, the cooperative bid of Punjabis since at least the 1970s have repeatedly been thwarted by the two new states of India and Pakistan. Thus this survey falls into some discrete sections as follows: First it narrates how the World Punjabi centre was formed amidst appeals and bids for open border between India and Pakistan. Then follows a catalogue of events which have worked up the hostility of two states of India and Pakistan since 1947 not excluding the Wagah parade. It was during short periods of reprieve when the two states of Punjab found some means of cooperation. The rest of the paper elaborates common bonds of the two states of Punjab in Pakistan and India. This takes us to a brief survey of the issue of Punjabi language across the two states -how the common spoken language is on a path of divergence due to particular policies of federal states of Pakistan and India, Two other outstanding issues are discussed next; how trade through the Grand Trunk Road which linked the two states of Punjab can bring benefits and employment to local 10 / Exploring Issues and Projects Punjabis.