Historical Background: Political
Parties in Punjab
The Akali Dal
The Akali
Dal was founded in 1920. Split after 1925 into Central Akali Dal and Shiromani Akali
Dal. Guru Govind Singh first used the term ‘Akali’, which means "immortal," to refer to his chosen group of followers who were willing to put
everything on the line to defend their places of worship. They are also known
as Nihangs. They were highly respected in the Sikh community
and were well-known for their sincerity and purity of character. The name Akali
became associated with purity and stringent morality because the Akalis
had long been the guardians of the Sikh temples and were well-known for the
sacrifices they made to maintain ceremonial purity. Sikhs who backed Gurdwara
Reform and were willing to endure hardships similar to those of the Akalis
in the past in order to accomplish their goals were referred to be Akalis.
The Shiromani Akali Dal has
been launching significant political agitations in the name of the Sikh
Community ever since it first emerged, claiming to be the exclusive voice of
the “Sikh interests.” Its greatest asset—and worst liability—has been the use
of religious places and slogans to further political objectives. On July 24, 1932, a Sikh conference was held
in Lahore, with the Akali Dal and the Central Sikh League being
represented. The percentage of seats allotted to Sikhs was rejected by the
Conference. The Akali Dal made the independent election decision to run
against both the Congress and the Unionist Party. Because of the Arya Samaj
leadership, which is primarily Hindu and anti-Sikh, they rejected the Congress.
The Akali Dal came out victorious in
the Gurdwara elections of 1939.
The Akali Dal demanded Azad
Punjab in opposition to Pakistan becoming a sovereign Muslim state. In addition
to the Hindu community's leaders, nationalist Sikhs rejected it. Baba Kharak
Singh urged “the Sikh community to back the Congress and criticized
the call for Azad Punjab. The Sikh demand became more radicalized. It now took
the shape of a sovereign Sikh state. In August 1944 Master Tara Singh” stated,
“The Sikhs were a nation, if the country was going to be split, they should not
be left at the mercy of either Pakistan or Hindustan.” The Cabinet Mission Proposals were unacceptable
to the Sikhs as they provided no guarantees to the Sikhs and the Muslim
minority. The Akali Dal President,
Giani Kartar Singh, reasserted on June 17, 1947, “The plan of partition of
Punjab was unacceptable to the Sikhs and they wanted a separate Sikh homeland
where they could develop their culture and preserve their entity.” The Akali leaders abandoned the notion of a separate
Sikh state and decided to stay in India. Through
the cooperation of the Akali Congress, several Akali officials were able to secure prominent positions in the national and
provincial Congress structures, one of which was Master Tara Singh's
appointment to the All India Congress Working Committee. The Sikh
leadership's broad backing of the Congress position during the power-transfer
negotiations and the decision of the Sikhs to side with Independent India on
August 15, 1947, were both heavily influenced by this relationship and a strong
sense of nationalism.
The
Punjab Provincial Congress Party
The Congress Party in Punjab is a branch of
the “Indian National Congress”, it was established in the year 1885 by the
educated upper-middle-class elite of Indians. Its first Secretary was a
Britisher, Lord Allen Octavian Hume. Its aim was to obtain greater privileges
from the British Colonial Government. It spearheaded a prolonged mass movement
for the attainment of freedom. The Jallianwala Bagh tragedy in 1919 brought the Congress Party to prominence in Punjab for the first time. The Congress Party had come to be identified
with the urban people of the state who constituted only 10 percent of the total
population. The 1930s saw a rise in terrorist attacks against British
authorities as well as ongoing agitations in the towns, but for the most part,
the rural population—which made up about 90% of the total—was untouched by
these developments. Up until the middle of the 1940s, Punjabi politics were
primarily characterized by collaboration with the British. The Congress Party became a powerful force in
the 1946 elections and went on to rule Punjab's political scene for the next 20
years. As the Congress Party was already in power as a partner in the Coalition
in the Punjab, it took over the reins of administration in the post-Partition
Punjab also.
The Punjab Muslim League
It wasn't until 1938 that the Punjab Muslim
League had a legitimate office. Neither the Congress nor the Muslims League are
mentioned by Governor Emerson as significant political groups in the Punjab in
his first monthly report to Viceroy Linlithgow on October 19, 1936. They are
barely mentioned at all. Punjab was home to a number of the Muslim
League's top leaders at the national level. A prominent landowner and
barrister, Sir Muhammad Shafi passed away in 1932 and was a leader comparable
to Muhammad Ali Jinnah. In March 1938, the All India Muslim League
Council selected a committee under Nawab Ismail Khan’s presidency to decide on
the applications for reaffirmation of its provincial organizations. On the
basis that the Punjab Muslim League's constitution was erroneous, it declined
to reaccredit the organization. An Organizing Committee headed by
Sikander Hayat Khan was established at the special Shahidgunj Muslim League
Session in April 1938 in Calcutta with the aim of establishing a new Muslim
League organization in the Punjab. As per the terms of the Jinnah - Sikander
Pact, “In future elections and by-elections for the Legislature after the
adoption of this arrangement, the groups constituting the present Unionist
Party will jointly support the candidates put by their respective groups.”
By 1946, the Pir had come to terms with being sucked into the mud
of politics surrounding division and had not only publicly supported the Muslim
League but also encouraged other Pirs in the community to do the same.
The Muslim League's Parliamentary Board supposedly controlled the
candidate selection process, which indirectly contributed to the organization's
success. Only candidates with strong local support made the cut. The renowned Pakistan Resolution of the
Muslim League was adopted in April 1940 during an annual session held in
Lahore. The Muslim League's resolve was interpreted by the British
Government as a new indication of the ongoing communal division in India. The
British Government was unable to consider surrendering its responsibility for
India's welfare and peace. The Muslim League, the Princes, and everyone else
who might emerge. The Muslim League collaborated with the British Government
until August 15, 1947, when Pakistan became a reality, with the intention of accepting
it.
The Unionist Party of Punjab
Together, Fazl-i-Hussain and Chhotu Ram
created the Punjab Unionist Party in the year 1923. Their electoral manifesto
said that their goal was to support and uplift the province's underprivileged
neighborhoods and classes. Landowners, mostly Sikh and Hindu
landowners and farmers, formed the Unionist Party of the Punjab. Sensing their
impending extinction due to competition from the commercial class, the
landowners banded together to create the Rural Party, which they later retitled
the Unionist Party in 1923. The Unionist Party was supported by the British.
Big landowners and peasant proprietors supported the Unionist Party of
Punjab, which also made appeals to the Muslim tribes of Western Punjab “and the
Hindu Jats of the Ambala division. Chaudhary Chhotu Ram played a leading
role in the development of the Unionist Party. The Party emerged as a big
political power in the Punjab, in the 1937 elections. There was a decline in
the social base of the Unionist Party from 1942 to 1946, among the military
personnel, the rich landowners, the official” as well as the nonofficial
revenue agency, and other Government officials. By the elections of 1946, the
Punjab no longer stood in splendid isolation from the rest of India.
The Kirti Kisan Party of the Punjab
The Communist Party in the Punjab was
originally known as the Kirti group.
It was founded in 1922. The Kirtis sought to establish a labor and peasant
movement in India and were ruthless opponents of capitalism. The origin of the
Communist Movement in Punjab can be seen at the beginning of the twentieth
century when anti-imperialist Patriotic feelings were high in Punjab in the
wake of the Ghadar Movement and the
activities of the Muhajirs. Muhajirs returned to India from Kabul
and Tashkant with Marxist ideas and founded a Communist group in Lahore. These
anti-imperialist movements created an atmosphere forthe establishment of the
Communist Movement in the Punjab.
The Punjab Hindu Maha Sabha
The Punjab Hindu Sabha was originated in 1907 and it prepared the ground for the establishment of the All India Hindu Maha
Sabha. The All-India Hindu Maha Sabha was born out of it in December, 1913. The Hindu consciousness led to the formation
of local Hindu organizations at various places in North India at the start of
the twentieth century in the Punjab. The middle-class comprising merchants,
professionals, service persons, etc., came under the influence of Arya Sama jand played a very crucial role
in the provincial Hindu Maha Sabha.
