Abstract
The record of the proceedings of the Punjab Legislature clearly shows that its
members preferred to defend their communal interest’s visa-a-vis of common
cause against the British Raj. Given that the members representing their
communities openly took communal line in their demands, thereby this state of
affair sharpened the communal split in the society. Since the legislators were the
policy makers in the province, therefore, their views and actions influenced the
bulk of the society. Thus, this factor turned out to be a major factor in determining
the future relations of the two-nations, namely Muslims and the non-Muslims,
which unfortunately deteriorated to that level which brought about not only the
partition of India but also the partition of the province on the communal basis.
This study explores the nature and working of the Punjab Legislature during
1920s with reference to the Sikh Gurdwara Reform. This study attempts to dig out
primary and secondary sources which mainly targets Punjab Legislature and
legislators, what was their respond to the Sikh Gurdwara Reform Movement? The
underling hypothesis of the paper is that the major communities of the province
i.e. Hindus, Sikhs and the Muslims, were divided owing to their communal
interests in the Punjab Legislature. Instead of strengthening unity and harmony,
this institution served as one of the major arenas for Hindu-Muslim and Sikh
conflicts which greatly influenced Muslim political thinking in the province as well
as the centre. No wonder, after having a bitter communal experience in the Punjab
Legislature, Allama Iqbal spoke out in the Allahabad Address in 1930 in which he
suggested the partition of India into separate Hindu and Muslim majority zones.
The ruling political party the Unionist Party (which was comprised of Hindus,
Muslims and Sikhs) did not easy to deal with Gurdwara Reform in the legislature
and unnerved its government as well. The question of communal harmony in the
Punjab was not only shatter but also bleak in the coming years 1940s and its worst
shape could be seen at the time of partition of India 1947.
The writings on the provincial history of India generally analyze the political
development of some provinces by analyzing the party politics or highlighting the
role of individual persons or party in the endgame of the Raj. David Page, Iftikhar
Malik, Ikram Malik, Zarina Salamat, Tanwar, David Gilmartin, Ian Talbot and Dr. Abid have done the study of the Punjab politics on these lines. These and other
historians have generally overlooked the importance of the role of Punjab
Legislature in shaping the ideas, views, thoughts and actions of the communities.
In fact, the Legislators took remarkable communal line during this period and
therefore the Muslims and non-Muslims reached to a point of no return in the
Legislature and it affected the overall outlook of the communities. Therefore, the
present paper is of great importance as it analyses the Punjab politics by digging
out those documents particularly the speeches, statements, debates, resolutions
and legislation in the Punjab Legislature that have not adequately been explored
by the historians.
Khurshid Ahmad Rana, Farzana Arshad. (2018) The Sikh Gurdwara Reform Movement and Legislative Culture of the Punjab: An appraisal. 1920-25, Journal of the Punjab University Historical Society, Volume 31, issue 1.
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