The All-India Muslim League achieved Pakistan, the Indian National Congress secured
India but the Shiromani Akali Dal got nothing on the eve of the British departure in
1947 although the Sikh community had collaborated closely with the colonial power.
The demand of the Sikh community for a separate Sikh state and accession of more
territories to this state came to naught as a consequence of partition of Indian
subcontinent. The decision of joining India by the Akali leadership enslaved this
community to a mammoth majority in which they were only one per cent. Different
scholars took variety of directions in exploring the roots of the Sikh failure in the final
breakdown. According to Sher Muhammad Grewal, Sikhs failed to achieve something
beneficial in the political arena staged in 1940s because they were very simple people
and could not apprehend the sensitive situation of Punjab politics.1 Sangat Singh claims
that the principal reason behind the Sikh failure was the incompetent Akali leadership2
while Sardar Hukam Singh opines that situational politics left no positive options for the
Akali leaders, therefore their decision to join India was the best choice.3 These scholars
tried to solve this tangle by pointing out some specific aspect of the question which still
leaves many gaps. Actually, there were ample reasons which combined and resulted in
the Sikh failure. This article traces the factors which compelled the Sikh political
leadership to reject Pakistan and decide in favour of India in 1947.
Background
The Muslims and Sikhs had both been ruling communities of the Punjab4
therefore both were confident to claim their political inheritance when the
British decided to depart from India. Punjab had great importance for the
Muslims as they were the majority occupying this area, but sacrosanct for the
Sikhs from the religious point of view because it was birthplace of their
Gurus,5 therefore their religious affiliation made it sacred for them. Islam came
from Arabia and many Muslims from other countries had settled in the Punjab
while Sikhism was an indigenous religion and its followers were purely local
people which convinced them to claim the region as Sikh homeland. Hindus
had also been a ruling community in the Punjab in certain periods. After 1849
the British emerged as a new ruling community in the region when they
wrested power from Sikhs. A set of political reforms introduced by the new
masters ensured majority rule over the minorities which caused unrest among
the religious minorities. Thus, the British Punjab presented a very complex
nature of communitarian position. Nevertheless, Sikhs were the most
vulnerable community in the political domain due to their scattered strength
throughout the region. They did not have a majority in any district of the
British Punjab. Although the British had been favourable to the Sikhs, they
tried to secure consensus among the major political parties working at the
national level for constitutional settlement and this made the Sikh position very
weak as they were concentrated mainly in the Punjab only. The Sikhs and
Muslims had emerged as rival forces because of particular reasons which
affected the politics especially in the British Punjab.
Retrospectively, the Muslim saints7 had attracted the local masses
irrespective of colour, race, caste and financial status and enabled them to
understand the real Islamic message of humanity, fraternity and simplicity. To
Trilochan Singh, the Muslim saints impressed upon the non-Muslims
particularly the downtrodden, oppressed, humiliated and neglected Hindus and
achieved huge conversions.8 Later on, the extremist behaviour of Muslim
liberalism and Muslim orthodoxy caused shocking blows to Muslim rule in
India. A gap emerged in the religious sphere of Indian society particularly in
the Punjab. Guru Nanak Dev (1469-1539) undoubtedly filled this gap by
introducing the mixed religious tenets of Islam and Hinduism and got abundant
conversion from Hindus and a little number from the Muslims as well.9
Sikhism emerged in the Punjab during Muslim rule and Guru Nanak Dev, the
founder of Sikhism, experienced dynasties of Ibrahim Lodhi (Indian ruler, died
in 1526) and Zahir-ud-Din Mohammad Babur (first Mughal ruler of India,
1526-1530). The nature of the relationship between the Muslim rulers and Sikh
Gurus should have been that of the ruler and the ruled but the Gurus opted to
live an independent life without any fear of the authoritarian governments.
This sense of personal liberty involved them in the activities of their own
choice including politics which was dangerous for them at that time when they
could be slain for political power as a royal tradition. For this reason, the
political activities of the Gurus were never overlooked by the central authority.
They were called for questioning, were pressurized, imprisoned, tortured and
assassinated ruthlessly.10 Though the political factors forced the Muslim rulers
to take stern action against the Sikh Gurus, this was perceived as an action
against the ‘religious heroes’ of Sikhs which could never be tolerated by their
followers. Therefore, murder of the Gurus during Muslim rule was the root
cause which never let the Muslim-Sikh relations prosper in the Punjab. Both
the communities had been living side by side but the religious heritage kept
them divided as religious rivals. The later rulers, both Muslims and Sikhs,
manifested the same attitude towards each other till the arrival of the British in
the Punjab.
The British defeated the Sikhs in the mid-19th century and annexed Punjab
but soon after the Anglo-Sikh Wars (1846 and 1849) both the communities
began to get along with each other. The Sikhs, Muslims and Hindus proved
loyal citizens and became the strength of the British rule in the subcontinent.
The newly introduced educational, political, economic, agricultural, publishing
and other reforms created a new sense of communitarian empowerment and
then nationalism in the communities. All this encouraged them in gaining more
and more rights and concessions in the constitutional packages which
Sikh Failure
consequently resulted in communalism. The two world wars (1914-19 and
1939-45) weakened the British position in the colonies which accelerated and
encouraged the nationalist struggle for political rights. The locals had
sacrificed lives in the battlefields in favour of the British which convinced
them to treat the locals in a friendlier manner. The Sikhs were the most
favoured community in this regard but they had to face several setbacks in the
political domain. Their demands were turned down while Hindus and Muslims
appeared successful communities in securing maximum benefits. Several
reasons can be attributed to this ruinous end.
Sikh Leadership
The British introduced a system by which they could control Contd……………..