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Tuesday, July 14, 1998

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Badal may approach President on
Udham Singh Nagar
By Gobind Thukral
Tribune News Service
CHANDIGARH, July 13 — The Akalis are keeping their options open in case the BJP-led government at the Centre decides to merge Udham Singh Nagar in the proposed hill state of Uttaranchal.
The Akali Dal President and Chief Minister, Mr Parkash Singh Badal is still hopeful that good sense will prevail and the BJP government will not disappoint the people of Punjab and that of Udham Singh Nagar. Asked to spell out the party's action plan in case the demand to exclude Udham Singh Nagar was not conceded, Mr Badal said: "The Political Affairs Committee will decide the line of action. It could take any decision depending upon the circumstances."
Mr Badal who had discussions with his colleagues and with some senior constitutional experts in Delhi, told TNS that some BJP leaders were resorting to untruths. "It pains when someone tells us that we did not raise the issue earlier. We had raised it repeatedly. We had urged Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav when he was Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh. Then we sent two ministers, including the Finance Minister, Capt Kanwaljit Singh, to Udham Singh Nagar and to Lucknow. They met Ms Mayawati who was the Chief Minister. Later, we urged the BJP leadership. It is now two years that we have been protesting and pleading", Mr Badal said. Anguish and anxiety marked Mr Badal's words.
There is a feeling of despondency in Akali circles. This was clear from the observations of Mr Badal. He said: "The Akali Dal expected a great deal of accommodation from the BJP leadership. We had built an unconditional alliance with the BJP and went out of the way to help the party to come to power."
Mr Badal also asserted again that Prime Minister Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee and Union Home Minister L.K. Advani could take the opinion of constitutional lawyers to see that there was no problem in keeping Udham Singh Nagar out of the Nainital Lok Sabha constituency. There had been earlier cases where states were reorganised.
Mr Badal is also examining the possibility of approaching the President of India for help.
For the Akalis the fight is not over. It is true that a suggestion that the Akalis walk out of the coalition at the Centre and start an agitation did not find favour. The Akalis feel the time was not opportune for this kind of approach. Nevertheless, all options have to be examined. One proposal making the rounds in political circles here is that if an assurance of that land ceiling laws applicable to them now is retained even after merger, it might assure the farmers of that district.
The other option could be staging a walkout when the bill is brought forward or even voting against it.
Mr Badal also ridiculed the idea that since Sikhs owned a good portion of land, so Akalis were fighting the case. He said Punjabis, including a large number of Hindus who migrated from Pakistan own the lands. Secondly, industrialists and traders were against this. "Why should anything be done against the wishes of the people? socially, culturally and linguistically, the people had nothing in common. We are only articulating that feeling", Mr Badal said.

'After we changed jungle to gold,
they want us out'
From A.S. Prashar
Tribune News Service
RUDRAPUR (UDHAM SINGH NAGAR DISTRICT), July 13 — Rapid polarisation between paharis and residents of plains during the past few weeks over the move to include Udham Singh Nagar district in proposed Uttaranchal hill state is threatening to create an ugly situation. Already, belligerent statements have begun to be issued on behalf of both the sides.
While those who led the Uttarakhand movement which has culminated into the exercise for the creation of Uttaranchal are insistent that Udham Singh Nagar district must form part of the new hill state, men from the plains, including Punjabi settlers, Bengali farmers, Hindu traders, Muslim businessmen and even the Buksa and Tharu adivasis who have inhabited the Terai region for centuries, are unanimous in their demand that it should remain a part of Uttar Pradesh because trade, commerce and industry here is inextricably linked with that in Uttar Pradesh.
An attempt is being made by the protagonists of Uttaranchal to project the demand of retention of Udham Singh Nagar district in Uttar Pradesh as that of the Sikh settlers alone who were keen on safeguarding their large landholdings. The fact that the Akalis alone have so far been espousing the cause of Udham Singh Nagar district has somehow strengthened that impression. Even the local press tends to dismiss the whole affair as a

storm in the tea cup created by a few rich Punjabi landlords. But a wide-ranging and comprehensive interaction by this correspondent with people from different walks of life during the past three days shows that they are unanimous in their opposition to the transfer of the district to the proposed state.
Mr Waryam Singh Sandhu, sarpanch of Chati village says, "When they came here some 50 years ago in response to advertisement in papers put by the U.P. Government, the area was a thick jungle, full of wild beasts. We worked day and night to make it habitable and fertile. Now it produces gold and makes a substantial contribution to the economy and food security of Uttar Pradesh. But now we face an uncertain future. If this district is transferred to the proposed hill state, which is impoverished and economically unviable, we will become the first target of attack by paharis (hillsmen). They just cannot bear our prosperity and are itching to get at us..."
The residents of plains are contemptuously referred to as "desi" by the hill people who look down upon them as outsiders and exploiters of the hills. The instances of the alleged pahari bias against plains people in general and Sikhs in particular are numerous.
"Our representation even in the present administrative setup in Uttar Pradesh is negligible. In the scheme of things in the hill state, there will be nothing but hostility for us...," say Mr Harbhajan Singh Cheema, a local businessman, and Sant Karnail Singh, president of the UP Sikh Aman Committee. "We came together to the Terai after the Partition of the country in 1947," they recall wistfully. "We were penniless. We trekked on foot for 40 days to reach here and start a new life. We have lost a generation cutting down the jungles and developing the land into fertile farms which you see now. There were no machines, no tractors then. We worked with our bare hands... I think we deserve a better deal than that being offered to us by the UP Government now," they say emotionally.
"No man from the plains can dare to apply for a job in the hills," says Mr Lakha Singh, another Punjabi settler at Kashipur". If he does, he is just chased out of the hills". He recalled how a few Punjabi youth went to Almora sometime ago in response to an advertisement for jobs but were beaten and forced to board the next available bus for the plains. Even officers regards their transfer to the hills as a 'penal posting', he says.
Lala Chander Bhan, Mr Darshan Goyal, Mr Hari Om Singla, Mr Pawan Kumar Jindal, Mr Ved Prakash Singal and Mr Kanwar Lal Sood, who deal in rice and seed trade and represent various traders' organisations of Bazpur, say that they are not against the creation of Uttaranchal state. All they want is that Udham Singh Nagar district should be kept out of it because all the trade, commerce and business activity here is linked with the neighbouring Muradabad, Pilibhit, Shahjahanpur and Rampur districts of Uttar Pradesh". If we are cut off from UP, our trade will be ruined. We will be forced to either shut down our business or migrate elsewhere," they say.