ÿþ<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>PAÑJ&#256B RIY&#256ST&#298 PRAJ&#256 MA&#7750&#7692AL </TITLE> <style type="text/css"> .BODY { background-color: #EAF1F7; background-image: url('images/gtbh.jpg'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: fixed; background-position: center; color: #0066CC;} .C1{text-align: justify;color: #0066CC;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} .BIB{text-align: center;color: #000099;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} .CONT{text-align: right;color: #FF0000;FONT-size: SMALL;FONT-family: Tahoma;} </style><META NAME="keywords" CONTENT="PAÑJB,RIYST*,PRAJ,MAF AL"> <META http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8"></HEAD> <BODY class="BODY" oncontextmenu="return false" ondragstart="return false" onselectstart="return false"> <FONT ALIGN="JUSTIFY" FACE="Tahoma"> <p class="C1">&#65279PAÑJ&#256B RIY&#256ST&#298 PRAJ&#256 MA&#7750&#7692AL (<i>riy&#257st&#299</i>=of the princely states; <i>praj&#257</i> subject, people; ma&#7751&#7693al = society, party), an organization of the people of the Punjab princely states established in 1928 to work for securing to them civil liberties and political rights. In what was then known as British India, the Indian National Congress had been the spokesman of its people and it had, through constant protest and agitation, wrested from the government certain appurtenances of popular authority. Administrative and constitutional reforms of considerable significance had, for instance, been introduced in the Punjab as in other parts of British India, and a number of socio-religious reform movements had brought about much awakening among the people. The struggle for freedom in the Punjab had taken the form of a vigorous agitation against the severely repressive Rowlatt Acts which had culminated in the Jalli&#257&#7749v&#257l&#257 B&#257<u>gh</u> massacre (13 April 1919), followed by the Gurdw&#257r&#257 Reform movement for the liberation of the Sikh shrines from the control of the corrupt priests supported by the British government, and the violent activities of the Babar Ak&#257l&#299s. The people in the neighbouring Indian states were by comparison wholly voiceless under the arbitrary and despotic reign of the princely rulers. The subjects of the states enjoyed no freedom of speech or expression and there were no popular institutions such as legislative councils and assemblies. The rulers squandered the revenue on personal luxury. To remedy the situation a public platform emerged with the formation of the Punjab Riy&#257st&#299 Praj&#257 Ma&#7751&#7693al. An year earlier; on 17 September 1927, All India States People's Conference had been founded to fight for the rights of the people of the 600-odd states in the country.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The initiative for the establishment of the Punjab Riy&#257st&#299 Praj&#257 Ma&#7751&#7693al came from the Ak&#257l&#299 workers belonging to the Punjab states. They had been freshly affranchised by their participation in the long-drawn struggle for the reformation of the management of Sikh places of worship in which they had suffered imprisonment and bodily injury. The formation of the Punjab Riy&#257st&#299 Praj&#257 Ma&#7751&#7693al was formally announced at a public conference called by such workers at M&#257ns&#257, in Pa&#7789i&#257l&#257 state, one of the larger princely enclaves, on 17 July 1928. Sev&#257 Si&#7749gh &#7788h&#299kr&#299v&#257l&#257, of Pa&#7789i&#257l&#257 state, an Ak&#257l&#299 leader still in jail, was elected president, and Bhagv&#257n Si&#7749gh Lau&#7749gov&#257l&#299&#257, also an Ak&#257l&#299, general secretary. In the constitution adopted soon afterwards the Praj&#257 Ma&#7751&#7693al membership was thrown open to all adult inhabitants of the Punjab states without distinctions of caste, class or religion. A general council of 200 members was to be elected every two years by its members. The council was to elect an executive committee of 15 members. The scope of the Praj&#257 Ma&#7751&#7693al's activities was extended to include all princely states in the Punjab, Kashm&#299r and Shiml&#257-hill regions. The central organization, the Punjab Riy&#257st&#299 Praj&#257 Ma&#7751&#7693al, itself affiliated to the All-India States People's Conference, was to co-ordinate and direct the activities of the local units. The main objectives of the Praj&#257 Ma&#7751&#7693al were the protection of the rights and liberties of the people, the setting up of representative institutions in the states and the amelioration of the condition of the peasants.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The rulers of the princely states were intolerant of any criticism of or opposition to their administration. Moreover, they enjoyed the full protection and support of the British government. The launching of a popular movement against them was thus not an easy task. At first the activities of the Praj&#257 Ma&#7751&#7693al remained confined to four of the Sikh states of Pa&#7789i&#257l&#257, N&#257bh&#257, J&#299nd and Far&#299dko&#7789, in particular against Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 Bh&#363pinder Si&#7749gh of Pa&#7789i&#257l&#257. The Shiroma&#7751&#299 Ak&#257l&#299 Dal resolved to hold a series of meetings in the Pa&#7789i&#257l&#257 state to secure the release of Sev&#257 Si&#7749gh &#7788h&#299kr&#299v&#257l&#257. Kha&#7771ak Si&#7749gh, the charismatic Ak&#257l&#299 leader, undertook a tour of the state. He strongly denounced the administration of Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 Bh&#363pinder Si&#7749gh. The state authority adopted stern measures to counteract the agitation and arrested a large number of Ak&#257l&#299 workers. At this time Master T&#257r&#257 Si&#7749gh, another Ak&#257l&#299 leader of note, opened a relentless campaign against the Pa&#7789i&#257l&#257 ruler. The Praj&#257 Ma&#7751&#7693al intensified its own agitation. Faced with this two-fold challenge, the Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 relented and made a conciliatory gesture, ordering the release of Sev&#257 Si&#7749gh &#7788h&#299kr&#299v&#257l&#257 along with other Ak&#257l&#299 prisoners. After his release, Sev&#257 Si&#7749gh threw himself zealously into the Praj&#257 Ma&#7751&#7693al movement. On 27 December 1929, the first regular session of the Punjab Riy&#257st&#299 Praj&#257 Ma&#7751&#7693al was convened at Lahore. It adopted a resolution strongly condemning the maladministration of Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 Bh&#363pinder Si&#7749gh. So far Pa&#7789i&#257l&#257 had been the main focus; the activities of the Praj&#257 Ma&#7751&#7693al now extended to other states as well. It started a <i>morch&#257</i> in Jind state to protest against the enhancement of land revenue and against <i>beg&#257r</i> (forced free labour). In M&#257lerko&#7789l&#257 a document entitled <i>M&#257lerko&#7789l&#257 Indictment</i> was prepared faulting the ruler as well as the state administration. In Kap&#363rthal&#257 state, the Praj&#257 Ma&#7751&#7693al demanded the abolition of oppressive taxes and the establishment of responsible government. In the spring of 1929, a memorandum, <i>Indictment of Pa&#7789i&#257l&#257</i> , was addressed to the Viceroy of India enumerating instances of misrule in Pa&#7789i&#257l&#257 and of the misconduct of its ruler. The All India States People's Conference conducted an enquiry and found the Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 guilty of most of the charges. In November 1930, Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 Bh&#363pinder Si&#7749gh, as chancellor of the Chamber of Princes, was nominated as the sole representative of the princes of India at the first Round Table Conference in London. The Praj&#257 Ma&#7751&#7693al stepped up its campaign against him and, at a conference held at Ludhi&#257&#7751&#257 on 11 October 1930, Sev&#257 Si&#7749gh &#7788h&#299kr&#299v&#257l&#257 castigated him for his misrule and demanded his deposition. Sev&#257 Si&#7749gh was arrested and sentenced to ten years' rigorous imprisonment, but was released after a few months. In July 1931, the third annual conference of the Punjab Riy&#257st&#299 Praj&#257 Ma&#7751&#7693al took place at Shiml&#257. Its main demand was the deposition of Mah&#257r&#257j&#257 Bh&#363pinder Si&#7749gh. During 1932-33, the Praj&#257 Ma&#7751&#7693al brought out a second memorandum against Pa&#7789i&#257l&#257 and staged demonstrations in its support at Amritsar and Delhi. Meanwhile, to counteract the Praj&#257 Ma&#7751&#7693al the Pa&#7789i&#257l&#257 government issued the Hid&#257yat (instruction) of 1988 Bk (1931), which banned all political activity in the state. Under the provisions of the Hid&#257yat, Sev&#257 Si&#7749gh was rearrested in January 1933, and sentenced to six years' imprisonment. He resorted to hunger strike in protest against the harsh treatment meted out to him. In solitary confinement in the Pa&#7789i&#257l&#257 jail, he died on 20 January 1935.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The death of Sev&#257 Si&#7749gh &#7788h&#299kr&#299v&#257l&#257 marked the end of an important phase in the history of the Punjab Riy&#257st&#299 Praj&#257 Ma&#7751&#7693al. After him the movement against the princely states lost much of its thrust. Early in 1936, the Pati&#257l&#257 government signed an agreement with the Ak&#257l&#299 leader, Master T&#257r&#257 Si&#7749gh, resulting in the release of all Ak&#257l&#299 prisoners. The withdrawal of the Ak&#257l&#299s considerably weakened the Praj&#257 Ma&#7751&#7693al. Several of its leaders, including Bhagv&#257n Si&#7749gh Lau&#7749gov&#257l&#299&#257 and Jag&#299r Si&#7749gh Jog&#257, came under Marxian influence. With the Ak&#257l&#299 Dal playing a minimal role in the Sikh states and dissensions erupting between the ruralite Communists and the urbanite Congress group within the Praj&#257 Ma&#7751&#7693al itself, the movement further waned. However, in 1945, the Communists having been expelled from the Indian National Congress, the all-India State People's Conference instituted a regional council for the Punjab states, with Brish Bh&#257n as chairman and Harba&#7749s L&#257l as general secretary. The leadership of the Praj&#257 Ma&#7751&#7693al in the Punjab states thus passed into the hands of the urban Hindus. The struggle for constitutional and administrative reforms in the princely states continued. Several of the states witnessed popular agitations, Far&#299dko&#7789 the severest of them in 1946. Jaw&#257harl&#257l Nehr&#363's visit on 27 May 1946 marked the culmination of the agitation. A local leader who spearheaded the movement was Gi&#257n&#299 Zail Si&#7749gh, India's future President.</p> <p class="C1">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; With the formation soon after Independence of PEPSU, a union of Pa&#7789i&#257l&#257, N&#257bh&#257, J&#299nd, M&#257lerko&#7789l&#257, Far&#299dko&#7789, Kap&#363rthal&#257, N&#257laga&#7771h and Kals&#299&#257 states on 15 July 1948, the princely regimes ended and the Punjab Riy&#257st&#299 Praj&#257 Ma&#7751&#7693al lapsed. It was replaced by the PEPSU Pradesh Congress.</p> </font> <p class="BIB"> BIBLIOGRAPHY<p class="C1"><ol class="C1"><li class="C1"> Walia, Ramesh, <i>Praja Mandal Movement in East Punjab States</i>. Patiala, 1972<BR> <li class="C1"> Handa, R.L., <i>History of Freedom Struggle in Princely States</i>. Dehli, 1968<BR> <li class="C1"> Gandhi, M.K., <i>The Indian States Problem</i>. Ahmedabad, 1914<BR> <li class="C1"> Majumdar, R.C.,ed., <i>British Paramountcy and Indian Renaissance</i>. Bombay, 1963<BR> <li class="C1"> Menon, V.P., <i>The Story of the Integration of the Indian States</i>. Bombay, 1956<BR> <li class="C1"> Nehru, Jawaharlal, <i>Presidential Address to the Sixth Session of the All India States People's Conference</i>. Ludhiana, 1939<BR> <li class="C1"> Bhaur&#257, Uj&#257gar Si&#7749gh, <i>Qaum&#299 J&#299van Sard&#257r Sev&#257 Si&#7749gh Th&#299kr&#299v&#257l&#257</i>. Ludhiana, n.d.<BR> </ol><p class="CONT">A. C. Aro&#7771&#257<br></p><BR> </font><img src="counter.aspx" width="1px" height="1px" alt=""></HTML></BODY>