Hindi Raksha Samiti agitation against the Regional Formula

Who: The Hindi Raksha Samiti ("Save Hindi Committee"), whose "dictator" was the elderly Swami Atma Nand; the Arya Samaj, and the Jan Sangh as Khushwant Singh describes them; the Punjab Government of Chief Minister Partap Singh Kairon; and the Shiromani Akali Dal under Master Tara Singh.

What: The Regional Formula, which the Akali Dal accepted in 1956, made Punjabi in Gurmukhi the official language of the Punjabi zone of the enlarged Punjab and Hindi that of the Hindi zone. Grewal says the Arya Samajists, who had earlier refused to implement the Sachar Formula in their schools, opposed it as something much worse and began a "save Hindi" movement under the Hindi Raksha Samiti. Gurmit Singh says the agitation was led by the Arya Samaj, and Khushwant Singh writes that Hindus led by Arya Samaj and Jan Sangh groups launched a counter-campaign to "save Hindi".

On 30 April 1957 Swami Atma Nand began an indefinite dharna at the Secretariat in Chandigarh (Gurmit Singh). The Samiti asked that parents choose the medium of instruction, that no one be compelled to teach two languages, that government notifications at district level and below be bilingual, and that district records be kept in both scripts. It said the Formula held the seeds of a second partition of Punjab. The Government soon conceded bilingual notifications and records. Grewal says the agitation lasted seven months; it was withdrawn on 23 December 1957.

Gurmit Singh lists attacks on Sikh shrines and symbols in these months: cigarette cases thrown into the sarovar of Sri Harmandir Sahib in the first week of July, pages of the Guru Granth Sahib torn and scattered on a road in Amritsar on 1 August, and cigarettes thrown into gurdwaras at Patiala and Hissar. He also records the slogan "Kainchi ustra karo tiar" (get scissors and razors ready) at Patiala. The Akali Working Committee, meeting under Master Tara Singh on 8 September 1957, called the agitation "hooliganism" and warned the Panth of a grave situation. The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism says Kairon's government dealt with the Hindi protest firmly but could do little to soothe the hurt it caused the Sikhs.

Where: Chandigarh, where the dharna was held, and towns across Punjab including Amritsar, Patiala and Hissar.

Why it mattered: The Encyclopaedia of Sikhism says language frontiers had become communal frontiers, and that for Master Tara Singh Punjabi Suba was the only antidote to the rising Hindi fanaticism; on 14 June 1958 he revived the demand and rejected the Regional Formula. Gurmit Singh says the agitation widened the gulf between Hindus and Sikhs, and alleges a secret understanding between the Government and the Samiti to delay the Formula. That is his charge. Grewal says Nehru regretted the movement and feared it would break up Punjab.