Sikh farmers' agitation in Haryana

Who: The Kisan Sangharsh Samiti of Haryana, whose convener was Raghbir Singh and which Gurmit Singh calls Akali-backed; the Akali Dal, whose president, Jathedar Mohan Singh Tur, the Encyclopaedia of Sikhism credits with conducting the agitation; the Haryana Government under Chief Minister Bansi Lal; and opposition leaders from other parties.

What: Gurmit Singh writes that after 1947 the government of joint Punjab allotted barren agricultural land in Hissar and Karnal to Sikh freedom fighters and their families, and that these districts went to Haryana in 1966. He says the Akali Dal claimed these areas for Punjab as Punjabi-speaking, and that Bansi Lal's Congress government started evicting the Sikh farmers to make Haryana's case stronger before a Boundary Commission that might be set up. The link to a future commission is his own reading. He writes that the cancellation of lease deeds and the mass exodus caused great resentment in Punjab. Farmers were also unhappy with central commodity zones and the licensing of trade in foodgrains, which they saw as favouring Hindu traders.

The Samiti called a conference at Karnal on 1 June 1973 for higher procurement prices for wheat and paddy and cheap inputs, and invited Kisan and Akali leaders. The Haryana Government arrested the Akali leaders on their way, a few miles from the venue. Raghbir Singh then announced that the conference would be held on 21 July. The Government banned public meetings within the municipal limits of Karnal from 20 to 31 July, and the Samiti began its agitation on 21 July by defying the ban and offering mass arrests. Opposition parties that wanted to dislodge Bansi Lal supported it, and J. B. Kripalani, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Raj Narain, Rabi Ray and Piloo Modi courted arrest. By 30 July more than 2,000 people had been arrested. Bansi Lal did not extend the ban, but he did not release the arrested leaders, which left bitterness among the farmers.

Where: Karnal, with the grievance centred on the Hissar and Karnal districts of Haryana.

Why it mattered: Gurmit Singh treats it as one of a series of Sikh farmers' grievances, over trade zones and evictions, that the Akali Dal turned from a purely economic demand into a protest against discrimination and a demand for greater state autonomy. It also put Akali leaders and opposition figures from other parties in Haryana's jails together.