Unionist Party (Punjab)

The Unionist Party was the party of Punjab's landholders and rural interests under British rule. Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs belonged to it, though most Unionists were Muslim. Wikipedia says Mian Fazl-i-Husain led a rural bloc that formally organised itself as the Unionist Party in 1923, and that when he became Revenue Member in January 1926, Sir Chhotu Ram, a Hindu Jat, was named party president in his place. A Lahore journal article says Fazl-i-Husain controlled Punjab politics until his death in 1936. Sikandar Hayat Khan led it to power in 1937.

Its leaders in order: Fazl-i-Husain, until his death on 9 July 1936; Sikandar Hayat Khan, party leader from 1936 and Premier of Punjab from 5 April 1937 until his death on 26 December 1942; then Malik Khizar Hayat Tiwana, who resigned on 2 March 1947.

Its part in Sikh history: At the 1937 election, under the Government of India Act 1935, the Unionists won a large majority in the 175-seat Assembly (98 seats on Wikipedia). The 31 Sikh members were split between the Khalsa National Party, which joined the Unionists (its leader Sir Sundar Singh Majithia entered the cabinet), and the Shiromani Akali Dal, which sat in opposition with the Congress. Outside the Assembly the Akalis were the Unionist government's severest critics.

Key moments

• 13 and 14 October 1937: at the Muslim League's Lucknow session Jinnah announces that Sikandar has agreed to join the League with the Muslim members of his party, while keeping the Unionist party intact in Punjab. This is the Sikandar-Jinnah Pact.
• 15 June 1942: Sikandar announces the Sikandar-Baldev Singh Pact. Baldev Singh joined his cabinet in his personal capacity, with the Akali Dal's moral support, after Sikandar conceded points on jhatka meat, Punjabi in Gurmukhi, a 20 per cent Sikh share of government jobs and Sikh claims at the Centre. The Akali Dal publicly disapproved of the pact on 18 July 1942.
• 1944: Khizar refuses League demands and Jinnah repudiates the 1937 pact.
• January 1946: the Muslim League wins 73 of the 89 Muslim seats. The Unionists finish fourth with 21 seats on Wikipedia's table (other accounts give 19 or 20). The Congress and the Akali Dal support Khizar's government.

Where it stands: The party ceased to exist after Partition in 1947. Wikipedia quotes the historian Ian Talbot: Khizar opposed dividing India on a religious basis, and above all dividing Punjab.