Punjab divided, Haryana made
Chandigarh
On 1 November 1966 Punjab is split on language; Haryana is created, hill areas go to Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh becomes a Union Territory.
The States Reorganisation Commission of 1955 redrew most of India on language but refused a Punjabi-speaking state, and the Regional Formula of 1956 was never fully carried out. Sant Fateh Singh fasted in 1960 and 1961, and Master Tara Singh after him. The turn came after the 1965 war: Fateh Singh deferred a fast to back the war effort, and the Home Minister then agreed to look at the question afresh. A parliamentary committee under Speaker Hukam Singh reported on 15 March 1966, and a boundary commission under Justice J. C. Shah drew the lines.
The Punjab Reorganisation Act, 1966 took effect on 1 November. Haryana became a state, hill areas passed to Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh became a Union Territory and the capital of both Punjab and Haryana. This completed the language map begun in 1956 in the north-west, and it left a new Punjab with a Sikh majority.
Several issues were left open. In 1970 the Centre said Chandigarh should go to Punjab, and the Rajiv-Longowal accord of 1985 set the transfer for 26 January 1986, but it did not happen. The city is still a Union Territory, and the sharing of river water remains disputed.
- political
- language
- state-formation