Uttarakhand movement explained

The Uttarakhand movement refers to the events of statehood activism within the undivided state of Uttar Pradesh which ultimately resulted in the formation of Uttarakhand, India as a separate state.^[1]

The demand to make Uttarakhand a state was first raised at a special session of the Indian National Congress held in Srinagar between 5 and 6 May 1938. The movement gained traction and by 1994, the demand for a separate state eventually took the form of a mass movement that resulted in the formation of India's 27th state on 9th November 2000.

Jeet Bahadur Gurung became the first martyr in Pauri on 8 August 1994.

Cause of Genesis

The region of present-day Uttarakhand consists of the administrative divisions Garhwal and Kumaon, which had up to the entry of the British Raj in the region, been ruled by various local kings and chieftains.

Much of the Garhwal and Kumaon Kingdoms were invaded by the expansionist Gorkha Regime in the later quarter of the 18th century. This marked the beginning of the exploitative "Twelve-Year-Rule" in the state. Soon after the rulers of Garhwal took the help of the British forces in India to regain their kingdom. The Gorkha rule in Kumaon and Garhwal came to an end after the Anglo-Nepalese War where Kumaon and Garhwal were ceded to the British as part of the Treaty of Sugauli in 1816. Following this, the Raj made half of Garhwal (Tehri) into a subsidiary princely state, and the rest of Garhwal along with Kumaon was made part of the United Province of Agra and Oudh. In Tehri, the monarchy persisted until the Indian Independence after which it became an integral part of Independent India.

Some of the more notable proto-statehood movements arose as self-governance moments against the monarchy (as in Tehri) or as part of the wider Indian Freedom Struggle against the British Raj. Some of the first demands of statehood in pre-Independent India arose from alleged administrative neglect as part of the larger United Province, due to the impaired accessibility of the region. Some prominent figures of the anti-monarchy movement like Sridev Suman became popular figures in the post-independence Statehood struggle.

Movement timeline

As a unit of the Indian independence movement in
1913: The national general convention of the Indian National Congress was held in Uttarakhand, and was attended by many state representatives. That same year, Tamta Sudharini Sabha held a convention for the upliftment of the backward and oppressed people of the area, the Shilpkar Mahasabha in the state.
1916: In September, the Kumaon Parishad was founded by a few young activists; Pt Hargovind Vallabh Pant, Govind Ballabh Pant, Badri Datt Pandey, Indralal Shah, Mohan Singh Damarwal Chandra Lal Shah Prem Ballabh Pandey, Bhola Datt Pandey and Lakshmi Datt Shastri—with the main objective of solving social and economic problems of the hill region. By 1916, in addition to the local general reforms, certain political objectives were added to the organization's goals. In the Provincial elections of 1923 and 1926, Kumaon Parishad, Hargovind Vallabh Pant, Govind Vallabh Pant, Mukundi Lal, and Badri Datt Pandey won by a landslide.
1926: Kumaon Parishad was merged with the Indian National Congress.
1938: In May of that year, official sources of the British Raj reported the national general convention of the Indian National Congress held at Srinagar, Garhwal had Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru favoured the cause of the movement to enrich their culture.
1940: At the Haldwani conference, Badri Datt Pandey voiced a need to grant special status to the mountainous region. Anusuya Prasad Bahuguna proposed the formation of Kumaon - Garhwal as separate units.
1954: the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council member Indra Singh Nayal demanded a separate development plan for the highlands to then Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Govind Ballabh Pant.
1955: Justice Fazal Ali's commission recommended the formation of the hill region as a separate state to the Government of India.
1957: Deputy chairman of the Planning Commission, T. T. Krishnamachari suggested special attention be given to the issues of the hill region.
12 May 1970: then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi addressed the issues of the hill region and admitted that the diagnosis of the problems of the hill region is the responsibility of both State and Central Governments.
24 July 1979: The Uttarakhand Kranti Dal was founded in Mussoorie with the objective of the formation of a separate hill state.
June 1987: at the party convention of UKD in Karnaprayag, party leaders called for the constitution of conflict and isolation. In November, UKD passed the party resolution for the formation of the new state in the memorandum and the party president also sought to include Haridwar in the proposed state.
1994: Students all over the region participated in the collective movement for separate statehood and reservations. The Uttarakhand movement was then further intensified in the field by the anti-Uttarakhand statement of then Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Mulayam Singh Yadav. The leaders of UKD held fast-unto-death in support of their demand for a separate state. State government employees struck work for three months, and the events of the Uttarakhand movement got more intensified with the blockades and confrontation with the police. Uttarakhand activists in Mussoorie and Khatima were shot down by the police.
Under the aegis of the Samyukta Morcha on 2 October 1994, massive demonstrations and protests for the support of statehood took place in the national capital Delhi. Thousands of Uttarakhand activists marched to Delhi to participate in this struggle. The activists peacefully taking part in the demonstration near Rampur Tiraha crossing, Muzaffarnagar were tortured and openly fired without any warning before the firing.^[2] Policemen were also alleged for indecent behavior and rapes with women activists. Satya Pokhriyal was the leader who led all the people from the mishappening, with the other helping civilians and protestors alike. Several people were killed, and many were injured. This misadventure by the police added fuel to the fire of the Uttarakhand movement. The next day 3 October, the protests were called off for the demolition of firing and several deaths all over the region.
In March 1994, the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav decided to implement the Mandal Commission recommendation of reserving 27 percent of jobs in government and places in schools and colleges for socially and economically backward castes and classes. The Hills had a negligible OBC population of 2.5%. Reserving the seat for OBC meant all Govt seats going to the plains of Uttar Pradesh. It resulted in the intensification of the statehood protests. ^[3] ^[4]
On 7 October 1994, a female activist died after the brutal attack by police in Dehradun while she was protesting against Rampur Tiraha Firings, and the activists in return stormed the police station.
On 15 October, a curfew took in Dehradun, and one activist was killed on the same day.
On 27 October 1994, then Home Minister of India, Rajesh Pilot held the talks with the statehood activists. Meanwhile, at Sriyantra Tapu, Srinagar several activists were killed in a brutal attack by the police.
15 August 1996: Then Prime Minister H. D. Deve Gowda, of the Janta Dal-led United Front, announces the formation of a new state Uttaranchal from the Red Fort, Delhi.
1998: The BJP-led coalition government follows through the Red Fort announcement and sends the 'Uttaranchal Bill' to the Government of Uttar Pradesh through the President of India. With 26 amendments the Uttaranchal Bill was passed by the Uttar Pradesh Assembly and sent back to the Central Government.
27 July 2000: The Central Government presents the Uttar Pradesh Reorganisation Bill 2000 in the Parliament of India. It was passed by the Lok Sabha on 1 August 2000, and the Rajya Sabha passed the bill on 10 August 2000.
28 August 2000: Then President of India, K. R. Narayanan approved the Uttar Pradesh Reorganisation Bill and then it turned into Act on 9 November 2000 the new state Uttaranchal came into existence as the 27th state of India now known as Uttarakhand.

Instances of violence

Khatima firing case

On 1 September 1994, police opened fire on activists resulting in the death of seven activists. This resulted in anger and mass agitation among people and students. Vijay Joshi S/o BB Joshi from Tanakpur intensified till 1995 and led a mass rally from Kumaon hills, Muzaffarnagar, Kotdwar to Delhi.

Mussoorie firing case

On 2 September 1994, to protest against the police action in the Khatima firing, a march was taken out in Mussoorie. At Jhulaghar, the constabulary opened fire on protestors leading to the death of Belmati Chauhan, Hansa Dhanai, Balbir Singh, Rai Singh Bangari, Madan Mamgain and Dhanpat Singh, and Circle Officer Uma Kant Tripathi. Apart from them, eighteen people were treated for bullet injuries.

Rampur Tiraha (Muzaffarnagar) firing case

See main article: Rampur Tiraha firing case. The activists, part of the agitation for the separate state of Uttarakhand, were going to Delhi to stage a dharna, a sit-in protest at Raj Ghat on Gandhi Jayanti. The following day, when allegedly unprovoked police firing during the night of 1 October led to the death of six activists, and some women were allegedly brutally raped and molested in the ensuing melee. Mulayam Singh Yadav was Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh when the incident occurred. Eight policemen, including three Inspectors, were proven guilty and prosecuted in the resulting case.^[5]

Dehradun firing case

The incident occurred on 3 October 1994 in Muzaffarnagar near Dehradun. The people were expected to be fierce. The situation following the funeral of Martyr Late Ravindra Rawat resulted in fierce battles between the police and protesters in the entire Dehradun. The police who were already prepared to suppress the uprising in any eventuality resorted to firing, which killed three people.

Late Rajesh Rawat's death was alleged to have been a result of firing from the house of the Samajwadi Party leader Suryakant Dhasmana.

Kotdwar case

On 3 October 1994, the whole of Uttarakhand was boiled in protest against the Rampur Tiraha incident and the police administration was ready to suppress it by any means. In this episode, there was also a movement in Kotdwar, in which two agitators were beaten to death by policemen with rifle butt strokes and sticks.^[2]

Nainital firing case

The protest was at its peak in Nainital too, but due to its leadership being in the hands of intellectuals, the police could not do anything, but they took out their anger on Pratap Singh, who worked in Hotel Pacific. RAF soldiers pulled him from the hotel and when he ran towards the hotel Meghdoot to escape, he was shot in the neck and killed.

Sriyantra Tapu (Srinagar) case

Activists started fast unto death on 7 November 1994, at Sriyantra Tapu situated near Srinagar, against these repressive actions and for the demand for the formation of a new state Uttarakhand. On 10 November 1994, the police climbed the island and caused havoc. Many people were injured badly. In the series of events, police attacked two young men using the lathi and hit them with the butt strokes of their guns. Police then threw those men into the river Alaknanda and hit them repeatedly with stones, resulting in the death of both activists.

Their bodies were not recovered by police for 15 days. The chairman of the ex-serviceman group (Virendra Prasad Kukshal) heard about the incident he began fast unto death for 7 days, and due to this Government agencies started the search and recovered the bodies. On 14 November 1994, the two dead bodies were found floating in the Alaknanda River near Bagwan.

Notable figures

P.C. Joshi

P.C. Joshi, a minister of the Communist Party, demanded from the Indian government the establishment of a separate state based on geographical and cultural differences. This plea brought forth a discussion on statehood while also taking into account the Karachi session (1931), wherein Jawahar Lal Nehru had also given his consent to a state separation.

Indramani Badoni

Often referred to as the "Mountain Gandhi", Indramani Badoni was at the forefront of the movement in Garhwal. In 1994, Badoni began a fast unto death in Pauri to demand a separate Uttarakhand state and was subsequently put in Muzaffarnagar jail.

External links

Notes and References

Web site: Bisht . Brijmohan . 2013-03-26 . Uttarakhand History - Milestones that lead the formation of Uttarakhand . 2022-08-01 . www.euttaranchal.com.
Web site: Hill state was carved out after 70 yrs of struggle | Lucknow News. The Times of India. 2011-11-17. Rajiv Srivastava. 2021-01-04.
Web site: Angry Hills: An Uttarakhand state of mind. November 1994.
Web site: Parties mum on raising OBC quota in govt jobs. 28 January 2015.
Web site: Rampur Tiraha firing case. english.samaylive.com. 2021-01-04.