Punjab To Be Two States

Press, Volume CV, Issue 31016, 23 March 1966, Page 19

Punjab To Be Two States

(N.Z.P.A. Reuter—Copyright)

NEW DELHI, March 22.

The Indian Government announced yesterday it has decided to split the north-west State of the Punjab into two States, one speaking Punjabi and the other Hindi.

The proposal caused bloody riots in the Punjab when it was put forward recently by the ruling Congress Party.

The Government decision was announced to Parliament by Mr Gulzarilal Nanda, the Home Minister.

The area of the Punjab adjoining Pakistan will form the new Punjabi-speaking State with a population of about 12 million, 55 per cent of them Sikh. Another State called Hariana will be formed from the Hindi-speaking areas near Delhi, with a population of about seven million.

Hindi areas in the Himalayan foothills, with a population of one and half million, will be merged with the existing state of Himachal. An unofficial count has put the death toll in rioting over the issue at 14. The area has since been reported quiet, but the authorities have banned assemblies, processions and meetings. Mr Nanda told Parliament the Government had accepted in principle a parliamentary committee’s recommendations on the division.

The Government had also accepted recommendations that the boundaries be determined by experts, and early steps would be taken to carry out the reorganisation, he said.