Violence may erupt in UP hills over Udham Singh Nagar
Lucknow: With tension mounting over the question of inclusion of Udham Singh Nagar in the proposed new hill state of Uttrakhand, intelligence sources are apprehending large scale violence in the otherwise quiet Himalayan foothill region.
What has heightened tensions was the recent visit of Akali (Mann) supremo Simranjeet Singh Mann with a band of 150 supporters from Punjab. Mann traversed every nook and corner of the long strip of Udham Singh Nagar that was sliced off the famous hill resort of Nainital to me made an independent district some three years ago. Terming it as a challenge to Akali pride, Mann exhorted the local Sikhs not to allow the inclusion of this district in Uttrakhand 'I am with you and would be willing to go to any extent to support your cause, Mann was reported to have told locals in Udham Singh Nagar.
Justifying the demand for exclusion of the district from the new hill state, Mann told this scribe over telephone, it is we who tilled the soil for all these decades our people had to face onslaught of tigers, leopards and leeches in the marshy forest covered lands here, when Sikhs first came here after the partition in 1947, he said. He did not deny that all the land was simply gifted to the Sikh refugees, but went on to assert, just go through the pages of history and see the condition of how these lands used to be then and look at these now; there is hell and heaven difference.'
Close on the heels of Mann came his rival outfit Akali (Badal leader from Punjab, H.C.A twal, who is presently speaker of the Punjab assembly. Though not as aggressive in his utterances, Atwal also went around meeting sikhs in the region, giving them assurance of the party che Prakash Singh Badal's full support to the cause.
This is being seen as a direct intervention by outsiders, in the internal affairs of another state by those who see no logic behind the Akali demand. How could be forgot that if anybody task the initiative of rehabilitating the Sikh refugees here, it was none other than the hills strengthen Gobind Ballabh Pant, points out Uttrakhand activist Rajiv Lochan Sah of Nainital over telephone. And there is enough evidence to testify how Pant pursuaded the Tharu and Burhas tribals who, as nomads would spend their winter here, to relinquish their claim to these lands in favour of the more needy refugees.
Today what lies at the root of the whole issue is the extensive land holdings held by the Sikh refugees of yesterday, who have turned into affluent farmers of this region. Considering that bulk of the land here is concentrated in a few hands lays testimony t the charge that much of the land here is concentrated in a few hands lays testimony to the charge that much of the land is under illegal possession of influential and affluent Sikhs. It is an open secret that the Punjab chief minister and Akali Dal leader Prakash Singh Badal's holdings stretch across to more than 2000 acres. Of course it is another matter that to circumvent the calling laws that do not permit a land holding of more than 18 acres, a large chunk of this property to hold in the name of different members of the Badal family.
The Akali Dal leader, who was responsible for igniting the Udham Singh Mangr firm, has found certain other ways to save himself from the possible action under a new. Recently the well known Badal Farms have put up a couple of hoardings to advertise the sale of part of the holdings.
Like Badal, there are many others who smack of opulence. You name a thing and you could be sure of finding it in any of the luxurious that span the legnth of ther ich tarai belt, where Jim Corbett once used to tread in search of the man esters that then infested the one time dense forests along the Himalayan foothills. And it is these modern zamindars who are more worried than anybody else about the inclusion of Udham Singh Nagar in the proposed hill state of Uttarkhand.
What surprises those who have been associated with the Uttrakhand movement for the past so many years is the double-speak of the Sikh leaders. They have derived all the benefits including subsidies accruing to them by the virtue of being a part of the hills right from the hill people so they must continue to remain with UP, argues Rajiv Lochan Sah, a hill activist from Nainital. Another activist Mahesh Joshi wants to know, how do these people claim themselves to be culturally aligned to Up, I fail to understand.' While quipping, don't be surprised if tomorrow some of them ask for a corridor to Punjab on the same culture plea.' Significantly, the once much hyped map of Khalistan depicted UP's teral belt (including Udham Singh Nagar) as an integral part of the demanded Sikh state.
After all Udham Singh Nagar was carved out of none other than the popular UP hill resort of Nainital by the then BSP chief minister Mayawati.
Interestingly, smaller outfits have cropped up to plead the cause of the affluent Sikhs in the Udham Singh Nagar area. One of these under the banner of Udham Singh. Nagar Sangharsh Samiti, led by Rajesh Shukla is seemingly the most aggressively of the lot of present. But apart from harping on the old tune of cultural alienation' the samiti has not much argument to place in support of its demand to exclude it from the New hill state.
While Udham Singh Nagar is still the boiling point, the BJP government has given rise to fresh trouble by declaring the inclusion of Haridwar too in Uttarkhand. And even though Congress has decided to play it safe by keeping itself out of the controversy, Samajwadi Party as well as Bahujan Samaj Party have thrown the spanner in to give BJP sleepless rights. While nothing could bring BSP and SP together despite BJP being their common and equality own political foe, Udham Singh Nagar has perhaps cleared the docks for the repproachment that could spell doom for the ruling BJP - at least in Uttar Pradesh.