The Linguistic Reorganization of the state

Situation before Independence 

British used to divide the states as per their convenience. They didn't even about Indian people. For instance,  partition of Bengal (1905) which curved the feeling of Nationalism.

But after Independence, there was a need of reorganization of states because:

A. Administrative reason : some states of large in area.

B. Integration of new 562 princely states.

But the Indian government was in a dilemma of what basis the states of India should divide on ? Available option, at that time, was linguistic basis. There were also some arguments in favor of reorganizing the states on the basis of language. 

A. Language act as a centre point for any culture.

B. Students can get education in their own language. 

C. Local people will get more representation & feeling of direct democracy. 

D. In 1917, congress supported demand for Linguistic provinces.

E. In 1921, congress created regional congress committee based on language. 

F. Bal Gangadhar Tilak was also in favour of Linguistic reorganization of states.

After Independence,  Nehru stand changed and he thought reorganization on the basis of language wouldn't work out because it's time of India to be united. But there were riots going on between different Linguistic people. For instance,  Madras was demanded by both Tamil speaking people and Telgu speaking as well.  Demand of the formation of Punjab,  Maharashtra,  Andhra Pradesh and Kerala. 

At last, Dhar committee constituted, which suggested not a right time to reorganise the states on Linguistic basis. People were not satisfied with the suggestion of Dhar committee. 

JVP committee, stands for Jawaharlal Nehru, Vallabhbhai Patel and P. Sitaramayya (1949), which submitted its report to All India Congress committee.  It again rejected the demand of reorganization of states on Linguistic basis but said that if demands were very popular, we would consider it on one condition, which was the people living in a states speaking different language had not any problem to it. 

In Madras, there was a big movement going on to create a state for Telgu speaking people. Reasons :

A. Low irrigation facilities. 

B. Region was dominated by Tamil speaking people.

C. Less political representation. 

D. Economical backwardness. 

E. Lack of Universities. 

This led to a situation of civil war because there was a gandhian leader, Potti Sriramulu decided to protest and chose to fast until death. Who, at last, died.

To maintain peace, Nehru accepted the demand of the creation of Andhra Pradesh state. But, by this act, people belonging to other regions also started demanding for separate states. So, Nehru formed State Reorganization Commission to complete the reasonable demands of people. The committe was consisting of :

A. Fazal Ali

B. H. N Kunzru

C. K. M Panikkar

On the basis of State Reorganization Commission many states created but one thing keeping in mind that the integrity, sovereignty and unity of the country shouldn't be harmed.

Such as:

A. Mysore ( Karnataka)

B. Kerala 

C. Madras Province ( Tamil Nadu)

D. Andhra Pradesh

E. Uttar Pradesh

F. Madhya Pradesh 

G. Bihar

H. Rajasthan 

Formation of Maharashtra 

S.R.C rejected the proposal of formation of Maharashtra as a state but again the movement started by Shankar Dev Rai from Smyukta Maharashtra Parishad. Nehru told to make Maharashtra as an Union Territory for 5 years but it was opposed by many people. The pressure of forming Maharashtra as a state was increasing day by day, so, atlast Nehru accepted and Maharashtra became a state of India with Bombay as a capital with the assurance that linguistic minorities would be provided proper facilities and security. 

This led to the formation of two states:

1. Maharashtra 

2. Gujarat 

India - Pakistan war and creation of Bangladesh

India got Independence in August 15, 1947, India is situated between western and eastern Pakistan (now Bangladesh). Earlier,  Bangladesh was a colony of Britishers and after the independence of India, it became the colony of western Pakistan.  Eastern Pakistan used to be exploited by western Pakistan.  For instance,  at the time of droughts and famine, no resue operations held by Western Pakistan. Moreover, the revenue generated from jute productions used by western Pakistan in purchasing weapons. 

Eastern Pakistan struggled a lot to recognize the Bengali as the official language. They didn't even had any political representation and a ruler always elected from the western Pakistan. At that time, Yahya Khan was the ruler of Western Pakistan, he thought to conduct an election. The movement led by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman (father of current PM Sheikh Haseena of Bangladesh) and Zulfikar Ali Bhutto ( father of Banazir Bhutto) from eastern and western Pakistan respectively. Luckily, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman won the election because he got 167 seats out of 169 from eastern Pakistan, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, on the other hand, got just 88 seats out of 144 seats. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was about to rule in the eastern Pakistan but Yahya Khan arrested both of them ( Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and Zulfikar Ali Bhutto) and sent Rahman to a secret place in Pakistan. 

These incidents drived to start riots in eastern Pakistan. Later on, the western Pakistani army arrived in eastern Pakistan and an operation searchlight ( a planned military army carried on by western Pakistani army to squash the nationalist movements) started by them. More than 10 lakhs refugees entered in the Indian territory. As we all know India has a soft corner for refugees and even today, India has many refugees from Afghanistan and many other countries. 

Why did India entered into the war ?

Pakistan was putting charges on India and Israel for interfering in the eastern Pakistan.  India just asked Pakistan to sort out everything as soon as possible because the number of refugees were kept on increasing. India had a doubt that Pakistan may not start the war again like 1965 because according to a report of RAW ( Research  Analysis Wing), Pakistan was collecting weapons and at that time, the friendship between Pakistan and China were on the peak. Eastern Pakistan had an organization naming Mukti Bahini ( armed organization) which was opposing Western Pakistan too. So, India started providing weapons to it and even BSF started training and later on, Indian army controlled them for army tactics. Indian cabinet ministers travelled to various countries to explain the situation and requested them to ask Pakistan to solve the issue soon because the burden of refugees in India was increasing. 

India - USSR Friendship Treaty 

1. Before the war, India started developing a good relationship with USSR.

2. Pakistan had already a good relations with the U.S.A and China.

3. A triangular relation was observed between USA , China and Pakistan. 

4. India required a good friend which was USSR.

5. So In 1971, a friendship treaty was signed between India and USSR. This was possible because the relationship between China and USSR, at that time, wasn't good enough because both countries adopted communism and for both countries the ideology of communism was different. Moreover,  there was a boundary dispute was going on between China and USSR.

India - Pakistan War in 1971

Now Pakistan started shelling in the eastern Pakistan and India started covering firing to save refugees which ultimately, turned into a full-fledged war. From western Jammu & Kashmir to Easter Pakistan, war was started. Now India went to eastern Pakistan for liberation of Bangladesh. 

Pakistan was expecting help from China & USA, China didn't help Pakistan but USA did by sending a ship to Bay of Bengal but couldn't help Pakistan because of India - USSR Friendship Treaty. Indian army entered into the territory of Eastern Pakistan and forced to surrender 90,000 Pakistani soldiers. This happened because Pakistani thought that Indian army had captured the whole area. Atlast new country Bangladesh formed.

Reasons why did we win the war

1. The Pakistani army had already low morale because of fighting with their own people.

2. Leadership of India Gandhi was strong enough.

3. The country was unified during the war and the Indian government helped Bangladesh to form the government. 

4. RAW was introduced which helped to find the secrets of Pakistan. 

5. Indian military was superior as compared to Pakistan. 

6. Mukti Bahini was aware of all the routes and ways and there were also trained by the Indian army.

7. Neither USA nor China supported Pakistan whereas USSR fully supported Indian during the war.

India - Pakistan War

As we all recall September 23 as the day of anniversary of war fought between India and Pakistan. Now you must be thinking what circumstances brought India to fight with Pakistan. I'll let you know.

Circumstances before 1965

1. Death of Nehru

The death of Nehru created political uncertainty in the INC because people, at that time, used to think that there was no other best leader as Nehru. There was a fight going on for the PM.

2. Indo - China War

Pakistan was thinking that India had recently badly defeated by China and it may be possible India gets defeated this time too. So its a right time to take Jammu & Kashmir away from India.

3. Naga problem

The people of Nagaland were demanding for their separate country. 

4. Two back to back drought 

There were droughts occurred one after another and this lead Indian economy in slowdown.

5. Jabalpur riots

There was a riots happened between Hindu & Muslim in Jabalpur.

Dispute over Sir Creek

As you can see the above image, showing the map of state Gujarat of India. Sir Creek is situated in Gujarat.  This was a disputed area at that time between India and Pakistan. Pakistan started firing and captured 40 miles of that region. This leads to enhance the confidence of Pakistan and they thought to capture Kashmir in the same way.

Operation Gibraltar 

Now Pakistan planned an operation named operation Gibraltar because of some past story. 

In past, Muslims traveled through strait of Gibraltar and got victory in Spain. So Pakistan also wanted the same to happen in India. 

In this operation, Pakistan sent its armies in civilian uniform to start an uprising in Kashmir. They reached and started attacking on government building and destroyed communication and created chaos. The hidden purpose of them was to show that Kashmiri citizens wanted Independence but fortunately, even Kashmiri people started helping Indian government in the process of identifying Pakistani armies. So this operation was shutdown completely, at last.

Operation Grand Slam

In the operation Chamb, Pakistan sent armies and started fighting. There was a very intensive fight going on between India and Pakistan in J&K.

1965 WAR

This time Pakistan wanted to capture Akhnoor war, so that Indian supply of POONCH RAJOURI SECTOR can be stopped. So the army General met to Lal Bahadur Shastri and requested about to open western front and warned about the consequences that after opening western front, full scale war would be started. As Lal Bahadur Shastri was a strong leader, all he said was given his permission to do so even after knowing the result. The fight on the second front was fought with tanks and India successfully won the war.

1965 WAR : Ceasefire and Tashkent Agreement 

1. Pakistan were thinking that China would help them but China didn't help Pakistan and criticised India.

2. The secretary General of U.S.A,  U.Thant  travelled to capitals of both countries and declared ceasefire.

3. After sometimes,  the USSR invited the President of Pakistan Ayub Khan and Indian Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri to Tashkent to sign on an agreement. 

4. The agreement talks about returning back the important captured area of Lahore to Pakistan and India got the area of Sir Creek back.

The reason behind this agreement was International pressure and economic development of India.

Reason behind winning the war

A very important question coming in your mind is what made India won the war over Pakistan whereas India lost the war with China in 1962. There were more factors and lessons learned India during and after Indo - China war. 

1. 2nd front opening 

The decision taken by Shastri proved the right one because opening of second front led to decrease the pressure on Kashmir.

2. Air force use

During Indo - China war, India had comparatively weak Air force at that time but during India - Pakistan war, Indian air force played a vital role in winning the war.

3. Support from Kashmir 

Kashmiri citizens supported Indian government a lot. Pakistan were thinking that Kashmiri people would support them but unfortunately, they didn't work in favour of Pakistan.

4. Military weapons shopping 

After losing with China in 1962, India learned that investing in military equipment is very essential for winning a war. So Indian foreign minister travelled to various countries and purchased so many during 3 years which ultimately,  helped India in winning the war with Pakistan. 

5. Jai Jawan Jai Kisan 

The slogan was a huge motivation for the country and it helped in uniting the states.

Consequences of the war

1. Morale boosting 

After losing the war with China, India faced humiliation but later on, after winning the war with Pakistan, the morale of India upsurge.

2. USSR friendship treaty 

The relationship of India with USSR became cordial because of India's winning the war with Pakistan. In 1971, India signed a treaty with USSR.

3. Military importance 

After losing the war with China, India understood the importance of military but after winning the war with Pakistan, India started maintaining a good military. 

Below given some previous years questions asked in UPSC examination regarding above given topic. You must go through it to get a deep insight of it.

Q. Analyse the circumstances that led to Tashkent Agreement in 1966. Discuss the highlights of the agreement.  UPSC 2013.

Q. Write a critical note on the evolution and significance of the slogan "Jai Jawan Jai Kishan" . UPSC 2013.

Citizenship

Synopsis 

The concept of citizenship came into existence since November 26, 1949. The citizenship is mentioned in part II of The Indian Constitution under Article 5 - 11. "Citizenship is the status of a person recognized under the custom or law of a sovereign state as a member of or belonging to the state". Basically Citizenship can be categorized as Citizens and Aliens.

Citizens: those people who enjoy all civil and political rights.

Aliens : Aliens, on the other hand, are those people who belong to some other state.

The citizenship brings:

* Rights

* Duties

* Privileges

* Obligations

Article 5 : Citizenship at the commencement of the Constitution: Domicile 

Article 6 : Right of citizenship of certain persons migrated from Pakistan to India.

Article 7 : Rights of citizenship of persons migrated to Pakistan but later returned to India

Article 8 :  Rights of citizenship of  Indian origin persons who are residing outside India

Article 9 : Persons voluntarily acquired citizenship of other country.

Article 10 :  Continuance of rights of citizenship 

Article 11 :  Parliament to regulate the rights of citizenship by law.

Article 5

This article provides that a person is eligible to become the Citizen of India 

1. if at the time of commencement of the constitution he has his domicile in the Indian territory OR

2. Either of his/her parents were born in India OR 

3. He has been ordinarily resident of Indian territory for not less than five years immediately before the commencement of the Indian Constitution. 

Note: The term 'Domicile' here is not defined in The Indian Constitution. 

Article 6

This article provides citizenship to the migrants of Pakistan before the commencement of the Constitution

1. The person migrating to India before July 19, 1948 And 

2. The person migrating to India after July 19,1948.

Note: Permit system for migration was introduced on July 19,1948. 

Article 7 

A person who migrated to Pakistan from India after March 1,1947, but later returned to India for resettlement could become a Citizen of India.

For this the person must to be the resident of India for 6 months before the date of his application for registration. 

Note: The person migrating from Pakistan to India after January 26, 1950 are governed by The Citizenship Act,1955.

Article 8

This article provides that:

A person OR

Any of his/her parents OR

Any of his/her grand parents born in India as defined by The Government Of India Act,1935 but ordinarily residing outside India shall become a citizen of India if registered as a citizen of India in that country. 

Note: with respect to before or after the commencement of India Constitution. 

Article 9

This article provides that if a person voluntarily acquire the citizenship of another country, he shall forfeit the right of citizenship of India.

Note: The above mentioned clause is applicable to cases arising before the Commencement of Indian Constitution. 

Such casese arising after the commencement of Indian Act shall be dealt by Citizenship Act,1955.

Article 10

This article provides that a person who is or deemed to be a citizen of India shall continue to be a citizen of India.

Article 11

This article provides the Parliament to enact legislations pertaining to the acquisition and termination of the citizenship. 

The citizenship can be acquired by 5 ways:

1. By birth

2. By descent

3. By registration 

4. By naturalization 

5. By incorporating a territory 

A. BY BIRTH

* amended in the year 1986.

*  a person is the citizen of India by birth if :

a. He is born in India on or after January 26,1950 but before June 30,1987 OR

b. He is born in India on or after July 1,1987 but at the time of the birth either of his parents was a citizen of India.

Note: The children of foreign diplomats posted in India and enemy aliens cannot acquire the Indian citizenship by birth.

B. BY DESCENT 

A person born outside India was entitled to Indian citizenship if his father was an Indian citizen.

Note: Not mother

So, this was amended in the year 1992. A person born outside India on or after January 26, 1950 is a citizen of India by descent if, at the time of his birth either of his parents was an Indian citizen. 

C. BY REGISTRATION 

1. Persons of Indian origin who are ordinarily resident in India for 5 years immediately before making an application for registration.