On 27th December, just a day before the scheduled meeting on the Sutlej-Yamuna Link canal between Punjab and Haryana, the Aam Aadmi Party’s Cabinet Minister from Punjab, Laljit Singh Bhullar, called for merging Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh to form a “Maha-Punjab“. He said that Haryana and Himachal Pradesh were created by spiting Punjab, and now the bigger state should be reinstated by merging them.
He added that Chandigarh should also be included. Bhullar also accused the then-central government of splitting Punjab to create Haryana.
The Central Government should consider incorporating Haryana and Himachal Pradesh into Punjab. Responding to the Syl issue, AAP Punjab Cabinet Minister Laljit Singh Bhullar suggested that if Haryana becomes part of Punjab, many issues would be easily resolved. He also added that… pic.twitter.com/u6MF1E8Ent
— Gagandeep Singh (@Gagan4344) December 28, 2023
In a statement, while speaking to the media, Bhullar said, “Haryana and Punjab are brothers. Haryana is the younger brother, and Punjab is the elder brother. BJP is trying to create differences between the two brothers. The separation (of states) should be demolished. The Centre should consider merging Himachal Pradesh and Haryana in Punjab so that we can become one. Chandigarh should also be included. It was Maha-Punjab earlier. There was a time when there was only one chief minister of Punjab. The Centre should reconsider merging the three states. People of Haryana will be happy too.”
Bhullar was in Bhiwani in Haryana when he gave the statement. The media asked Bhullar about his views on the SYL matter. Instead of providing a straightforward answer, Bhullar called for merging Haryana, Punjab and HP into one state.
What is the SYL water dispute
The canal, once completed, will enable sharing of the water from rivers Beas and Ravi between the two states. Before Haryana was formed, undivided Punjab was given 7.20 MAF (Million-acre feet) out of the total 15.85 MAF water flowing down Ravi and Beas. Among other stakeholders, Rajasthan was allotted 8 MAF while Jammu and Kashmir got 0.65 MAF.
After the creation of Haryana, the centre issued a notification allocating 3.5 MAF to Haryana out of the 7.2 MAF allotted to Punjab before the reorganisation. In a reassessment in 1981, the water flowing down Beas and Ravi was estimated at 17.17 MAF, out of which 4.22 MAF was allocated to Punjab, 3.5 MAF to Haryana, and 8.6 MAF to Rajasthan.
In 1982, PM Indira Gandhi launched the construction of the SYL canal at Kapoori village in Patiala. However, Akalis started a protest movement against it by the name of Kapoori Morcha. In 1985, then-PM Rajiv Gandhi signed an agreement with Akali Dal chief Sant Harchand Singh Longowal for a new tribunal to assess the water. Shortly afterwards, Longowal was killed by the terrorists in Punjab.
In 1990, the chief engineer working on the project, ML Sekhri and a Superintending Engineer, Avtar Singh Aulakh, were killed by Balwinder Jattana (mentioned in Sidhu Moosewala’s song), and following that, the construction of the canal came to a halt.
Reorganisation of Punjab
After the independence, East Punjab was the province that included current Punjab and Haryana, and northern parts of Himachal Pradesh. In September 1066, Punjab Reorganisation Act was passed by the parliament, forming the state of Haryana. The Act also transferred some regions to Himachal Pradesh. This separation was the result of the Punjabi Suba movement, which agitated for the creation of an autonomous Punjabi-speaking state. Therefore, a majority Hindi-speaking state Haryana was created. The Punjabi Suba movement gave birth to the violent Khalistani movement.
