History of Uttarakhand Statehood Movement

Uttarakhand earlier used to be a part of Uttar Pradesh, but due to being a hilly area, development was not taking place in the hilly areas of Uttar Pradesh. Due to a lack of development, rural people demanded the separation of Uttarakhand from Uttar Pradesh.

But this demand was ignored at that time, after which people started protesting and during this the police brutalized the agitators several times.

Even before India became independent, there was a demand for the separation of Uttarakhand. For the first time in the year 1897, the demand for making Uttarakhand a separate state was raised and gradually this demand kept getting raised many times. The demand for making Uttarakhand a separate state was first raised in the Congress session held in Srinagar Garhwal on 5-6 May 1938.

At that time, this demand was supported by local leaders along with Congress leader Jawahar Lal Nehru who had come to the meeting at that time. This demand continued continuously from 1897 to 1994. However, in the year 1994, this demand took the form of a mass movement and finally the movement bore fruits and Uttarakhand became the 27th state of India.

Major movements to make Uttarakhand a separate state

Locals organized several movements to make Uttarakhand a separate state. Not only men but also women and youth have played important roles in the movements.

Today we roam around Uttarakhand with pleasure. We enjoyed the beautiful valleys there, which we did not get so easily. Many agitators have been martyred in separating Uttarakhand. Women of Uttarakhand had also organized forest agitation for different demands.

Let us tell you, even after independence, it took many years for Uttarakhand to get the status of a separate state and on 9 November 2000, Uttarakhand got the status of a separate state.

Talking about the year 1938, in May, through the special session of the Indian National Congress, a demand was raised to make Uttarakhand a separate state. This demand of the local leaders was supported by Jawahar Lal Nehru, who was presiding over the convention.

After this, in the year 1938, Sridev Suman formed an organization named 'Gadhdesh Seva Sangh' in Delhi for the demand of a separate state. After some time the name of this organization was changed to *'Himalaya Seva Sangh'*. (History of Uttarakhand's statehood movement)

Apart from this, in a Congress conference held in Haldwani in 1946 under the chairmanship of Badridatt Pandey, a demand was raised to keep the mountainous region of Uttaranchal in a special category. In this conference, Anusuya Prasad Bahuguna demanded to constitute the region of Garhwal-Kumaon as a separate regional geographical unit. (History of Uttarakhand's statehood movement)

But the then Premier of United Province Govind Ballabh Pant had rejected these demands.

Important committees and organizations formed during the separate state movement

In 1938, Sridev Suman formed an organization in Delhi in the name of Garhdesh Seva Sangh to demand a separate state. Whose name was later changed to Himalaya Seva Sangh.
In 1946, in a Congress conference held in Haldwani under the chairmanship of Badridutt Pandey, a demand was raised to keep the mountainous region of Uttaranchal in a special category.
In 1950, the Hill Development People's Committee was formed to create a larger Himalayan state by merging Himachal and Uttaranchal.
In 1955, the Fazal Ali Commission talked about the reorganization of Uttar Pradesh.
In 1957, King Manvendra Shah of Tehri state started the separate state movement from his own level.

The Hill State Council was formed in a conference in Ramnagar on 24 and 25 June 1967.
On October 3, 1970, PC Joshi, General Secretary of the Communist Party of India, formed the Kumaon National Front and raised the demand for a separate state of Uttarakhand.
In 1972, the workers of Uttaranchal Parishad formed in Nainital staged a dharna at the Vote Club located in Delhi, and in 1973 they again gave the slogan of Delhi Chalo.
Uttarakhand Youth Council was formed in 1976 and the members of the council carried out the movement extensively.
In 1979, the Uttaranchal State Council was established under the leadership of MP Trepan Singh Negi of the Janata Party government. After the Vote Club Parv rally was organized by the Council on 23 July, a memorandum was given to the then Prime Minister Morarji Desai demanding a separate state. (History of Uttarakhand's statehood movement)
Uttarakhand Kranti Dal was formed in the Mountain People's Development Conference held in Mussoorie on 24-25 July 1979.
In 1984, the All India Student Federation created public awareness through a 900-kilometer cycle march in Garhwal regarding the demand for a separate state.
In 1987, Uttarakhand Kranti Dal split, and on 23 November, a huge demonstration was held in Vote Club Delhi in which a memorandum was submitted to the President demanding the inclusion of Haridwar in Uttarakhand.
On April 23, 1987, Trivendra Panwar, vice president of Uttarakhand Kranti Dal, threw a letter bomb in the Parliament demanding a separate state.
In 1987, in the party conference of Almora under the chairmanship of BJP's LK Advani, the demand of giving separate state status to each region of Uttar Pradesh was accepted.
In 1988, Uttaranchal Utthan Parishad was formed under the chairmanship of Soban Singh Cheema.
In January 1990, all the organizations together formed the Uttaranchal Joint Struggle Committee to run the movement.
In 1990, Jaswant Singh Bisht, as an MLA of Uttarakhand Kranti Dal, put forward the first proposal for a separate state in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly.
In the 1991 elections, BJP included the establishment of a separate state in its manifesto and as promised, on August 20, 1991, the state government sent the proposal for a separate Uttaranchal to the Centre.
In July 1992, Uttarakhand Kranti Dal issued an important document regarding a separate state and declared Gairsain as the capital of the proposed state. This document was considered the first blueprint of Uttarakhand Kranti Dal.
In January 1993, Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav constituted a cabinet committee under the chairmanship of Urban Development Minister Ramshankar Kaushik to publicize the structure and capital of Uttarakhand state.
Kaushik Committee presented its report in May 1994. The report recommended the creation of a separate state of Uttarakhand and its capital Gairsain by merging the then hilly districts.

On June 21, 1994, after accepting the recommendations of the Kaushik Committee, in August 1994, the proposal for the formation of a separate Uttarakhand state by including 8 hill districts was sent to the Center after being passed unanimously in the Assembly.
In the same phase, a committee was formed under the chairmanship of Vinod Barthwal. The objective of this committee was to give suggestions on the necessity of a separate Uttarakhand state.
In 1994, Indramani Badoni along with her colleagues started a fast unto death against the new reservation policy brought by the Mulayam Singh Yadav government.
On September 1, 1994, 25 people were killed when police opened fire on a rally of students and ex-servicemen in Khatima, Udham Singh Nagar.
A similar incident happened in Mussoorie also on 2 September 1994. Hansa Dhanai and Belmati Chauhan were killed in the Mussoorie incident.
On September 7, 1994, in an all-party meeting, it was agreed to implement a 27 percent reservation in Uttarakhand, while on September 18, during a conference in Ramnagar, the Chhatra Yuva Sangharsh Committee was formed.
On October 2, 1994, the Uttar Pradesh Police tortured the agitators who were going to participate in the rally in Delhi at Rampur Tiraha.
On 7 December 1994, Uttaranchal Pradesh Sangharsh Samiti organized a rally in Delhi under the chairmanship of Mohan Singh Khanduri.
On January 25, 1995, the Uttaranchal Movement Steering Committee took out the Save Constitution Yatra from the Supreme Court to Rashtrapati Bhavan.
On 10 November 1995, the police lathi-charged the agitators sitting on fast unto death at Sriyantra Island in Srinagar, in which Yashodhar Benjwal and Rajesh Rawat died.
On August 15, 1996, from the ramparts of the Red Fort, the then Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda announced the creation of Uttaranchal state.
In 1998, the BJP-led government at the Center through the President sent the Uttarakhand State Bill to the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly for consent. But the proposal could not be passed due to the fall of the government in the Lok Sabha on 22 December. (History of Uttarakhand's statehood movement)
Due to the BJP coming back to power on 27 July 2000, a bill was presented in the Lok Sabha by the name of Uttar Pradesh Reorganization Bill 2000.
On 1 August 2000, the bill was passed in the Lok Sabha and on 10 August in the Rajya Sabha, and on 28 August, President KR Narayanan gave his assent to the Uttar Pradesh Reorganization Bill.
On 9 November 2000, Uttaranchal state was formed as the 27th state of the country by carving out 13 north-western districts of Uttar Pradesh and Dehradun was made its temporary capital.

Important events that happened during the separate state movement

Khatima firing

Not only Uttarakhand but whoever remembers the Khatima firing, his soul trembles. After all, why not tremble, the brutality shown by the police personnel at that time was unbearable. September 1, 1994, is considered the black day of the Uttarakhand state movement, on this day the police had crossed all limits of brutality.

The police had indiscriminately fired on the agitators without giving any warning, due to which 7 agitators died. The news of Khatima's firing troubled the people a lot at that time, but people were passionate about the demand for a separate state.

Let us tell you that in Khatima, a procession was being taken out by thousands of ex-servicemen, students, and businessmen demanding the creation of a state, on which the then Police Inspector of Khatima, D.K. Kane had fired openly. In which 7 agitators were martyred on the spot and hundreds of people were injured.

Martyr in Khatima firing

• Amar Shaheed Late Bhagwan Singh Sirola, Village Sripur Bichuwa, Khatima.

• Amar Shaheed Late Pratap Singh, Khatima

• Amar Shaheed Late Salim Ahmed, Khatima

• Amar Shaheed Late Gopichand, Village Ratanpur Phulaiya, Khatima.

• Amar Shaheed Late Dharmanand Bhatt, Village Amarkalan, Khatima.

• Amar Shaheed Late Paramjit Singh, Rajeevnagar, Khatima.

• Amar Shaheed Late Rampal, Bareilly

Mussoorie shooting

The echo of the bullets fired in the Khatima incident had not yet reached people's ears, then on the very next day i.e. on 2 September 1994, the police in Mussoorie once again took advantage of their uniform and organized a silent procession in protest against the Khatima firing incident. Among the people being evacuated, two sisters who went to talk to the administration were shot by the police in the office of the agitators located at Mall Road Jhulaghar in Mussoorie.

Not only this, the police started firing on the sloganeering agitators along with lathi-charge.

In this indiscriminate firing, about 21 people were shot and out of these, 4 agitators died in the hospital.

Martyrs killed in Mussoorie firing

• Amar Shaheed Late Belmati Chauhan, Village Khlon, Patti Ghat, Akodaya, Tehri.

• Amar Shaheed Late Hansa Dhanai, Village Bangdhar, Patti Dharmandal, Tehri

• Amar Shaheed Late Balbir Singh Negi, Lakshmi Mishthan Bhandar, Library, Mussoorie.

• Amar Shaheed Late Dhanpat Singh, Village Gangwada, Patti Gangwadasyun, Tehri.

• Amar Shaheed Late Madan Mohan Mamgain, Village Nagajali, Patti Kuldi, Mussoorie.

• Amar Shaheed Late Rai Singh Bangari, Village Todera, Patti East Bhardar, Tehri

Rampur Tiraha firing incident

The year 1994 has been very painful for the people of Uttarakhand. Let us tell you, on the night of 1 October and the morning of 2 October, the policemen crossed the limits of inhumanity at Rampur Tiraha in Muzaffarnagar. This was the period when the slogans of *Koda-Jhangora Khaayenge, Apna Uttarakhand Banayenge* were echoing across the country.

At that time it was decided that we would protest at Jantar Mantar in Delhi on 2nd October. People came out of their homes towards Delhi to demonstrate. At the same time, many leaders of the state movement had already reached Delhi.

When the rest of the agitators were coming towards Delhi. The unarmed protesters were surrounded in the dark of night and bullets were fired and women were even raped. Let us tell you, at that time the Mulayam Singh Yadav (SP) government was in power in Uttar Pradesh and it had already been decided that the agitators should not be allowed to go ahead.

When the agitators were coming towards Delhi, first there was a blockade at Narsan Border, but here the administration did not agree and the administration became helpless and allowed the agitators to move ahead. When the convoy of agitators reached Rampur intersection. There, the administration was present with full preparation. Then the police showed brutality by opening fire. At that time, 7 agitators of the state were martyred in this firing.

After the firing incident in Rampur Tiraha Muzaffarnagar, the demand for creation of Uttarakhand state had intensified. The agitators continued their agitation across the state demanding a separate state. After the incident in Muzaffarnagar, anger had increased a lot among the state agitators and the people of the state.

Rampur Tiraha firing martyr

• Amar Shaheed Late Suryaprakash Thapliyal, Muni Ki Reti, Rishikesh

• Amar Shaheed Late Rajesh Lakheda, Ajabpur Kalan, Dehradun.

• Amar Shaheed Late Ravindra Singh Rawat, B-20, Nehru Colony, Dehradun.

• Amar Shaheed Late Rajesh Negi, Bhaniyawala, Dehradun.

• Amar Shaheed Late Satendra Chauhan, Village Haripur, Selaquin, Dehradun

• Amar Shaheed Late Girish Bhadri, Ajabpur Khurd, Dehradun

• Amar Shaheed Late Ashok Kumar Cashiv, Ukhimath, Rudraprayag

Sriyantra Tapu Movement

The harassment being carried out by the then government of Uttar Pradesh to suppress the demand for a separate state movement did not stop here. On 10 November 1995, in Srinagar of Pauri Garhwal, which is called the capital of Garhwal, a movement was going on for a separate state in a peaceful manner on Shriyantra Island.

At that time, President's rule was imposed in Uttar Pradesh and former Congress leader and then Governor Motilal Vora was in charge of the government.

Suddenly the protest here too is brutally crushed by the police and the people sitting in the movement are beaten inhumanely and thrown into the Alaknanda river flowing below. In this incident, two agitating people Yashodhar Benjwal and Rajesh Rawat died and 55 agitators were arrested and taken to Saharanpur jail.

Martyred agitators in Shri Yantra Tapu

* Amar Shaheed Late Yashodhar Benjwal

* Immortal Martyr Late Rajesh Rawat

UP Reorganization Bill 2000

In the year 1998, the BJP led government at the Center through the President sent the Uttarakhand State Bill to the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly for consent. After making a total of 26 amendments in this bill, Uttar Pradesh passed the bill. The government again sent it to the Centre, which the BJP government presented in the Lok Sabha on 22 December, but it could not be passed due to the fall of the government.

After BJP came to power again, this bill was once again introduced in Uttar Pradesh. Sent to the government and U.P. After passing it by the government and sending it to the Centre, it was presented in the Lok Sabha on 27 July 2000 under the name of UP Reorganization Bill 2000.

On November 9, 2000, 13 North-West Bengal (Uttar Pradesh) became the 27th state of the country. The state of Uttaranchal was formed by cutting out the districts and Dehradun was made its temporary capital, on the same day the first interim Chief Minister of the state, Shri Nityanand Swami took the oath of office and secrecy. At present the government has made Gairsain its summer capital.

History of Uttarakhand Statehood Movement