Harit Pradesh

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Green = Braj or Harit Pradesh, Yellow = Awadh, Blue = Bundelkhand, Purple = Purvanchal, White = Baghelkhand

Harit Pradesh (Hindi: हरित प्रदेश, Urdu: ہرِت پردیش) is a proposed new state of India comprising the western parts of Uttar Pradesh state.[1] Braj Pradesh (ब्रज प्रदेश) and Pashchim Pradesh (पश्चिम प्रदेश) are alternative names that have been proposed, because the region incorporates the historic region of Braj and is the western (pashchim in Hindi) part of Uttar Pradesh respectively.[1][2] Braj Pradesh, however, is a term that has historically been used for parts of the proposed state's territory as well as some adjoining regions of Rajasthan state.[3] Usage of that term by authors or politicians doesn't necessarily denote support for the movement to create a separate state.

Contents

[edit] History, support and opposition

Uttar Pradesh is a large state, and "the cultural divide between the east and the west is considerable, with the purabiyas (easterners) often being clubbed with Biharis in the perception of the westerners."[4] At the village level, some commentators have observed that Western Uttar Pradesh resembles Haryana and Rajasthan more than it does Eastern Uttar Pradesh, and the eastern region resembles Bihar more than it does Western Uttar Pradesh.[5] Also, due to the successes of the Green Revolution, Western Uttar Pradesh has experienced both economic and social development, in a fashion similar to Haryana and Punjab.[6][7][8] Eastern Uttar Pradesh, like Bihar, has not benefited to the same extent.[9][10] The resulting disparity is believed to be partially responsible for the demand for separate statehood in Western Uttar Pradesh.[11][12]

In his 1955 critique of the proposed States Reorganisation Act, Thoughts on Linguistic States, B. R. Ambedkar had advocated the division of Uttar Pradesh into three states - Eastern, Central and Western, with capitals at Meerut, Kanpur and Allahabad respectively - in order to prevent excessively large states from dominating politics at the national level.[13] The act was passed in 1956, however, keeping Uttar Pradesh intact as a single state. Later, in 1972, fourteen MLAs in the Uttar Pradesh state assembly moved an unsuccessful resolution to divide the state into three units (Braj Pradesh, Awadh Pradesh and Purbi Pradesh).[14]

[edit] Role of specific rural communities

In recent decades, Uttar Pradesh has seen the economic and political rise of the Yadav community, which has a large population and spread in Uttar Pradesh.[15] The Jats, who are a dominant agricultural community spread across Pakistan, Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Western Uttar Pradesh, have found themselves in a "politically disadvantageous position" in Western Uttar Pradesh due to this increasing influence of the Yadavs.[15] A separate Harit Pradesh would likely become a prosperous smaller state similar to Haryana and Punjab, under greater political control of local ethnic groups, such as the Jats, Tyagis, Gujjars, Jatavs (almost 12% of the population) and Muslims.[15] Yadavs would have a strong continuing presence in the area as well.[16]

The most prominent current-day advocate for the creation of the new state is Ajit Singh, the leader of the Rashtriya Lok Dal party and a Jat. Other Jat leaders, such as Om Prakash Chautala of neighboring Haryana state and the leader of the Indian National Lok Dal have also made efforts to involve themselves in the politics of creating a separate state.[17] Since the Muslim population in Western Uttar Pradesh (25%-34%, according to various sources) is higher than in Uttar Pradesh as a whole (17%), the Harit Pradesh proposal has found support from Muslim-affiliated organizations.[18][19][20][21] Of the other main political forces in Uttar Pradesh, the Bahujan Samaj Party has supported the demand in principle, the Samajwadi Party has opposed it, and the Indian National Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party have adopted a non-committal stance.[22] From the Bahujan Samaj Party, Mayawati and DP Yadav have been vocal about their support.

Rashtriya Lok Dal alleges that "Western UP contributes to a large chunk - nearly 72% - of the state's total income. In turn, what western UP gets is not enough. Just 18% of the state's budget is spent on developing west UP. This anomaly, understandably, makes the people of this area dissatisfied".[23]

The creation of three new states in 2000 (Jharkhand from the division of Bihar, Uttarakhand from the division of Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh from the division of Madhya Pradesh) gave new impetus to the demand for Harit Pradesh.[15]

[edit] Geography

Location of Harit Pradesh

The proposed state would include 22 districts in six divisions:

  1. Meerut division
  2. Saharanpur division
  3. Moradabad division
  4. Bareilly division
  5. Agra division
  6. Aligarh division

It shares borders with the current states of Uttarakhand, Haryana, Delhi, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, as well as a brief international border with Nepal in Pilibhit district.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Sajal Basu (2005), Regionalism, ethnicity, and left politics, Rawat Publications, ISBN 8170339308, http://books.google.com/books?id=uApuAAAAMAAJ, "... perhaps only to strengthen his own demand of a separate Harit Pradesh comprising 23 districts from western UP ...A consequent demand for the separation of the more prosperous western districts of UP which have been the bastion of the green revolution, and have variously been named as Pashchim Pradesh or more recently as Harit Pradesh by Ajit Singh ..." 
  2. ^ Kumar Suresh Singh, Anthropological Survey of India, N. N. Miklukho-Maklai Institute of Ethnology and Anthropology (1992), Ethnicity, caste, and people: proceedings of the Indo-Soviet seminars held in Calcutta and Leningrad, 1990, Manohar, http://books.google.com/books?id=WQ-BAAAAMAAJ, "... public organizations making demands for administrative autonomy for the Braj speaking people and even the setting up of a separate state "Braj Pradesh' ..." 
  3. ^ Raghubir Singh', Mughal Kaleen Braj Pradesh (1536-1718) 
  4. ^ "Unorganised Workers of Delhi and the Seven Day Strike of 1988". Indrani Mazumdar, Archives of Indian Labour. http://www.indialabourarchives.org/publications/Indrani%20Mazumdar.htm. Retrieved 2008-10-21. 
  5. ^ Pragmatism and development: the prospect for pluralist transformation in the Third World, Greenwood Publishing Group, 1998, ISBN 0897895738, http://books.google.com/books?id=nShHkKOiPTsC, "... Village organization and district administration in western Uttar Pradesh is generally much more like the neighboring states of Rajasthan and Haryana than like eastern Uttar Pradesh. Eastern Uttar Pradesh is more like Bihar than western Uttar Pradesh ... Of all these regions, western Uttar Pradesh is generally regarded as having the best administration, the most productive agriculture, and the best managed canals ..." 
  6. ^ Mohamad Riad El Ghonemy, "The Dynamics of Rural Poverty", Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 1986. ... Haryana and West Uttar Pradesh recorded spectacular production increases ...
  7. ^ V. G. Rastyannikov, "Agrarian Evolution in a Multiform Structure Society: Experience of Independent India", Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1981, ISBN 0710007558.
  8. ^ B. M. Bhatia, "Food Security in South Asia", Oxford & IHB Pub. Co., 1985.
  9. ^ Robert E. B. Lucas, Gustav Fritz Papanek, "The Indian Economy: Recent Development and Future Prospects", Westview Press, 1988, ISBN 0813375053.
  10. ^ Gilbert Etienne, "Rural Development In Asia: Meetings With Peasants", Sage Publications, 1985, ISBN 0803994958.
  11. ^ Gyanesh Kudaisya, "Region, Nation, Heartland: Uttar Pradesh in India's Body Politic", Sage Publications, 2006, ISBN 0761935193.
  12. ^ "RLD, BSP gear up as Mulayam exit looms". The Tribune, Chandigarh. 2007-02-19. http://www.tribuneindia.com/2007/20070219/nation.htm#1. Retrieved 2008-10-18. 
  13. ^ Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (1955), Thoughts on Linguistic States, http://books.google.com/books?id=kYgIOgAACAAJ, "... The only remedy is to break up the Northern States of U.P., Bihar and Madhya Pradesh. How did this solution not strike the Congress Working Committee I am unable to understand ... My proposal with regard to the Uttar Pradesh is to divide it into three States. The three States of the Uttar Pradesh could have as their capitals (1) Meerut (2) Cawnpore and (3) Allahabad ..." 
  14. ^ Boris Ivanovich Kluyev (1981), India: National and Language Problem, Sterling, http://books.google.com/books?id=s96JAAAAMAAJ, "... For example, in May 1972 fourteen members of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly submitted a resolution for setting up three new States - Braj Pradesh, Awadh Pradesh and Purbi Pradesh. The resolution was defeated. Curiously enough, the arguments of those supporting division were essentially the same, although the representatives hailed from different regions of Uttar Pradesh ..." 
  15. ^ a b c d Jagpal Singh (August 4, 2001), "Politics of Harit Pradesh: The Case of Western UP as a Separate State", Economic and Political Weekly 36 (31): 2961–2967, JSTOR 4410945, "... It is spearheaded by the politicians, especially a section of jats, belonging to western UP. Ajit Singh has been playing a pivotal role in it ..." 
  16. ^ Shobhan Saxena, "Western UP: Whose land is it anyway?", Times of India, http://epaper.timesofindia.com/Default/Scripting/ArticleWin.asp?From=Archive&Source=Page&Skin=TOINEW&BaseHref=CAP/2010/08/29&PageLabel=8&EntityId=Ar00800&ViewMode=HTML&GZ=T, "... The region is dominated by agrarian castes such as Jats and Yadavs ..." 
  17. ^ "INLD bid to get foothold in UP", The Tribune, 2001-07-05, http://www.tribuneindia.com/2001/20010706/haryana.htm#2, retrieved 2009-07-24, "... the move of the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) supremo and Chief Minister of Haryana, Mr Om Prakash Chautala, to raise the demand of a separate ‘kisan pradesh’ out of western UP ... Since Mr Ajit Singh has also raised the demand of creating a ‘harit pradesh’ in the same region, the move by both Mr Chautala and Mr Ajit Singh is seen as only a political strategy to ‘outwit’ each other ..." 
  18. ^ "Minister's demand for Muslim Pradesh condemned", Times of India, 2006-07-19, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1773733.cms, retrieved 2009-07-24, "... demand is neither feasible nor proper,"said Manzoor Ahmad, former vice-chancellor of Dr B R Ambedkar University, Agra ... Muslim population which is not more than 25% in Western UP. ..." 
  19. ^ "Ajit Singh struggling to retain Muslim vote", The Hindu, 2002-02-12, http://www.hinduonnet.com/2002/02/13/stories/2002021301391000.htm, retrieved 2009-07-24, "... the Muslim presence in western U.P. is said to be about 34 per cent ..." 
  20. ^ Khan, M.E., Patel, Bella, C., "Reproductive Behaviour of Muslims in Uttar Pradesh", The Journal of Family Welfare, March 1997. 43(1) p. 13-29. Available online at [1]
  21. ^ "Imams back campaign for 'Harit Pradesh'", The Hindu, 2001-08-18, http://www.hindu.com/2001/08/19/stories/0219000h.htm, retrieved 2009-07-24, "... campaign for `Harit Pradesh' ... appears to be gathering momentum with the All-India Imam Association, an influential body of Muslim clerics, today pledging support ..." 
  22. ^ "Mayawati joins issue with Paswan, Ajit Singh", The Hindu, 2001-06-26, http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/2001/06/27/stories/0227000h.htm, retrieved 2009-07-24, "... She said the BSP stood for creation of Harit Pradesh ..." 
  23. ^ "Ajit Singh reiterates Harit Pradesh demand", The Times of India, 2011-01-10, http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/lucknow/Ajit-Singh-reiterates-Harit-Pradesh-demand/articleshow/7250029.cms, "...In turn, what western UP gets is not enough ..." 

[edit] External links

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