Punjabi Translation of 1946-Era Document “Idea of Sikh State” Released in Book Form

July 12, 2025
Sikh Siyasat Bureau

Punjabi Translation of 1946-Era Document “Idea of Sikh State” Released in Book Form

Tarn Taran: A historic document articulating the Sikh demand for a separate state, first published in April 1946 under the title “Idea of State” by authors Gurbachan Singh and Lal Singh Giani, has now been released in Punjabi translation. The book was formally unveiled at Gurdwara Singh Shaheedan in village Panjwar, a village deeply associated with the Sikh struggle for centuries.

The Punjabi edition, translated by Gurpal Singh and published by Neesaan Parkashan, Sangrur, was released in the presence of prominent Panth Sewak personalities including Bhai Daljit Singh, Bhai Narien Singh, Bhai Satnam Singh Khandewala, Bhai Satnam Singh Jhanjian, Bhai Hardeep Singh Mehraj, along with representatives of various Sikh organizations.

Punjabi_Translation_of_New_Book_Idea_of_Sikh_State_Released — Punjabi Translation of New Book Idea of Sikh State Released

Originally authored by Gurbachan Singh (Sikh National College, Lahore) and Lal Singh Giani (Sikh Missionary College, Amritsar), the 1946 book was dedicated “To the Sikh Youth through whose Devotion & Sacrifices the Sikh State will be Established.”

The authors had written this booklet as “an attempt to present in a brief manner the demand which the Sikh people have formulated for being given a State in their Homeland, the Punjab.” They argued that constitutional safeguards had failed the Sikh people, who were left vulnerable within a majoritarian political structure.

Quoting the introduction, “The Sikhs are keenly alive, on the basis of the experience of the past, to the danger of living in a state of permanent dependence upon the rule of any majority—Hindu, Muslim or other.” They asserted that only parity between majority and minority could safeguard the Sikhs, or else the alternative was “the splitting up of the Punjab, and carving the Sikh State out of its present boundaries.”

The authors emphasized that the demand was not rooted in communalism but in the “only effective scheme for survival” amidst communal polarization. They concluded with an appeal to global conscience: “The Sikhs make an appeal to the conscience of the world to recognize their right of survival and to give them that self-determination which is the admitted right of nations all over the world.”