Remembering how Maharashtra was created

As the national flag was hoisted at all the historic forts like Raigad, Pratapgad, Sinhagad, Shivneri and Purander on the occasion of the 45th Maharashtra Day, it was also a reminder of how the state was born on May Day in 1960.

Four years of agitations and demonstrations and the sacrifice of several lives for the cause of a separate Maharashtra state eventually led to its formation with Mumbai as the capital.

More than 100 people were killed in police firing on one single day when citizens came out to protest on the streets of Bombay in January 1956 when Morarji Desai was the chief minister of the Bombay (Maharashtra and Gujarat combined) State, Mohan Dharia, former parliamentarian, told Gulf News.

As a member of the Samyukta Maharashtra Movement (SMM) founded on February 6, 1956 in Pune, he says, "I am a freedom fighter and all of us believed that we could fulfill dreams of a prosperous state only if the administration was in Marathi in the language of the people."

The Indian National Congress was committed to the formation of linguistic states and so when the States Reorganisation Act was passed in November 1956, it provided for 14 states and six centrally administered states.

But the State Reorganisation Committee also recommended a bilingual state for Maharashtra-Gujarat with Mumbai as the capital.

This led to an outburst of anger and a political stir and the SMM was formed to fight for the rights of the Marathi-speaking people.

"The government then decided in June 1956 to divide Bombay State into two linguistic states Maharashtra and Gujarat and create a separate centrally administered Bombay city. This, too, was opposed tooth and nail by the Maharashtrians.

"The general elections in 1957 were in fact fought on the issue of the Samyukta Maharashtra Movement when the demand for a separate state was at its peak," says Dharia.

"We looked at the situation from all aspects asking questions as to who was responsible for the prosperity of Mumbai," says G. P. Pradhan, who as a member of the SMM organised meetings and demonstrations.

"The leaders in the forefront SM Joshi, S A Dange, P K Atre and N G Gore fought relentlessly and finally succeeded in convincing Congress leaders that Maharashtra should form a separate state."