editorial articles reviews news & views - Institute of Sikh Studies

PUNJAB RIVER WATERS – UNLAWFUL AND UNJUST DISTRIBUTIONS
59
constitutional. However Govt of India made a Presidential reference
to Supreme Court to seek its advice as to whether it is constitutional
and its effect on Supreme Court directions on SYL canal, etc. Supreme
Court will now give its judicial verdict on the matter.
This problem has to be solved by Govt of India, who created
and complicated it. Courage, honesty and the farsighted statesmanship
are needed. Two very sensitive issues are involved in it, which should
never be over-looked. One is the basic feature of the Constitution;
the division of powers between union and states, as enumerated in
the Union and State lists. Govt of India should no longer intervene in
state list to maintain cordial relations with states and neither oblige
one state at the cost of the other nor transgress over the lawful rights
of a state and its people. The wrong done in the case of Punjab river
waters, needs to be undone. The other is that there should be no
communal tinge or feeling to the problem. Sikhs feel and openly express
it that perhaps Punjab river waters have been distributed to other states
without any claim, to ruin their economy and to oblige others at their
cost. The cause of this feeling is the continuous conflict between the
Sikhs and Govt of India after independence, centre refusing to
implement the pre-independence agreements, refusing the
reorganization of Punjab on linguistic basis, making the capital of
Punjab, Chandigarh, as union territory at the time of reorganization,
taking the Punjab Dams, power houses, river headworks out of its
control, besides the Sikh agitations over the emergency imposed by
Indira Gandhi, and for Sikh and Punjab rights. Sikhs are the victims
of Punjab river waters distribution to other states, as mainly they are
the owners of the Punjab lands and are dependant on agriculture,
whose lands are likely to become semi-deserts and unfit for agriculture
resulting in the ruin of their economy. These sensitive issues, if not
resolved with honesty of purpose, may cause serious problems as to
peace, unity and integrity of the country.
It must be ensured that river waters do not create conflicts between
one state and another, and between the states and the Union. This
aim can only be achieved by honoring the constitutional dictums, legal
norms, justice and lawful rights. Punjab river waters are exclusively
for Punjab lands, and cannot be spared for any other state.
¤