Sanyukta Maharashtra Samiti
Sanyukta Maharashtra Samiti was an organisation that spearheaded the demand, in the 1950s for the creation of a separate Marathi-speaking state out of the (then bilingual) State of Bombay(refer toBombay Presidency) in western India. The organisation was founded on February 6, 1956 under the leadership of Keshavrao Jedhe in Pune. The prominent activists of Sanyukta Maharashtra Samiti were late Mr.Acharya Atre, late Mr. Prabodhankar Thackeray, late Mr. Senapati Bapat and late Mr. Shahir Amar Shaikh among others. Acharya Atre criticised Jawaharlal Nehru, Morarji Desai (then chief minister of Bombay) and S.K. Patil (a prominent MP from Ghodapdev, Mumbai) through his firebrand editorials in Maratha.
The Indian National Congress had pledged to linguistic states prior to Independence. However after Independence, Nehru and Patel were adamantly opposed to linguistic states. They perceived linguistic states as threat to the integrity of India. For the first time and perhaps the only time, RSS and its chief Golwalkar Guruji supported Nehru and Patel against redrawing of the map along linguistic lines. The catalyst to creation of State Re-organization commission was fasting death of Telegu nationalist Sriramlu Potti. In 1956, the SRC (States Re-organisation Committee) under pressure from Nehru/Patel recommended creation of linguistic states of AP, Kerala, Karnataka, but recommended a bi-lingual state for Maharashtra-Gujarat, with Mumbai as its capital. To add insult to injury (for Samyukta Maharashtra Samiti), they recommended creation of Vidharba state to unite the Marathi speaking people of former Hyderabad state with Holkar's Nagpur state. This lead to creation of Sanyukta Maharashtra Samiti which was previously called Samyuka Maharashtra Parishad. Its inauguration on November 1, 1956, caused a great political stir and, under the leadership of Keshavrao Jedhe, an all-party meeting was held in Pune and Samyukta Maharashtra Samiti was founded on February 6, 1956. In the second general election the Samiti defeated the stalwarts of Congress by securing 101 seats out of 133, including 12 from Mumbai. The Congress could form a government only with the support of Gujarat, Marathwada and Vidarbha. Yeshwantrao Chavan replaced Morarji Desai as the Chief Minister of the bi-lingual Bombay State.
S.M. Joshi, S.A. Dange, N.G. Gore and P.K. Atre, Prabodhankar Thakrey fought relentlessly for Samyukta Maharashtra, even at the cost of sacrificing the lives of several people and finally succeeded in convincing Congress leaders that Maharashtra should form a separate state. The resignation of C.D. Deshmukh, the then Finance Minister of the Nehru Cabinet, had its salutary effect.
In January 1956, demonstrators were fired upon by the police at Flora Foutain in the capital city of Mumbai (Bombay). Flora Fountain was subsequently renamed Hutatma Chowk or "Martyr's Crossroads" in their memory. It is estimated that the 105 people were shot dead by security forces. This was then only second to the Jalianwala Bagh shooting in terms of casualties. Morarji Desai, who was the then chief minister of Bombay state was later removed and replaced by Y.B. Chawan as a result of criticism related to this incident.
The Indian National Congress had pledged to linguistic states prior to Independence. However after Independence, Nehru and Patel were adamantly opposed to linguistic states. They perceived linguistic states as threat to the integrity of India. For the first time and perhaps the only time, RSS and its chief Golwalkar Guruji supported Nehru and Patel against redrawing of the map along linguistic lines. The catalyst to creation of State Re-organization commission was fasting death of Telegu nationalist Sriramlu Potti. In 1956, the SRC (States Re-organisation Committee) under pressure from Nehru/Patel recommended creation of linguistic states of AP, Kerala, Karnataka, but recommended a bi-lingual state for Maharashtra-Gujarat, with Mumbai as its capital. To add insult to injury (for Samyukta Maharashtra Samiti), they recommended creation of Vidharba state to unite the Marathi speaking people of former Hyderabad state with Holkar's Nagpur state. This lead to creation of Sanyukta Maharashtra Samiti which was previously called Samyuka Maharashtra Parishad. Its inauguration on November 1, 1956, caused a great political stir and, under the leadership of Keshavrao Jedhe, an all-party meeting was held in Pune and Samyukta Maharashtra Samiti was founded on February 6, 1956. In the second general election the Samiti defeated the stalwarts of Congress by securing 101 seats out of 133, including 12 from Mumbai. The Congress could form a government only with the support of Gujarat, Marathwada and Vidarbha. Yeshwantrao Chavan replaced Morarji Desai as the Chief Minister of the bi-lingual Bombay State.
S.M. Joshi, S.A. Dange, N.G. Gore and P.K. Atre, Prabodhankar Thakrey fought relentlessly for Samyukta Maharashtra, even at the cost of sacrificing the lives of several people and finally succeeded in convincing Congress leaders that Maharashtra should form a separate state. The resignation of C.D. Deshmukh, the then Finance Minister of the Nehru Cabinet, had its salutary effect.
In January 1956, demonstrators were fired upon by the police at Flora Foutain in the capital city of Mumbai (Bombay). Flora Fountain was subsequently renamed Hutatma Chowk or "Martyr's Crossroads" in their memory. It is estimated that the 105 people were shot dead by security forces. This was then only second to the Jalianwala Bagh shooting in terms of casualties. Morarji Desai, who was the then chief minister of Bombay state was later removed and replaced by Y.B. Chawan as a result of criticism related to this incident.
Hutatma Chowk and behind visible is flora fountain
The Samyukta Maharashtra Samiti achieved its goal on May 1, 1960 when the State of Bombay was partitioned into the Marathi-speaking State of Maharashtra. However, Goa (then a Portuguese colony), Belgaum, Karwar and adjoining areas which were also the parts of the Maharashtra envisioned by the Samiti, were not included in Maharashtra state. Belgaum district, which has a majority Marathi population, is still in dispute.
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