Significance of Maharashtra Din

Story behind the formation of Maharashtra

Presently, Maharashtra is one among the leading states in terms of industrialization, finance, agriculture, sports, culture etc. The vibrant state gained a full fledged statehood after great public striving that had a huge popular support. 

1st of May is annually celebrated as the Maharashtra Day to commemorate the struggle of Marathi people for their motherland & their martyrdom. 

Post independence, when Indians were enjoying the fruit of their toil, the Government of India faced multiple hurdles in organising the states. The leaders focused on reorganizing the states on linguistic grounds. Under Jawaharlal Nehru cabinet, State Reorganization Act was passed in 1956, which aimed at arranging the states on the basis of languages spoken by natives. 

Bombay had been extensively developed under the British rule & was well ahead of other cities. After 1947, Bombay presidency consisted various areas where people spoke different languages & it was composed of some parts of Northern Karnataka and Gujarat. The Samyukta Maharashtra Samiti was at the forefront of the movement to divide the Bombay State into 2 states; one composed of areas where people primarily spoke Gujarati and the other where people largely spoke Marathi and Konkani. Some powerful business leaders from Gujarat wanted whole of Bombay to be a part of their state due to the fascination towards it's commercial glamour. The Samyukt Maharashtra Samiti staunchly opposed Nehru's move to make Bombay an Union Territory or to merge Bombay with Gujarat. The Then Chief Minister of Bombay State, Morarji Desai desperately wanted Bombay to either be independent or to join Gujarat. S. K. Patil, the Congress leader in Mumbai also favoured the same. 

Formation of the Samiti :

Samyukt Maharashtra Samiti was founded on 6 February 1956, at Tilak Smarak Mandir in Pune under the leadership of Keshavrao Jedhe. At the initial stage of it's establishment, Samiti or the organization heralded it's executive council with Shripad Dange as the President. Dr. T. R.Naravane as Vice President and S. M. Joshi as General Secretary. The Samiti played a major role in the emergence of Samyukt Maharashtra Chalval (Movement). 

 

The agitation :

The movement had started even before the establishment of Samiti, when the Central Government had passed the Reorganisation Act. To further swirl the anger & uprising, PM Jawaharlal Nehru announced on 16 January 1956 that Bombay would soon be an Union Territory. To oppose this settlement, the protesters decided to march in large number towards the Flora Fountain area in South Bombay (Now, Mumbai). The leaders along with tremendous crowd of ordinary folks including women and elders marched towards the venue from Churchgate station and from Bori Bunder. The enormous gathering of masses shouted out deafening slogans which fueled the agitation to a great extent. The leaders of Kaamgaar Morcha too participated with ear-splitting blazoning. "Mumbaisaha Samyukt Maharashtra zhalach pahije !" ("मुंबईसह संयुक्त महाराष्ट्र झालाच पाहिजे!") became the catchphrase and the energizing slogan of the movement. 

The uprising got out of control & the government was baffled. The situation reached a bloody climax on 22 January 1956. The situation in Bombay grew progressively more intense when C. M. Morarji Desai ordered to open fire on the Samyukt Maharashtra Protesters. In the Lathi Charge & gun fire many innocent protesters lost their lives. The whole area was throbbed with police men. People were shuddered and this created a wider discontent towards the despotic move of authorities. 

The battle of Bombay was significant in that era. It was a massive agitation, bringing into it's ambit thousands of ordinary Marathi people, who wanted Bombay to be a part of Maharashtra because geographically, linguistically & culturally, Bombay was considered as belonging to the Marathi identity by the locals. Another dispute was surfaced contemporaneously. Some Marathi speaking people also aspired to integrate Belgaum and Karwar with Maharashtra. This border tangle continues till date. Maharashtra often expresses it's willingness to include these two areas into its fold. 

Firebrand speakers & orators like Keshav Thackeray a.k.a Prabodhankar Thackeray, Aacharya Atre, Senapati Bapat, S. M. Joshi, Shripad Dange etc were the prime leaders, who dominantly addressed the masses about their rights & stirred the desire in each & every Maharashtrian to protest for their demands. These leaders led the movement & roared so fiercely that even the central government had to bow down. Since 1956 there were many streams of vehement protests that continued for 5 years. 106 protestors lost their lives and thousands of people were arrested during the whole movement. 

Formation of Maharashtra :

Finally, nodding to the demands of Samiti & ordinary Maharashtrians, the Central Government headed by PM Nehru awarded Bombay to Maharashtra and granted full fledged statehood with the demands of the locals being accepted. Maharashtra state with Bombay came into being on 1 May 1960 with the Bombay Reorganization Act. The day is annually celebrated with a gusto in the entire state with a public holiday being declared to commemorate the pain and martyrdom of protestors. 

Now, The Hutatma Chowk (Martry's sqaure) infront of the Flora Fountain in bustling area of Fort in Mumbai represents the figurines with flambeau demonstrating them as the martyrs of the movement. The area also has 'Amar Jyot' (eternal lamp) which is lighted to pay tributes. The agitation were held at the same spot 62 years ago. One can visit the place to feel the vibe which is an amalgam of bravery and suffering. 

On the occasion of Maharashtra Din, I pay my humble tributes to the leaders & martyrs. 

Jai Hind, Jai Maharashtra!

P. C. Google images