In his report, Justice Mehar Chand Mahajan recommended that the boundary line should be near the Ravi including Lahore in the East Punjab and Justice Teja Singh advocated that the boundary line should be near the Chenab, including parts of the districts of Sheikhupura and Gujranwala, Montgomery and Lyallpur in the East Punjab. The Hindu-Sikh case rested on the economic conditions as the non-Muslim had played a major part in the development of the Central Punjab. The Bari Doab and more particularly the districts of Gurdaspur, Amritsar and Lahore had been described by historians and settlement officers as the “home land of the Sikhs* who owned more than two-thirds of the area and paid more than two-thirds of the land revenue of this tract. This Sikh peasant proprietors’ tract had been developed as a single unit along the Upper Bari Doab Canal which had been dug, it was ingeniously claimed, to resettle the disbanded Sikh soldiers after the Anglo-Sikh Wars. The districts of Lyallpur and Montgomery had been colonized by the sturdy Sikh Jats of Ambala, Jullundur and Amritsar districts. In a tract known as Shahidi-Bar, comprising a part of the districts of Gujranwala, Sheikhupura and Lyallpur was mostly owned by the Sikh peasants who paid more than twice the land revenue paid by the Muslims. Historically, this was the most important tract for the Sikhs as one of their most sacred shrines, Nanakana Sahib, was situated in it.

The Hindus and the Sikhs had played a major role in the development of industry, commerce and trade of Lahore the metropolis of the Punjab. More than 75 per cent of commerce, banks and commercial institutions were in the hands of the non- Muslims. The survey of Lahore carried out by the Punjab.

Government Board of Economic Enquiry indicated that 80 per cent registered factories in Lahore belonged to the non-Muslims. Of the total capital investment in Lahore, viz. Rs. 6.29 crores, the non-Muslim’s share was Rs. 5.12 crores. Of the 90 bank branches, only 3 belonged to the Muslims. Of the 80 offices of insurance companies, only two belonged to the Muslims. Of the 36th High Schools only four were run by the Muslims.

It was argued that about one-third of the Muslim population was not rooted in the soil and was essentially of a floating character, consisting of faqirs, weavers, herdsmen, cobblers, potters, carpenters, oilmen, bards, barbers, blacksmiths, washermen, butchers. According to the Census Report of 1931, out of the total Muslim population of 14,929,896, this class of persons numbered about 45 per cent and were divided as under :—

Faqirs

...

256,533

Jullaha (weavers)

. ■ • • • •

512.579

Cobblers

••« •••

464,218

Kumhars (potters)

• • • • • •

423,617

(Chamar converts)...

412,300

Carpenters

• • • • • •

346,948

Oilmen

• • • • • •

344,927

Bards

• • • • • •

244,320

Barbers

• • • • • •

196,104

Blacksmiths

• • • • • •

241,972

Washermen

• • • • • •

162,224

Butchers

• • • • • •

127,198

Mirasis

• • • • • •

243,330

Herdsmen

• • • • • •

421,347^8

In case the line of argument followed by the Hindu and Sikh members was accepted, the main consideration would have been economic factors rather than the population factor.

Kirpal Singh "Partition of India"

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