The partition of Punjab province was the bloodiest episode in the overall Indian Partition. Sikhs did not make up a majority in any district of India, instead being spread out from Peshawar all the way south to Delhi. Much of today's Sikh-majority province of Indian Punjab actually had a Muslim plurality, with the city of Amritsar even being more than 50% Muslim.
However a little known historical fact is that Muhammad Ali Jinnah had many meetings with Sikh leaders such as Master Tara Singh, the Maharaja of Patiala etc in attempts to bring the Sikhs onboard with the Pakistan Movement and secure an even greater share of Punjab (minus Hindu-majority Himchal and Haryana).
Jinnah offered to accept absolutely any demand the Sikhs put forth, and he even offered to give them their own parallel parliament, a parallel defence force, the position of Deputy Prime Minister reserved for a Sikh, an autonomous homeland for Sikhs in their districts. This was all recorded in an article the Maharajah of Patiala wrote in the 50s.
This is a religious map of the entire Punjab. The Black Line represents the Indian National Congress' claim for India, and the White Line is what the Muslim League claimed for Pakistan. Blue represents Sikhs, Green Muslims and Red Hindus. With the Sikhs backing Pakistan, they would get everything with a tinge of Blue in this map.
The Pink Line is the actual border.
Instead what happened OTL is the Sikhs sided with India, and millions had to flee across borders, and many millions died in the process. Lets imagine the Sikh leadership did agree. They would end up making around 15-20% of the population of Pakistan. The Sikh martial tradition would mean the Pakistani Army would have a very sizeable Sikh representation. The many Sikh religious sites within Pakistan would be accessible to Sikhs, and Pakistan would control an immensely rich and fertile land probably catapulting its economy ahead of India's. After all India's Green Revolution began in Punjab. Kashmir would also likely join Pakistan as the road link from India to Jammu would now be cut off.
With such a large Non-Muslim population, Pakistan would also be forced to embrace greater religious tolerance. OTL West Pakistan was never greater than 2-3% non-Muslim (majority of Pakistan's Hindus were in Bangladesh). Would Islamization be averted?
So how can such a scenario take place? What would be the greater ramifications of it? Would there be discontent? Any Sikh militant movement? Recall there would be no population transfers so Sikhs would not make up the majority in any district, instead remaining a large minority/plurality throughout south-eastern Punjab. Muslims tend to have larger birth rates so this imbalance would be greater as the years move on.
However a little known historical fact is that Muhammad Ali Jinnah had many meetings with Sikh leaders such as Master Tara Singh, the Maharaja of Patiala etc in attempts to bring the Sikhs onboard with the Pakistan Movement and secure an even greater share of Punjab (minus Hindu-majority Himchal and Haryana).
Jinnah offered to accept absolutely any demand the Sikhs put forth, and he even offered to give them their own parallel parliament, a parallel defence force, the position of Deputy Prime Minister reserved for a Sikh, an autonomous homeland for Sikhs in their districts. This was all recorded in an article the Maharajah of Patiala wrote in the 50s.
This is a religious map of the entire Punjab. The Black Line represents the Indian National Congress' claim for India, and the White Line is what the Muslim League claimed for Pakistan. Blue represents Sikhs, Green Muslims and Red Hindus. With the Sikhs backing Pakistan, they would get everything with a tinge of Blue in this map.
The Pink Line is the actual border.
Instead what happened OTL is the Sikhs sided with India, and millions had to flee across borders, and many millions died in the process. Lets imagine the Sikh leadership did agree. They would end up making around 15-20% of the population of Pakistan. The Sikh martial tradition would mean the Pakistani Army would have a very sizeable Sikh representation. The many Sikh religious sites within Pakistan would be accessible to Sikhs, and Pakistan would control an immensely rich and fertile land probably catapulting its economy ahead of India's. After all India's Green Revolution began in Punjab. Kashmir would also likely join Pakistan as the road link from India to Jammu would now be cut off.
With such a large Non-Muslim population, Pakistan would also be forced to embrace greater religious tolerance. OTL West Pakistan was never greater than 2-3% non-Muslim (majority of Pakistan's Hindus were in Bangladesh). Would Islamization be averted?
So how can such a scenario take place? What would be the greater ramifications of it? Would there be discontent? Any Sikh militant movement? Recall there would be no population transfers so Sikhs would not make up the majority in any district, instead remaining a large minority/plurality throughout south-eastern Punjab. Muslims tend to have larger birth rates so this imbalance would be greater as the years move on.