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PAKISTAN : WHAT DOES THE LEAGUE DEMAND ? 27
Province Language Headquarters Ajmere-Merwara ... Hindustani ... Ajmere. Andhra ... Telegu ... Madras. Assam ... Assamese ... Gauhati Bihar ... Hindustani ... Patna. Bengal ... Bengali ... Calcutta. Bombay (City) ... Marathi-Gujarati ... Bombay. Delhi ... Hindustani ... Delhi. Gujarat ... Gujarati ... Ahmedabad. Karnatak ... Kannada ... Dharwar Kerala ... Malayalam ... Calicut. Mahakosal ... Hindustani ... Jubbulpore. Maharashtra ... Marathi ... Poona. Nagpur ... Marathi ... Nagpur. N.W.F.P. ... Pushtu ... Peshawar. Punjab ... Punjabi ... Lahore. Sind ... Sindhi ... Karachi. Tamil Nadu ... Tamil ... Madras. United Provinces ... Hindustani ... Lucknow. Utkal ... Oriya ... Cuttack. Vidarbha (Berar) ... Marathi ... Akola.
In this distribution no attention was paid to considerations of area, population or revenue. The thought that every administrative unit must be capable of supporting and supplying a minimum standard of civilized life, for which it must have sufficient area, sufficient population and sufficient revenue, had no place in this scheme of distribution of areas for provincial purposes. The determining factor was language. No thought was given to the possibility that it might introduce a disruptive force in the already loose structure of the Indian social life. The scheme was, no doubt, put forth with the sole object of winning the people to the Congress by appealing to their local patriotism. The idea of linguistic provinces has come to stay and the demand for giving effect to it has become so insistent and irresistible that the Congress, when it came into power, was forced to put it into effect. Orissa has already been separated from Bihar.* Andhra is demanding separation from Madras. Karnatak is asking for separation from Maharashtra.† The only linguistic province that is not demanding separation from
- This was done under the Government of India Act, 1935.
† Karnatak also wants some districts from the Madras Presidency.