Telangana state has reignited the Kutch campaign

The struggle for Telangana and its success in getting at least a promise of statehood from the Centre has opened up a Pandora’s box. While there is no significant movement within Gujarat for a separate state, cries for statehood have been heard in the past from several corners of Gujarat.

India’s second largest district, Kutch, which shares a critical international border with Pakistan, and the adjacent region of Saurashtra which was a separate state till 1960, are known to have such aspirations. The erstwhile royal family of Kutch, now headed by Maharaja Pragmalji Jadeja-III, has been campaigning for the region’s independent identity ever since its merger with Bombay state in 1956, and later with Gujarat in 1960. But the movement lost steam in the past decade following the rapid industrialisation of the district.
But the UPA government’s recent decision to consider the long-pending demand for a

Telangana state has reignited the Kutch campaign. The 73-year-old Pragmalji says that though the campaign for an independent state had never died down, Telangana’s separation has certainly given them a boost.

“We are constantly in dialogue with the Central government, whichever party is in power, for Kutch’s statehood. Several meetings were held in the past week too to take our demand further,” the chief of the royal family told DNA.

“At the time of Independence, my forefathers had a clear understanding with the Nehru regime that Kutch is a separate state. Our identity, practical needs of the region, culture, and history are totally different from the rest of Gujarat. Even Saurashtra was a part of Gujarat once, though with some difference, but Kutch was always independent. Then I don’t know how we came to be a part first of the Bombay state, and then Gujarat,” he said.