The release of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) poll manifesto has reignited a familiar yet complex debate over the territorial integrity and political aspirations of Indian Punjab. The manifesto, announced by SAD chief Sukhbir Singh Badal, promises to seek the transfer of Kartarpur Sahib from Pakistan to India through a mutual land exchange, along with renewed efforts to integrate Chandigarh and other Punjabi-speaking areas into Punjab. While these promises may resonate with a section of the electorate, they distract from the underlying issues that Punjab faces, issues that lie not across the border but within the very heart of the state and its governance.

Punjab, often referred to as the land of five rivers and known for its fertile fields, stands today as a shadow of its former self. The territorial and political reconfigurations over the past decades have seen Indian-administered Punjab shrink from a sprawling expanse of 202,000 square kilometers in 1966 to roughly a quarter of that size. This reduction, a direct result of the creation of Haryana and Himachal Pradesh, ceded large chunks of Punjabi land, including 11 districts, to these newly formed states. The jewel in the crown, Chandigarh, was placed under the direct administration of the central government, further stripping Punjab of its symbolic heart. The story of Punjab’s territorial losses is not merely one of geographical contraction. It is a narrative of cultural fragmentation, economic disparity,........

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