Gujarat Formation Day, also known as Gujarat Sthapana Divas, is observed every year on May 1 to commemorate the separation of Gujarat from the then-Bombay state on linguistic grounds in 1960.
This year, Mahatma Gandhi's native state will commemorate 62 years as a separate political entity, recognising and cherishing its struggle and emergence as an independent state.
Gujarat, which gained its political identity as a separate state on May 1, 1960, on linguistic grounds, has a long and illustrious history.
How did the formation of Gujarat take place?
Following India's independence in 1947, the demand for the formation of states based on linguistic grounds gained traction across the country, including in Gujarat, where the Mahagujarat movement, also known as the Mahagujarat Andolan, played a significant role.
The Mahagujarat concept was first advocated by KM Munshi, a freedom fighter, and was first presented at the Gujarat Sahitya Sabha in Karachi in 1937.
The creation of Gujarat can be credited to the Mahagujarat movement aka Mahagujarat Andolan--a political movement that demanded the creation of a state for Gujarati-speaking people from the then bilingual Bombay state of India in 1956.
In order to achieve the goal of establishing a separate Gujarat state, a Mahagujarat conference was conducted in 1948 to bring all Gujarati-speaking people under one administration, which resulted in the foundation of Gujarat on 1 May 1960, comprising the territories Saurashtra and Kutch.
