Punjab (PS-1)

The Punjabi Republic of Workers and Peasants has its roots in the 1920s, when radical Communism swept through the Sikh Punjabi community. A number of thinkers and ideologues (names unknown but no doubt named Singh :)) articulated key points of contact between traditional Sikhism and revolutionary Communism: the repudiation of the caste system, the forging of an internationally applicable system of beliefs, the existence of a militant core of revolutionaries, and the subservience of the individual to serve the group.

In 1948, an uprising overthrew the Punjab's colonial government and instituted the Communist regime. In its first years, the PRWP expanded to the north and west, annexing Kashmir and some of the tribal highlands north of Islamabad.

In the 1960s, things calmed down a bit and the Party leadership sought better relations with its neighbors. Punjab and India formed the Neutral Defense Bloc in 1962. Its goal was to position the Indian Subcontinent to negotiate on more equal terms with the major great power blocs, the Allies and the Entente.

By the late 1980s it was clear that communist economics was ruining the country. Manmohan Singh, a leader of the Economic Committee, helped bring about a policy of Special Economic Zones in key areas of Punjab. Within a few years, these Zones were the most prosperous regions of the country, encompassing an ever-greater percentage of its territory and population. The single largest enterprise in all of these Zones continues to be the chain of casinos owned by Manmohan himself...