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Who was Neki Ram Sharma in the movement for a separate Haryana?

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Map of India and surrounding countries with the state of Haryana highlighted in orange near the northern border, adjacent to New Delhi and Chandigarh. The map provides a regional context, showing neighboring countries including Pakistan, China, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh, and Myanmar.
Haryana

Neki Ram Sharma was a significant figure in the early 20th-century movement advocating for the creation of a separate state of Haryana. While the region had been part of Punjab since 1858, tensions arose due to linguistic and religious differences between the Hindi-speaking Hindus of Haryana and the Punjabi-speaking Sikhs of Punjab.1

In this context, Sharma played a pivotal role by heading a committee dedicated to cultivating and promoting the concept of an autonomous state for the region. His efforts were part of a broader agitation that included other prominent leaders of the Indian national movement, such as Lala Lajpat Rai and Asaf Ali. This long-standing demand for separation eventually gained significant momentum, leading to the formal establishment of Haryana as the 17th state of India in 1966 following the passage of the Punjab Reorganization Act.1