J&K Sikhs to protest for inclusion of Punjabi in educational curriculum
By Raju William/Arun Jasrotia
Jammu/Ludhiana, June 26, 2017: The Sikh organisations in J&K have served ultimatum on the state government to include teaching of Punjabi language in the educational institutions failing which they would resort to statewide agitation.
The organizations have decided to wait for the positive response to their demand from the state government till July 10.
At a joint news conference here on Monday, former president J&K State Gurudwara Parbandak Board Sudarshan Singh Wazir announced that they would have no option but to launch agitation to get their demand accepted if the government failed to come up with a favourable decision.
The state government had recently issued an order declaring Kashmiri, Dogri and Bodhi languages as compulsory subject at all levels in the educational curriculum and left the Punjabi language out.
“We will organize dharnas and observe hunger strike at all the district headquarters and intensify our agitation by launching a jail bharo andolan if the government failed to amend its order in two weeks,” said Wazir while talking to babushahi.com over phone from Jammu.
Wazir, who is also the Chairman of Sikh United Front J&K, condemned the state government for ignoring the culturally and historically rich language of the state. “We are not against other languages but the government order has shocked the Punjabi-speaking residents of the state in general and the Sikhs in particular,” he added.
J&K was a part of the Khalsa Raj for a pretty long time and it was only during Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s era that it was handed over to Dogra rulers. Punjabi was a widespread spoken language during those time and even during Dogra Raj it occupied a centre stage in the cultural and literary arena of the state, he maintained.
Wazir further said that the attitude of the present day state government is a clear indication of its approach towards minuscule minority of the state and the time has come that Sikhs will have to unite and take on the government head on to fight for the rights of the Sikhs and the Punjabi speaking people of the state.
Shiromani Akali Dal J&K chief Dayal Singh Wazir appealed to all Punjabi-speaking people and the Sikhs to unite and fight against the injustice meted out to the Punjabi language.
All the Sikh organizations also demanded that the teachers of Punjabi language should be employed in all the educational institutions of the state in order to promote this rich language.
Surinder Singh Kala Convenor J&K Motor Transport Company Association Jammu, Mohinder Singh Chief Organiser, Bhai Kanhiya Nishkam Sewa Society, Paramjeet Singh of AISSF, Gajan Singh General Secretary, Sikh Welfare Society and Kulwant Singh Chief Advisor, Sikh Naujwan Sabha were among the prominent community leaders present on the occasion.