The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) on Tuesday appealed to Panjab University in Chandigarh to withdraw its choice to drop Punjabi as a obligatory topic on the commencement degree in all its affiliated faculties even because it warned the varsity that Punjabis would by no means tolerate this discrimination towards their mom tongue.
Senior SAD chief Daljit Singh Cheema advised the media the syndicate members, who’ve supported this choice, don’t deserve to stay members of the college physique, whereas asking the Vice-Chancellor to reverse this choice instantly.
He additionally appealed to the workers and college students of Panjab University to prevail upon its administration to withdraw this anti-Punjabi step, asserting “if this is not done, SAD will do its utmost to force the university to respect the sentiments of Punjabis and correct this wrong.”
Expressing shock as to how the college may take this step within the first place, Cheema stated “Panjab University is part of the state capital which was established by uprooting villages of Punjab. As many as 200 colleges in Punjab are affiliated to the university. The university cannot discriminate against the mother tongue of the region.”
“It cannot expect students to go to other states and countries to become proficient in their mother tongue.”
Cheema additionally defined how propagation of the language and tradition of the area was one of many founding rules of Panjab University, and stated the establishment mustn’t stray from this.
He disclosed how each Haryana and Himachal Pradesh had disaffiliated their faculties from Panjab University after the reorganisation of Punjab. He stated faculties in Punjab continued to stay affiliated with the college and the Punjab authorities continued to present the college its due grant.
“The university cannot by any stretch of imagination render such a disservice to its own people and the state, ” he added.