CHANDIGARH, Punjab—A day after a massive protest in Jammu & Kashmir by the local Sikhs there demanding Punjabi language to be included in the J&K Official Languages Bill, the SGPC too has come out in support of this demand.
Taking strong notice of excluding the Punjabi language from the J&K Official Languages Bill, the apex Sikh body Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee has appealed the Indian government to reconsider its move.
SGPC president Gobind Singh Longowal has asked the Punjab based Indian parliamentarians to raise voice against this bill in the parliament and make efforts to get Punjabi language included in this bill. “Earlier, the Punjabi language was holding a suitable position in the J&K territory and it was recognized by the constitution of J&K,” he said.
Longowal has said that hundreds of thousands of J&K residents speak Punjabi language and neglecting it as an official language of J&K can’t be justified. “The Indian government has hurt sentiments of all the Punjabi speaking residents of J&K,” he added.
The J&K Sikhs are already being denied the minority status in J&K but now the Indian government has once again subjected them to an unjust move.
It is noteworthy here that the BJP led Indian government is restructuring the administrative setup of J&K after making it a Union Territory of India against the wish of the state’s natives.
On September 2, the Indian government approved a draft legislation to make Urdu, Kashmiri, Dogri, Hindi, and English official languages of J&K while ousting Punjabi. The Indian government is likely to present this bill in the Indian parliament during the monsoon session beginning on September 14.
