Shiromani Akali Dal on Tuesday said that its stand on the deletion of Sikh history from Class XII syllabus of Punjab School Education Board (PSEB) “has been fully vindicated” with the setting up of the committee of eminent historians to review the entire issue.
Describing the government’s decision as “correct though belated step in the right direction, senior SAD leader and former Minister Daljeet Singh Cheema said: “This is precisely what we have been demanding all along and this is just the step which the former Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal had urged Capt Amarinder Singh to take.”
Cheema said: “Nevertheless, we are happy that the government has finally done the correct thing. We also welcome the inclusion of eminent and respected historians in the committee and we trust them to undo the injustice done to our great and glorious history.”
However, he demanded that, in the meantime, the old syllabus containing the history of the great Guru Sahibaan and of our heroes and martyrs “be restored immediately for teaching to Class XII students as before, so that students do not suffer any loss during the current session”.
SAD also announced to defer its full fledged party meeting on the subject which was scheduled to be held in Sri Amritsar Sahib on May 11.
“We just wanted the injustice done to the great Sikh history to be vacated. We have gone strictly on academic merit…We do not believe in needless confrontation. Now that the government has accepted our plea and ordered a review committee, we have decided to indefinitely postpone the party meeting at Amritsar Sahib,” said Cheema.