The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) has decided to bring out an anthology of freedom -fighters from Punjab.
SGPC president Kirpal Singh Badungar on Sunday said that the anthology would contain their brief profiles.
He made the announcement during a seminar on the ‘Role of the Sikhs in Freedom Struggle’ with special reference to their “neglect” in the narrative of the Cellular Jail in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.
The SGPC president also announced that a committee would visit the Cellular Jail and meet the authorities concerned to rectify the “distortions”.
Badungar claimed that the Sikhs had not been given their due place in the freedom struggle by successive governments and historians, while holding the Sikh intellectuals responsible for this sorry state of affairs.
He said that the community’s contributions were not highlighted at a broader level.
“Sikhs has not been given due place in the freedom struggle by the successive governments and historians. The Sikhs have been tortured at one level as their history had not only been ignored but also distorted,” he said.
Badungar said that a panel would be formed by the SGPC to “rewrite” history of Punjab. The panel would have young writers with open mind and new ideas, he added.
The SGPC chief said that a deputation would meet the Union Minister for Tourism and Culture Mahesh Sharma to correct the “skewed narrative” of Cellular Jail and highlight the role of Sikhs.
The deputation would also call on Prime Minister Narendra Modi to demand space to the Sikhs proportionate to their struggle for the country, he said.
Shiromani Akali Dal MP from Anandpur Sahib Prem Singh Chandumajra said that the struggle to get the rightful space for the Sikhs in the history of the country would be taken to its logical conclusion.
Chandumajra said that the Union Minister Anant Kumar had given an assurance to “review the light and sound programme staged in the Cellular Jail” that is now a national monument attracting hundreds of visitors every day.