Punjab Tourism and Cultural Affairs Minister Navjot Singh Sidhu on Sunday gave a clarion call in favour of a people’s movement to restore the lost glory of the mother tongue ‘Punjabi’ language in Chandigarh.
"Punjabi language is the symbol of pride and identity for all of us and without it we would be left without any identity. So, every Punjabi must join hands for the honour of our mother tongue," he said while addressing a ‘Panchayat’ called under the aegis of the Punjab Kala Parishad to get Punjabi its due and rightful place in the Chandigarh Administration.
Sidhus said that this struggle must be waged in unison because every government or administration has to bow before people’s movement.
The Minister said that Chandigarh is the capital of Punjab and discrimination with the Punjabi language would not be tolerated here at all and he stands shoulder to shoulder with people in this struggle.
"The future generation under the influence of cartoons is deviating from the path that leads them towards their mother tongue Punjabi," said Sidhu.
He announced that the state local Government Department would issue orders to give place of pride to Punjabi language in the signboards in all the cities and the correspondence would be made mandatory in Punjabi only.
Punjab Kala Parishad chairman Padamshri Dr Surjit Patar said that he doesn’t oppose any other language, in fact, he has immense respect for all the languages but what he stoutly stands in opposition to is adopting other languages at the cost of mother tongue Punjabi.
Citing examples, he said that if a child learns Punjabi first and then English or other language, he or she can grasp other languages in a better manner.