हिंदी
(Prof Chandumajra says decision against mandate of the varsity, says 3 member party delegation will meet the VC to demand its review)
Chandigarh, April 4 2022
The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) today asked the Punjabi University to immediately review its decision to merge around three dozen departments, the majority of which were concerned with Punjabi language and culture, into one saying this was against the very mandate of the University.
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Addressing a press conference on this issue here along with senior teachers of the University, former mp Prof Prem Singh Chandumajra said a three member delegation of the SAD would meet the University vice chancellor to call for a review. He said the decision was against the very ethos of the University and would cause irreparable damage to its language and culture as well as academic research in Punjabi.
Prof Chandumajra said despite the fact that Punjabi University along with Hebrew University were the only two varsities which had been established to promote a language and culture of a people, the Punjabi University Syndicate had decided to merge important departments like Punjabi Sahitya, Bhasha, Vijgyan, technology and Wikipedia besides others into one.
The SAD leader said the issue of the varsity being in financial straits should not be used to dilute the status of Punjabi in the University. “In fact the institution should have brought in provisions to ensure more transparency in its functioning. It should also revamp its constituent colleges by opening new courses as per the need of the day”.
Prof Chandumajra said the University was already failing in its objective of propagating Punjabi. He said the World Punjabi Conference had been discontinued and even fellowships were not being given for conduct of pioneering work in Punjabi language and culture.
Meanwhile speaking on the occasion, SAD senior vice president Harcharan Bains said the merger of the several departments related to Punjabi language and history was part of a cultural invasion of Punjabi. He said the AAP government had systematically weakened the cause of Punjab and Punjabiyat in Delhi. “It has stopped teaching Punjabi language in its schools. An outsider has been foisted on the Punjabi Academy”. He said now the same was being done in Punjab with the Punjabi University taking a decision which would further dilute the Sikh identity.
Dr Gurnam Singh Virk, Prof Mohan Singh Tyagi and Dr Mohammad Adrish also spoke on the occasion and highlighted how the step was discriminatory towards the cause of Punjabi and Punjabiyat.
