Punjab day celebrations: Debt, drugs, youth migration ailing Punjab, says Sikh scholar

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, November 1

Eminent scholar of the Punjabi language Dr Manmohan Singh addressed the Dr Paramjit Singh Memorial lecture at GNDU here on Wednesday, highlighting the need for a transformation as a society for the future of Punjab.

Dr Singh, who was invited by School of Punjabi Studies to deliver the lecture on “Punjab Day: Significance and Relevance”, while explaining the structure of the Punjabi language, literature and culture from a historical perspective, spoke about the six diseases that have hit society like a plague.

Pointing out the problems of Punjabi culture, he mentioned ostentation, debt, drugs, water scarcity, increasing infertility of land and the haste of youth to go abroad as the major ailments Punjab suffers from. Prof Sarbjot Singh Bahl, Head, Department of Architecture, said the concept of Punjab Day should be extended to the concept of Punjabiyat. “Punjab has not been divided naturally, but has been artificially divided. The nature of linguistic and religious diversity in Punjab should be celebrated instead of creating tension,” he said.

Extending the discussion, Dr Manmohan Singh said geography and history of Punjab were closely related. “It must be understood in the context of the class division theory of the colonial system. The two-nation theory is a prime example of this, but despite this, it is not possible to separate language and culture,” he said.

Dr Bikramjit Singh Bajwa, Dean Academic Affairs, said the moral commitment of Guru Nanak Dev University was with the Punjabi language. “The proof of this is the achievements of the School of Punjabi Studies related to the Punjabi language established by the university, is also contributing significantly to the construction of technical dictionary of the Punjabi language,” he said. Dr Manjinder Singh, head of School of Punjabi Studies, said in current times, there was a need to lay emphasis on the geographical, mental and linguistic analysis of the concept of Punjab. He said GNDU would be organising a special programme in memory of novelist Nanak Singh.

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