Punjabi Maa Boli Diwas

Amritsar: ‘Har Punjabi Di Maa Boli Punjabi’ (Punjabi is the mother tongue of every Punjabi) was the slogan that reverberated through the corridors of Spring Dale Senior School on Wednesday as Spring Daleans held a class-to-class sensitisation campaign on the occasion of Punjabi Maa Boli Divas, which was celebrated with fervor on the school premises. Carrying placards displaying slogans about the importance of Punjabi as a mother tongue, young students could be seen encouraging their counterparts to give as much importance to Punjabi as they do to Hindi, English and other foreign languages. “Punjabi is more than just a language of Punjabis. It’s their identity,” the young campaigners, shared with their fellow students. Besides, a team of students represented the school in the Maa Boli Divas celebrations organised by the Folklore Research Academy. Dr Kirat Sandhu Cheema, director, Spring Dale Senior School, and Sahiljit Singh Sandhu, managing trustee, Spring Dale Educational Society, lauded students for their wholehearted efforts aimed at sensitising other schoolchildren about the importance of Punjabi as mother tongue. They reiterated their commitment to work for the promotion of Punjabi as mother tongue in the years to come.

193rd birth anniversary celebrations of Swami Dayanand Saraswati

The 193rd birth anniversary of Maharishi Swami Dayanand Saraswati and International Mother Tongue Day was celebrated by Swami Dayanand Study Centre and Arya Yuvti Sabha of BBK DAV College for Women. Lectures on the topics “Multifaceted personality of Swami Dayanand Saraswati” and “Importance of mother tongue” marked the celebrations. Dr Madhu Sandhu, former head and professor, Department of Hindi, Guru Nanak Dev University, was the resource person on the occasion. While delivering a lecture on “Multifaceted personality of Swami Dayanand Saraswati” Dr Madhu Sandhu said Maharishi Swami Dayanand Saraswati was a great religious leader, founder of Arya Samaj, a renowned scholar, a social reformer and a nationalist. She said Swami Dayanand emphasised on the provision of equal rights to women and advocated education of children regardless of gender. In her lecture on the importance of using mother tongue, she said, “Mother tongue plays an important role in shaping an individual’s personality. It helps us to remain rooted in our culture and tradition.”

Seminar on contributions of Sikh diaspora

The Postgraduate Department of History, DAV College, Amritsar, organised a talk on “Sikhism Diaspora” here today. Dr Himadri Banerjee, head of the department, Jadavpur University, Kolkata was the chief guest and Dr Raj Kumar, faculty, Department of History, Maharaja Sayaraji Rav University, Baroda, Dr Bir Good Gill, head, Department of History, GNDU, and Atma Ram, researcher in Sikh history were guests of honour on the occasion. Dr Banerjee talked about the role played by Sikhs in the Indian freedom struggle. She said a large numbers of Sikhs were migrating from their homeland, which was impacting their culture negatively. “The Sikh diaspora, especially the Sikh communities of Canada, Europe and other countries, have played a considerable role in the political, economic and social life of Punjab,” she added. Principal of the college, Dr Rajesh Kumar, along with Vice-Principal and head, Department of History, Dr Vishwa Bandhu, welcomed the guests. Speaking on the occasion, Dr Rajesh Kumar congratulated head, Department of History, for organising such talks. He said these events were quite helpful in making students aware about various topics, besides overall development of students. While interacting with students, Dr Vishwa Bandhu talked about sacrifices of Sikhs in the Indian history and their contribution in the Freedom Struggle. Prof Shilpi Seth apprised students about the role of Sikh community in making Punjab a secure and independent homeland.

Intellectuals advocate use of Punjabi during meet

Literary and folk organisations of the city stressed to provide preliminary education to pupils in their mother tongue during a seminar at Virsa Vihar here today. Intellectuals advocated that children should learn things in their own language comfortably. Speakers also expressed resentment against the government for not implementing the Punjabi language in government offices. They gave a call for struggle for the rights of Punjabi language. Speaking on the occasion, Kewal Dhaliwal, a theatre activist, said, “One can express his fellings in best way in his own mother tongue. We have to recognise the importance of mother tongue in our lives.” Professor Jagwinder Singh Jodha said, “Writers of Punjabi protested at Chandigarh against the UT administration. The crisis is same in Punjab. We have to make masses aware about the discrimination with the Punjabi language on various platforms.” He said, “It is a myth that English is necessary to be knowledgeable. There are several nations in the world where native language is the medium of education. We have to oppose such schools, which punish children for speaking Punjabi.” Poet Surjit Judge said, “Not only English, Hindi is also a threat for regional languages. The people should struggle to get rights of their language in the country.” He stressed on making Punjabi a language of market to assure its survival. An award function was also held on the occasion. Teachers, who were felicitated, include Principal Harjinder Pal Kaur Kang, Principal Satnam Singh Gill, Principal Nirmal Singh, Guneeta Baabu, Neera Sharma and Satinder Singh Othi. — TNS