Ashok Mehta elected Punjabi maha sabha chief

Tribune News Service

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Haridwar, August 26

Representatives of the Punjabi community from across the country have formed the National Punjabi Maha Sabha to safeguard the interests of the community members and effectively raise their issues.

The Punjabi Maha Sabha was formed during the one-day convention here and the announcement was made at a press conference at the Press Club.

Charanjeet Gaba announced the newly elected office-bearers and said a pan-India single organisation was needed that takes up the issues related with the community. Ashok Mehta was unanimously elected president of the National Punjabi Maha Sabha.

Mehta would select other office-bearers and working committee members in consultation with delegates in the coming days.

Mehta said the association would ensure promotion of the Punjabi language at the national level. “We are demanding inclusion of the Punjabi language in the curriculum in all schools of north India. The association will also demand Punjabi to be made the second official language of Haryana. The claims of people affected by Partition in 1947 will also be taken up with the Union Government,” said Mehta.

The association would urge the government to set up a separate university in name of martyr Madan Lal Dhingra, allotment of land for the construction of a Punjabi Dharamshala in every district of the country, scholarship for poor Punjabi students and the minority status to the Punjabi community.

Vishal Nayyar from Ludhiana, Dr IK Swami from New Delhi, Punjab Kesari group editor Vijay Kumar Chopra, Bhagwad Geeta expert Swami Gyanand, Vishal Nayyar, Manish Sindhwani (Kurushetra), OP Wadhawa (Delhi), Surendra Juneja (Ambala), Punit Jauhar (Jammu), Jitendra Chugh (Nahan, Himachal Pradesh) along with several Punjabi community representatives attended the convention.