Inaugural plaque not in Punjabi, minister fumes

Amritsar, November 10

Higher Education and Languages Minister Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa hit out at the Narendra Modi government for ignoring Punjabi language on the inauguration plaque of the Kartarpur corridor at Dera Baba Nanak.

In a release issued here on Sunday, he said Punjabi should have been at the top. “It is highly unfortunate that the inscription on the inaugural board was in Hindi followed by English while our official language Punjabi has been ignored, which amounted to blatant injustice with the state and its natives.”

Bajwa said not only the Kartarpur Sahib ICP inauguration plaque, but the boards of all Central projects should have Punjabi at the top.

He asserted that Punjabi was not only one of the 17 recognised national languages under the Constitution but also the official one of the state. He made it clear that this discrimination with Punjabi by the Centre and that too in Punjab will not be tolerated.

He said the state government was studying the language acts of other states like Maharashtra, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala on the implementation of language on the signboards at every level.

He said the writing of signboards with Punjabi on the top would be made compulsory on the pattern of these states.

At the same time, he made it clear that Punjab was not opposed to Hindi but the issue was that the national language could not be imposed on the state at the cost of Punjabi. — TNS