Sikh bodies protest against Gurdas Maan

Our Correspondent
Jalandhar, September 23

The controversy pertaining to legendary Punjabi singer Gurdas Maan over his comments in support of ‘One nation, one language’ seems to have no end. The singer is facing protests and criticism from a section of the Punjabi community abroad as well as Sikh organisations in the state.

Showing their anger against Maan, the Jalandhar unit of the Sikh Youth Punjab today staged a protest against the singer at the Nakodar chowk. The youth carrying placards raised slogans in favour of Punjabi language and condemned Maan for speaking against his mother tongue by tearing off his posters. Gurnam Singh Moonak, general secretary of the Sikh Youth Punjab, said the protest had been held to protect the rights of Punjabi language.

He said Punjabi language was a precious gift gifted by the Sikh Gurus, peers, prophets, martyrs. Anyone from the state who supports the idea of ‘One nation, one language’ is a traitor of Punjab’s mother tongue. Condemning Maan’s comment “that the nation should speak Hindustani — a mixture of common words of Urdu, Punjabi and Hindi”, Gurnam said a singer who was known for his love for the language had stooped so low that he forgot that it was Punjabi language that gave him fame and name.

He said Punjabis and the Punjabi diaspora stand against Maan’s comments and appealed to everyone to boycott the singer so that in future nobody dares to speak against the mother tongue and favour other languages.

He said India was a diverse nation and the idea of ‘one nation, one language’, had no meaning. Other members of the city unit Satvir Singh Jamsher and Malkit Singh Bhinder while addressing the gathering appealed to Punjabis to give due respect to theri mother tongue.

They said it was a matter of tragedy that Punjabi was refrained from teaching in state schools and where it was being taught, it was considered as a third language. He appealed to educational institutions to value the language on a priority basis.