Chandigarh 1 November 2020 : Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Punjab while lashing out at Union government for giving step motherly treatment to Punjab and the Punjabi language said that state governments including the incumbent one, have also been discriminating against mother language of Punjabis.
In a statement issued from the party headquarters on Sunday, Harpal Singh Cheema, a senior leader of the party and Leader of the Opposition, while extending party’s support to the writers, intellectuals and other forums who observed ‘Black Day’ under one banner in Chandigarh, said that till November 1, 1966, Punjabi was the only mother language spoken in two and a half dozen villages of Chandigarh, but the Central Government made English the official language without any notification. The Indian Constitution does not allow such a move against the mother tongue.
Cheema said that Congress and SAD-BJP (Badal) governments of Punjab despite having the governments of their own parties at the center could not restore the dignity of Punjabi language Chandigarh or campaigned aggressively for Chandigarh as capital of Punjab.
Harpal Singh Cheema said that in 2015 the Punjab Assembly had unanimously passed a resolution on this issue and sent it to the Center and the Governor of Punjab, who is also the Administrator of Chandigarh (UT), but did not pursued it despite the fact that there was a SAD-BJP government at the Center as well as in Punjab.
Harpal Singh Cheema said there has been so much discrimination against mother tongue of Punjab during the Congress and previous Badal government that till date no vacancies have been filled in Punjab courts for implementation of Punjabi under Punjab State Language Act. Owing to the apathy of the Punjab government, Punjabi University Patiala which is the first language based university, is in reeling under deep financial crises whereas the situation of language department of Punjab is even worst.
Harpal Singh Cheema said that with the formation of AAP government in the state in 2022, respect for Punjabi language and Punjabi institutions would be restored on priority basis.
