Punjabi language will disappear in 50 years: Unesco report

Written by Sarbjit Dhaliwal, Chandigarh, Tribune News Service

Monday, 03 March 2008

Noted journalist Kuldip Nayar has taken it on himself to preserve the Punjabi language and culture. “I have gone through a report prepared by Unesco which says the Punjabi language will disappear from the world in 50 years. It shocked me. I am out to save Punjabi language and culture,” he said here today. He was invited by the Punjabi Bachao Manch seeking his help to save Punjabi in Chandigarh, capital of Punjab, a state carved on the basis of Punjabi language. “Tomorrow I will be in Jalandhar and the next day in Patiala to speak in favour of Punjabi language and culture,” he said. “Our roots, Punjabi language and culture, are decaying and none in Punjab is worried about it,”he said, adding, “I have been to Pakistan and people there also feel their new generation feels hesitant to converse in Punjabi”. It was shame for Punjabis that they were discouraging children from conversing in Punjabi while at home and want them speak English or Hindi. “I am not against Hindi or English, but I will not like these languages to become a cause for the demise of Punjabi language,” he added. He said politicians linked the language to politics and it caused huge damage to Punjabi language. He said at the time of the Punjabi Suba Morcha, he had met then Congress president Kamraj, who had agreed to keep the boundary of the Punjabi Suba up to Panipat and for including the remaining part in the greater Delhi region. Even Bhagwat Dayal, a leader from the Haryana region, had agreed. But Sant Fateh Singh, who was leading the morcha, did not agree, he said. “Now you see how much damage has been caused because of reducing Punjab, which was one of the biggest states in the country, into a tiny state. It happened because of political reasons,” he said. A former vice-chancellor of Guru Nanak Dev University Dr S.P. Singh said at the cost of Punjabi language, Adarsh schools, dominated by English language and culture, were being set up in Punjab. Political leaders were creating an elite class in urban and rural areas to strengthen political bases, he said. He said the elite class was dominating bureaucracy, politics and other spheres whereas commoners had lost identity. Dr Darshan Singh, journalist Tarlochan Singh, manch’s convener Gurpartap Singh Riar, former editor Shingara Singh Bhullar and Prof Rajpal Singh were among the speakers. Comments (3) >> Show/Hide comments Kuldip Nayar said:   I am being misquoted. I have never heard of this UNESCO report. Has anyone seen it? March 09, 2008 Kulbir Singh Malhotra said:   If Kuldeep Nayyar himself says that he has been misquoted and he neber heard of this UNESCO report; then who made this news as sensational news and what's the purpose behind this? March 09, 2008 preet_1748 said:   Whosoever is spreading these rumours are in fact working in favour of our culture.it may be for the purpose of preserving punjabi.sikh community after revealing that punjabi is diminishing should become more responsible and the coming generation must know punjabi and this could happen only with the sake of schools and parents-only these two building blocks can play vital roles to prevent disappearance of punjabi language. March 31, 2008 Write comment You must be logged in to post a comment. Please register if you do not have an account yet.

 

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