March for mother tongue reaches city

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, February 19

A ‘Gurmukhi Chetna March’ being taken out across the state by the Punjabi Maa Boli Satkar Sabha for the honour of Punjabi language today reached the city.

Gangster-turned-activist Lakhbir Singh Lakha Sidhana said members of the sabha would stage a dharna in front of the Department of Languages in Patiala on February 21.

Having started from Takht Damdama Sahib on Monday, they had already covered Amritsar yesterday and would be heading to Khatkar Kalan and Anandpur Sahib today. Passing through Chandigarh, they would reach Fatehgarh Sahib tomorrow, ahead of a final programme on the occasion of National Language Day.

Lakha Sidhana said even as the Census showed that over 91 per cent population had registered Punjabi as their mother language in the state, it was not getting its due in government offices and even schools. “We want to ask department officials as to what action they had been taking against government employees who are not following its orders. We also want to ask them about action being mulled against schools which were not teaching Punjabi or were not allowing children to speak in the language,” he said. Earlier, Lakha had begun a campaign to blacken signages which had English and Hindi versions, instead of Punjabi.