LUDHIANA: The Punjab Chief Minister, Mr. Harcharan Singh Brar, recently called upon writers to make Punjabi simple and a language of the masses.
Presiding over the annual Dhaliwal awards function organized by the Punjabi Sahitya Akademi, Mr. Brar said that Punjabi had made a rapid progress in the recent past but regretted that it was coming under the influence of Hindi. This trend should be checked.
Mr. Bra pointed out that the Punjabi language in Pakistan had also witnessed development but there, too, it ‘was influenced by Persian and Urdu. Punjabi should be developed on its own as it had a rich culture.
The Chief Minister also regretted that the standard of Punjabi films was very poor and a majority of them had not done any service to the language. Punjabis were only shown as drunkards of truck drivers. This was a humiliation of the Punjabis.
Mr, Brar contested the claim of Punjabi writers and political leaders that it was Mr. Lachman Singh Gill who introduced Punjabi as the official language of the state. He revealed that he and Mr. Dilbagh Singh, the present Agriculture Minister, had made a plan to move a resolution seeking the status of the official language for Punjabi after the formation of the Punjabi suba and they were short of one vote only. They won over Mr. Baldev Singh, an Akali MLA, to vote for the resolution in the Vidhan Sabha, They moved the resolution and it was passed and Punjabi was granted the status of official language of Punjab but the Mr. Baldev Singh was thrown out of the Vidhan Sabha by protagonists of the Punjabi language. He left Punjab for Canada and has not come back. This was the treatment, the “custodians” of Punjabi language gave to their members, he remarked sarcastically.
Mr. Brar lauded the role of the Punjabi Sahitya Akademi in the development of Punjabi.
Mr. Brar said that English had no clash with Punjabi as it was the language of the world, English was being used for the development of international trade, and He said the Americans were shy of making investments in China because the Chinese did not know English.
Mr. Brar promised that he would give funds promised to the Akademi by the late Chief Minister, Mr. Beant Singh, in installments.
Earlier, Mr. Brar presented Kartar Singh Dhaliwal awards for the year 199394 to Mr, Devinder Satyar. The award comprises Rs 51,000 and a shawl. Awards of Rs 11,000 and a shawl each were also given to Punjabi writers, including Dr. Mohinder Kaur Gill, Dr. Charan’ Das Sidhu, Dr. Satnam Hamrahi, Prof Jagjit Virdi, Prof Niranjan Tasneem, Dr. Prem Parkash Singh Ajaib Chitarkar, Bhupinder Singh and Mr. Harbhajan Singh Halwarvi (Editor, Punjabi Triune),
Article extracted from this publication >> December 15, 1995
