Ambala MLA seeks ban on calling Punjabi migrants ‘Pakistani’ or ‘refugees’ - Hindustan Times
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Ambala MLA seeks ban on calling Punjabi migrants ‘Pakistani’ or ‘refugees’

ByBhavey Nagpal, Ambala
Mar 21, 2023 01:16 AM IST

Speaking during Zero Hour, Ambala City BJP MLA Aseem Goel demanded that the usage of such words should be banned by the state government.

Ambala City BJP MLA Aseem Goel on Monday objected to referring to Punjabi migrants as ‘Pakistani, refugees or sharnarthis’ during the ongoing budget session of Haryana Vidhan Sabha.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Aseem Goel in Ambala City.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MLA Aseem Goel in Ambala City.

Speaking during Zero Hour, Goel demanded that the usage of such words should be banned by the state government.

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“The Punjabi community members, who were forced to migrate from Pakistan during the partition, have to face such slurs daily. Despite economic hardships, they managed to create an important place in society due to their dedication and hard work. I urge the government to look into this and ban such words,” the legislator said in the House.

Goel added that the community members should not be called ‘Sharnarthi’, but rather referred to as ‘Purusharthi’ (effort makers).

His words come days after members of Ambala-based Punjabi Biradari Vikas Sabha, a community rights outfit under Rashtriya Punjabi Mahasangh met four MLAs of the district, including home minister Anil Vij, Goel and Congress’s Varun Chaudhary and Shally Chaudhary with the demand.

Outfit’s state president Sandeep Sachdeva said, “After the partition, the then governments made arrangements for our stay in the refugee camps. Most of us lost our families and our savings during the carnage post-partition. Almost three generations have passed, and we are still called ‘refugees’ and even ‘Pakistani’.”

As per experts, the Punjabis account for 8% of the state’s estimated population of around 3 crore and have been crucial in the rise of the BJP in Haryana post-2014.

As many as 23 constituencies, out of the total 90 seats, part of the “GT Road Belt” comprising five districts of Ambala, Kurukshetra, Karnal, Panipat and Sonipat are largely dominated by this population.

The issue gained prominence ahead of the 2019 assembly elections, when chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar, also a Punjabi face, was urged by several organisations in 2018 to ban the usage of the word.

Sachdeva said his outfit members recently met all four MLAs from Ambala and will meet the rest of the 86 legislators with the same demand.

“We will ask for a law on the lines of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act for action against those calling the Punjabis refugees,” he added.

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