Kartarpur Corridor inauguration Punjabi missing on plaque, Bajwa slams Centre

Punjab higher education minister Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa on Sunday slammed the Centre for ‘total omission’ of Punjabi language from the inauguration plaque of

Punjab higher education minister Tript Rajinder Singh Bajwa on Sunday slammed the Centre for ‘total omission’ of Punjabi language from the inauguration plaque of the Kartarpur Corridor at Dera Baba Nanak.

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Dubbing the incident highly unfortunate, he said that the inscription on the inauguration board was in Hindi followed by English while Punjabi, which is official language of the state, was missing when it should be on top of the plaque.

The integrated check post that is gateway to Gurdwara Darbar Sahib at Kartarpur Sahib in Pakistan was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday.

Bajwa said that not only the Kartarpur Sahib ICP inauguration plaque, but the boards of all central projects should have had Punjabi at the top.

He said that Punjabi is not only one of the 17 recognised national languages but is also the state language of Punjab. He said this discrimination by the Centre and that too in the state will not be tolerated.

He said the state government was studying language acts of Maharashtra, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala on the implementation of language on sign boards and at every other level concerned. He said writing in Punjabi on top of the signboards will be made compulsory on the pattern of these states.

He said Punjab was not opposed to Hindi but the national language could not be imposed on the state at the cost of Punjabi.