Punjabi writers berate Capt Amarinder for taking oath in English

Office-bearers of Kendriya Punjabi Lekhak Sabha have rebuked Congress leaders Capt Amarinder Singh and Rana Gurjit Singh for taking their oath as chief minister and cabinet minister, respectively, in English. In a joint statement, Sushil Dosanjh and Sarabjit Singh, president and vice-president of the Sabha, said, “This is a direct insult to the mother tongue Punjabi and it is strongly condemned.”

Office-bearers of Kendriya Punjabi Lekhak Sabha have rebuked Congress leaders Capt Amarinder Singh and Rana Gurjit Singh for taking their oath as chief minister and cabinet minister, respectively, in English. In a joint statement, Sushil Dosanjh and Sarabjit Singh, president and vice-president of the Sabha, said, “This is a direct insult to the mother tongue Punjabi and it is strongly condemned.”

Governor VP Singh Badnore administering oath to the new Punjab chief minister, Capt Amarinder Singh, at Raj Bhawan in Chandigarh on Thursday. (PTI)

“We had hoped that the Congress government under the leadership of Capt Amarinder Singh would promote Punjabi and give it the due status that writer members of the Sabha have been struggling for; but the very first day this big disappointment came for Punjabi activists,” they said.

Recently, Punjabi writers had courted arrests in the city to press upon the Chandigarh administration to “not relegate” Punjabi in its programmes and educational institutions.