Sikhs want Punjabi taught in Assam schools

[Azaad]

Sikhs living in Assam want Punjabi language taught in the state, Guru Nanak Chair at the Gauhati University and a cultural centre of their own in Guwahati city. These demands were placed before Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi through Dr Ajaib Singh, member, National Commission for Minorities.

Dr Ajaib Singh, who was on a two-day visit to Assam, said Chief Minister Gogoi had assured him of initiating steps for Guru Nanak Chair at the Gauhati University as well as for providing land to Sikhs for a cultural centre.

“The Chief Minister was very responsive to the demands raised by the Northeast Sikh Foundation,” Dr Ajaib Singh said, adding that the Assam State Minority Commission should have a Sikh member.

He pointed out to the Assam Chief Minister that there would be no financial constraints to appointing Punjabi language teachers in Assam schools as the cost would be borne by the Central Government under the PM’s 15-point programme for the welfare of minorities.

Dr Ajaib Singh said that according to an agreement signed by the Assam Government and the Punjab Government a few years back, Guru Nanak Chair was to be established at the Gauhati University and a Chair after the name of Assam’s religious and social reformer Srimanta Sankardeva at the Paunjab University, Chandigarh. While the Panjab University had done the needful, the Gauhati University had not. Meanwhile, all gurdwaras in Assam have asked for subsidised LPG cylinders to prepare langar.