Chandigarh, May 30 (IANS) AAP's Rajya Sabha member Vikramjit Sahney on Tuesday took up the issue of exclusion of Punjabi as a compulsory subject by the Panjab University with Vice President of India Jagdeep Dhankhar, who is also the university's Chancellor.
In a letter to the Vice-President, Sahney said Panjab University was established for the students of Punjab and they cannot be deprived of the privilege to study this language in undergraduate courses.
I kindly request @VPIndia Vice President of India & Chancellor, #PunjabUniversity to restore Punjabi as Compulsory language in undergraduate courses
— Vikramjit Singh MP (@vikramsahney) May 30, 2023
The issue of exclusion of Punjabi as compulsory subject and making it minor by Syndicate of Punjab University Chandigarh is… pic.twitter.com/tjzYWp1ltD
He said there are over 200 colleges affiliated to the university and students enrolled with them should also get the facility to study their mother tongue as it has been done by other universities like Punjabi University, Patiala, and Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar.
He also brought to the notice of the Vice-President that this decision of the Syndicate is contrary to the Punjab Language Act and "needs to be rectified immediately".
Sahney raised the question on the decision by making the point that the Syndicate has no right to take such a drastic decision when the Board of Studies and the Language Faculty have recommended to keep Punjab as a compulsory subject.
In a statement issued here, Sahney cautioned that such decisions against Punjab and Punjabi will never be tolerated and all the Punjabi-loving people, whether they are Hindus or Sikhs or Muslims, stand united to foil its implementation.