While the issue of farmers’ protests against the new agriculture ordinances passed by the Indian government (Farm Bill 2020) is being greatly supported by politicians across all parties and Punjabi artistes, now our entertainment industry giants like Diljit Dosanjh, Ammy Virk and many others, have even got together to protest against the decision of not including Punjabi language in Jammu and Kashmir Official Languages Bill, 2020.
The bill, which has been recently passed in the Indian Parliament has made Hindi, Dogri and Urdu as its official languages while not considering the demands of Punjabi population in the region.
The Punjabi entertainment industry stars yesterday shared a poster on their social media accounts with a slogan in Punjabi. The slogan, besides, calling for support for farmers, also states a fact that Punjabi has been excluded from the official languages of Jammu & Kashmir.
Take a look at the posters shared by Diljit Dosanjh, Ammy Virk, Nisha Bano, Prince Kanwaljit, Gurnam Bhullar and several other artistes from Punjabi film fraternity.
It may be noted that Jammu & Kashmir has had a strong historic connection with Punjab. Punjabi was not only the mother tongue of lakhs of residents in J&K but was also recognised as per the constitution of the Union Territory.
The Jammu and Kashmir Official Languages Bill 2020 was passed by a voice vote in the Upper House on Wednesday. The Bill gives official status to Kashmiri, Dogri, Hindi, English, and Urdu languages in the Union Territory.
“The Bill fulfils the decades-long wishes of the people of the region. It is a big step which will give official language status to Kashmiri, Dogri, Hindi, English, and Urdu,” said Minister of State (MoS) Home Affairs G Kishan Reddy said speaking during the discussions.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CFgXLvdn9N3
Gurnam Bhullar also made an appeal to his fans to maintain peace while protesting. He said that though we all are together in this, but we must do this struggle in a peaceful manner. 7,
He wrote: “Asi saare ikk haa’n ??, par kirpa karke josh de naal hosh v bnaa ke rakheo ji , ehh sangharsh appa saareya ne shaantmai tareeke naal sire launa hai ji”
What Has Punjab Got To Do With J&K?
Jammu and Kashmir had a very deep-rooted connection with Punjab as the region was a part of Maharaja Ranjit Singh’s Empire. According to wikipedia,
According to wikipedia.org, Gulab Singh, the founder of Dogra dynasty that formed the royal house of Jammu and Kashmir, was an influential noble in the court of Maharaja Ranjit Singh while his brother Dhian Singh served as the prime minister of the Sikh empire.
It was Maharaja Ranjit Singh who had crowned Gulab Singh as the king of Jammu and Kashmir on June 17, 1822. There are a lot of Punjabis in J&K and hence, the demand for including the Punjabi in the Official Languages Bill of Jammu and Kashmir was being made by the local leaders, Akali Dal and Punjab Congress Party as well.
Ex-Deputy Chief Minister of Punjab Sukhbir Singh Badal also expressed his anger at the development through this tweet:
https://twitter.com/officeofssbadal/status/1308810636189523968
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