In 1961 when the residents of Chandigarh and neighbouring areas returned Hindi as their mother tongue and when the masses other than Sikhs returned Hindi as their mother tongue at the behest of anti-Sikh leaders and a section of the anti-Sikh media, a maverick Professor of Punjabi of the Panjab University and subsequently a member of the upper House of Parliament -Dr Vishwa Nath Tiwari, set out into the bazars and bylanes of the capital city and recorded their conversations in Punjabi, hiding a tape-recorder in his clothing. He showed them that they were ugly citizens of City Beautiful. 60 years later, when a similar tragedy is unfolding in Jammu and Kashmir, where the Indian state has officially debarred Punjabi, his son and Congress MP from Anandpur Sahib Manish Tewari roared in Indian Parliament seeking reinstatement of Punjabi as one of the official languages of Jammu and Kashmir.

VERY RARELY DO CONGRESS PARTY MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT PROVIDE SUCCOUR AND SUPPORT TO the people of Punjab and the various causes and concerns of the people. Thank you Manish Tewari for undoing that image. Thank you, Manish Tewari, for being truthful to the City of Bliss -Anandpur Sahib, whose constituents elected you to the Indian Parliament. Thank you Manish Tewari for carrying on the legacy of your illustrious father, even though the Sikhs did not do justice to him.

And of course, thank you for taking up the cause of Punjabi in Jammu and Kashmir, when the Akalis are silent and even the Chief Minister of Punjab -Maharaja Amarinder Singh had not had time, since the last 12 days to voice his consternation against the move of the Narendra Modi government to dislodge Punjabi as the official language of the newly carved state of Jammu and Kashmir.

Thank you for taking up the cause of Punjabi in Jammu and Kashmir, when the Akalis are silent.

We have got a taste of the Indian government’s hate for Punjabi many a time over the decades. When the whole country was divided into linguistic lines, Punjab had to put up an agitation, sending thousands to prison and losing lives too.

Very recently, when the Prime Minister of India inaugurated the Kartarpur Sahib corridor, on the Indian side, the plaque unveiled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi was in Hindi.

Manish Tewari appealing to the government of India in his speech to the Indian Parliament on 14 September 2020 -the first day of the Monsoon session, assumes significance because in the eyes of the Indian state Punjabi must be suppressed because it is the language of the Sikhs. Like his father Dr Tiwari who opposed those who were denouncing Punjabi and accepting the imposition of Hindi, Manish Tiwari standing for Punjabi is praiseworthy as well as a denunciation of linking the language to a community.

Today Manish Tewari has lent support to the various Sikh bodies in Jammu and Kashmir who have been protesting galore against the proposed move of the Government of India. The All-Party Sikh Coordination Committee led by Jagmohan Singh Raina, the Jammu and Kashmir Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee led by Tarlochan Singh Wazir, youth bodies like the Supreme Sikh Organisation J & K have been leading street protests and have petitioned the Governor of the state against the move.

There is no doubt that Sikhs will have to go through a round of protest and agitation, but they will manage to restore the glory of the Punjabi language in Jammu and Kashmir.

Undoubtedly, the Sikhs, have been on the forefront in preserving their language, notwithstanding the children of the urban class which willy-nilly accepts Bollywood’s Hindi.

The hashtag #IncludePunjabiAsOfficaLanguageInJammuandKashmirLanguageBill2020, is doing the rounds in Jammu and Kashmir. There is no doubt that Sikhs will have to go through a round of protest and agitation, but they will manage to restore the glory of the Punjabi language in Jammu and Kashmir. Manish Tewari has provided a sliver clinging to the dark clouds surrounding the Sikhs and everything dear to them.

Once again, Thank you Manish Tewari.