By Balwant Sanghera
SURREY – A large number of Punjabi writers, academics, community activists and political leaders gathered at Surrey’s spacious Royal King Banquet Hall and Convention Centre to welcome Dr. Jaspal Singh, Vice Chancellor, Punjabi University, Patiala on Wednesday.
It was like a Who is who in the South Asian community in general and the Punjabi community in particular. The event was the hard work of organizers like Gurbinder Singh Dhaliwal. Dr. Singh, who had come to Toronto to participate in a Punjabi conference, initially had no plan to visit Vancouver. However, Dhaliwal convinced him to do so. Of course, Surrey, being the centre of the Punjabi community, it was an ideal setting for such a get together.
After listening to welcoming remarks and deliberations by a number of speakers, Dr. Singh thanked the attendees for according him a very warm welcome. He expressed his delight at the progress that our community has made in promoting Punjabi language and culture in this part of the world. The Vice Chancellor then gave a brief summary of the prominent role played by the Punjabi University in promoting Punjabi not only in the Punjab but also at the international level. Then he went on to cite the benefits of learning/mastering ones mother tongue and for that matter any language.
Dr. Singh went on to state that contrary to a popular myth learning Punjabi does not hinder learning any other language. As a matter of fact, it facilitates that process. He mentioned that the development of a language is usually followed by financial, social and cultural development. It is great news that now Punjabi is spoken by close to 150million people in more than 150 countries. This language has achieved a place of prominence not only in Canada but also in many other countries like the U.S., U.K., Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and Malaysia.
Alluding to a recent report by the United Nations that stated that Punjabi may become extinct in the next 50 or so years, Dr. Singh questioned their assumption and reaffirmed that this language has a great future in the world. He emphasized that it is not only the Punjabi language that has a bright future but the Punjabi people as well. Due their hard work and resilience Punjabis have made a name for themselves wherever they have settled. As a matter of fact, the circle of Punjabi language and Punjabis has been widening at a very impressive speed. This is due their broadmindedness, sense of community and a drive for the betterment of humanity.
At the conclusion of the function, the distinguished members of the audience gave Dr. Jaspal Singh a sincere vote of thanks for taking the time to visit Surrey and share his thoughts with them. Along with others, it was a real treat for this writer to listen to a scholar of his caliber.
Balwant Sanghera is the President of the Punjabi Language Education Association (PLEA).
