LAHORE, Pakistan (KP)--The Pakistan Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (PSGPC) has shown interest in approaching the Evacuee Trust Property Board (ETBC) to establish separate institutions to enable teaching of Gurmukhi to Sikh children in Lahore. At least three separate schools are being run in the country where Gurmukhi is taught as an extra curriculum.
Former President of the PSGPC, Bhai Bishan Singh, urged that it was very important to ensure Sikh children in Pakistan are able to read Gurmukhi. He said that just like Muslim children have the option to learn Arabic in many schools in Pakistan, special accommodations should be provided in areas with large number of Sikh families to teach Gurmukhi.
According to Bhai Bishan Singh, Gurmukhi was being taught in at least three schools in Pakistan already, including two in Peshawar and one in Nankana Sahib. Gurmukhi is being taught in these schools to ensure Sikh Children are able to recite Gurbani from Guru Granth Sahib.
The PSGPC has decided that if public schools can be allowed to assist in teaching Gurmukhi, it will work to hire teachers to teach the subject. Bhai Bishan Singh said that enabling the teaching of Gurmukhi within public schools will be a viable option since extra funding will be needed to facilitate the new classes at private schools.
The yearning of Sikh families in Lahore should inspire people in East Punjab where people are forgetting the importance of the Gurmukhi language. Due to increasing propaganda and the negative influence of Bollywood and Hollywood, Punjabis living in cities and towns prefer to speak Hindi and English over Punjabi. With schools also assisting this disparagement, special interest needs to be shown by Sikh parents to ensure their children speak Punjabi at home.
