JALANDAR: It was a fight for the creation of a Punjabi-Speaking state that led to Punjab being divided into Haryana and Himachal Pradesh in 1966. However, 50 years on, people are asking an important question...It was Punjabi language which was the basis for demand of re organization of Punjab and its trifurcation into Haryana and Himachal Pradesh. However, there is a growing concern today that many of the prominent schools in Punjab don't give it much importance. Some even believe that English and Hindi are getting precedence over Punjabi. Most of the private schools discourage students from speaking in Punjabi and the trend is not only in big cities but in small towns also.The issue has occasionally come up on select forums in recent years. However, there is no detailed survey on the language in the state, making it increasingly difficult to assess its current status in objective terms. However, even the Punjab government acknowledged the trend of the `ban' on use of Punjabi in private schools affiliated to central boards like the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) and Indian Certificate of Second ary Education (ICSE). It issued a letter in February 2014 to all deputy commission ers to check the trend of ban on speaking in Punjabi in schools since it was an insult to the mother tongue and against the fundamental rights of children.Ironically in these English-medium schools, Punjabi is losing place to Hindi as they follow an unwritten code -converse in Hindi, if it is hard to speak English.“My both daughters are made to speak either in English or Hindi in the school. They now speak in Hindi at home also even though we talk to them in Punjabi. Children are following the trend as they feel that it would not be good to speak in Punjabi,“ said Phagwara resident Dipin Chawla, whose two daughters are studying in a leading school of the town. “We want students to converse in English. If they have to switch over to a regional language sometimes to express them selves, then Hindi is preferred.They study Punjabi in the lan guage period,“ said Ritu Kaul, principal of Delhi Public School (DPS), Jalandhar.Jalandhar's Apee Jay School 's principal Meera Javed also admitted that first preference was given to English. She admitted that second preference was for Hindi, quipping “in any case students will get fluent in Punjabi at homes“.Swami Sant Dass Public School principal H B Kaur said though they encouraged students to converse in English so that they could be more proficient, there was no ban on speaking in Punjabi. However, she admitted, that the usual trend was to prefer Hindi over Punjabi in case students needed to switch over from English.“The biggest issue with this trend is that the schools are creating inferiority complex among students about their mother tongue. We want students to learn maximum languages and at least get proficient in English and Hindi but where is the need to do this at the cost of their mother tongue Punjabi, and that too by creating an inferiority complex,“ said Deepak Bali, secretary Punjabi Jagriti Manch, who picked up the issue with the school of his son in Jalandhar. “The trend of avoiding Punjabi in usual conversation is more among girls, and after schools it extends to colleges. Even in homes you find this unwanted change,“ he added.Linguist decries preference to English, Hindi over PbiThough Shiromani Akali Dal spearheaded agitation for Punjabi Suba, it did little for promotion of Punjabi language except for lip-service even as it was made the official language of the state,“ said former vice-chancellor of Punjabi University, Patiala and former professor of linguistics J S Puar. “On one opposes proficiency in English or even Hindi but why should there be inferiority complex associated with the mother tongue.Languages complement each other in their learning but schools are projecting as if they are in conflict with each other. This approach is completely unscientific. Knowing Punjabi well will not hamper proficiency in English or Hindi,“ said Prof Puar who is also a postgraduate in English literature.English medium school in memory of Sant Fateh SinghA public school in Badiala village of Bathinda district, started by Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee in memory of late president of Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) Sant Fateh Singh who also led the Punjabi Suba Morcha and headed Akalis when reorganization took place in 1966, follows English as the principal medium of instruction and affiliated to CBSE. “We encourage students to converse in English. If they have to speak in a local language then it is Punjabi,“ said school principal Satwinder Kaur. “It is an irony that a school in Sant Fateh Singh's memory gives second or third place to Punjabi,“ said noted columnist and Punjabi writer Gurbachan Bhullar.RSS uses Punjabi for communication in stateEven as Jan Sangh, the earlier avatar of BJP, opposed reorganization of Punjab and a section of it even campaigned for Hindi as mother tongue of Hindus in the 1950s and in 1960s, the RSS, in its internal communications uses Punjabi. “Our circulars or letters which are meant for Punjab only are in Punjabi. If our swayamsewaks are from Punjab then interactions are also in Punjabi. The then RSS chief, Guru Golwalkar, had made it clear in 1960 that Punjabi was mother tongue of every Punjabi so our organization follows that convention,“ said Ram Gopal, state media in-charge of RSS. RSS Punjab unit vice-president late Brig Jagdish Gagenja had said on March 19, 2015 that in Punjab the medium of instructions in schools should be Punjabi at least for elementary education to help children to understand subjects better.`Strict implementation of govt instructions needed'Though Punjab government wrote a strong worded letter to deputy commisioners in February 2014 that no school could put any type of ban on conversation in Punjabi, it made little impact to ensure implementation of those directions. DCs asked the district education officers (DEOs) who could do little. There should be special monitoring committees involving senior bureaucrats at district levels which should conduct surprise checks in schools and interact with students to check the ground reality,“ said Punjabi Jagriti Manch secretary Deepak Bali.2 Acts passed for Punjabi in 2008In 2008, SAD-BJP government had passed two Acts: Punjab Official Language (Amendment) Act and the Learning of Punjabi and Other Languages Act. The legislations were brought in to ensure comprehensive use of Punjabi in state administration and provided monitoring of its implementation as official language of the state by constituting state level and district level committees. It was also to ensure that Punjabi was taught to all students studying in classes I to X one a compulsory subject from academic session commencing in April 2009.