Amritsar, April 30: The SGPC has sought an apology from Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh over deletion of chapters on Sikh history from the syllabus of Class XII.
Echoing similar views, former Deputy CM and SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal called the Punjab Government an “atheist”. Sukhbir and his wife Union Minister Harsimrat Badal were here to pay obeisance at the Golden Temple on Sunday.
SGPC president Gobind Singh Longowal said the state government should rectify its “anti-Sikh” approach as the history of Punjab was incomplete without mentioning the contribution of Sikh Gurus’ teachings, Anglo-Sikh wars, Maharaja Ranjit Singh era and annexation of Punjab.
“These most important aspects of Sikh history have been removed from the Class XII history books. Being the head of the state, Capt Amarinder Singh should apologise from the Sikh community. We demand that the revised textbook should be banned and re-introduced with the original text on the Sikh history,” he added.
Sukhbir said, “This shows the government’s anti-Sikh policies. The Sikh war memorials established during the SAD-BJP regime were totally neglected. Similarly, the heritage street leading to the Golden Temple is crying for maintenance.
”He challenged Capt Amarinder to produce before the media copies of the Punjab School Education Board’s new book on history for Class XI to prove his claim that chapters on Sikh history had been shifted to the Class XI syllabus.
Sukhbir said the CM should have ordered a probe into the issue instead of embarrassing himself with a factually incorrect statement, which was fed to him by the very officers who were responsible for the mischief in the first place.
Source Tribune India
