Punjabi Push Gains Momentum Across J&K; Protests Spread from Jammu to Srinagar

SRINAGAR: A growing wave of public demonstrations demanding the promotion and official recognition of Punjabi in Jammu and Kashmir has now firmly spread from winter capital Jammu into summer capital Srinagar, signalling a unified linguistic assertion by the Sikh community across the Union Territory.

What began as scattered protests in Jammu has evolved into a coordinated, UT‑wide movement, with fresh demonstrations erupting in Srinagar on Friday as Sikh groups intensified their call for restoring Punjabi to school curriculums and granting it official‑language status.

In Srinagar, scores of Sikhs from diverse professions and social backgrounds assembled at Gurdwara Shaheed Bunga Sahib in Bagat Barzulla, carrying placards, chanting slogans, and voicing their concerns over what they described as the systematic sidelining of Punjabi in J&K’s administrative and educational framework. The protest was organised jointly by several Sikh bodies, including the All Parties Sikh Coordination Committee (APSCC), Punjabi Sahit Sabha, Gurdwara Prabhandak Committees, Akali Dal factions and other civil society groups.

Prominent Sikh leaders such as Jagmohan Singh Raina, Ajeet Singh Mastana, Dara Singh, D.P. Singh, Dr. Rekhi and Mangat Singh Jugnu led the demonstration, addressing the gathering and urging the government to rectify what they termed a “linguistic injustice.” They argued that Punjabi is not merely a language but a cultural inheritance deeply woven into the social fabric of J&K, spoken for generations by Sikhs, Paharis, Gujjars and other communities across the region.

Speakers at the protest expressed alarm over the diminishing space accorded to Punjabi in official and educational domains. They stressed that the language carries profound historical, religious and cultural significance for the Sikh community and must be safeguarded through institutional support. The protesters demanded the immediate restoration of Punjabi in school curriculums, recruitment of Punjabi teachers, and inclusion of the language in administrative usage to ensure its survival and growth.

The demonstrators also highlighted that Punjabi had long enjoyed constitutional recognition in the erstwhile state of J&K, and its exclusion from the J&K Official Languages Bill, 2020 has deeply hurt minority sentiments. They argued that the omission contradicts the region’s pluralistic ethos and undermines the linguistic rights of a community that constitutes over 2 percent of J&K’s population, according to the 2011 Census.

The protests in Jammu earlier this week had already drawn significant attention, with Sikh groups staging sit‑ins, marches and press conferences to demand corrective action. In districts such as Jammu, Kathua, Samba and Udhampur, community members rallied outside government offices and educational institutions, insisting that Punjabi’s widespread usage and cultural relevance make its exclusion discriminatory. Many protesters pointed out that Punjabi is spoken in various dialects by Paharis, Gujjars and Sikhs, making it one of the region’s organically rooted languages.

The controversy stems from the Union Cabinet’s approval of the J&K Official Languages Bill in September 2020, which granted official status to Dogri, Kashmiri, Hindi and English apart from Urdu which has served as the official language of the erstwhile state of J&K since 1888, when the autocratic Dogra rulers replaced Persian with Urdu as the state’s administrative language. Persian had been the region’s official language for several centuries and was widely used by both Muslims and Hindus in speech and writing.

The move to alter Urdu’s status was viewed by many as reflecting an anti‑Urdu bias, with critics alleging that the decision was driven by political considerations of the current central government. Legal experts, however, argued that such a change contravened the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019, which vests the authority to determine the official language in the newly constituted Legislative Assembly of the UT.

While Dogras and Kashmiris welcomed the move as long‑awaited recognition of their mother tongues, Sikh organisations across J&K condemned the exclusion of Punjabi, calling it politically motivated. Raina, chairman of APSCC, reiterated during Friday’s protest that the decision was “anti‑minority” and had “bruised the sentiments of lakhs of Punjabi‑speaking people.” He reminded that Punjabi had been recognised in the J&K Constitution and insisted that the community would continue resisting what he described as a discriminatory move.

Protesters in Srinagar emphasised that preserving regional languages is essential for maintaining J&K’s centuries‑old tradition of coexistence and cultural diversity. They appealed to the government to initiate meaningful dialogue with Sikh representatives and adopt measures that protect the linguistic identity of future generations.

The demonstration concluded with a renewed pledge to intensify the movement until Punjabi is restored to its rightful place in J&K’s educational and administrative landscape.