Seminar on Contemporary Punjab: Politics and Society at PU

Chandigarh November 20, 2024: The two-day International Seminar on “Contemporary Punjab: Politics and Society” organised jointly by National Institute of Panjab Studies, Bhai Vir Singh Sahitya Sadan and the Department of Political Science, Panjab University began on Tuesday. 

Commencing with the University Dhuni, followed by greetings from Dr. Manmohan Singh, read by Jatinderbir Singh, a distinguished civil servant and senior vice-president of the Sadan. PU Vice Chancellor Prof Renu Vig interacted with the scholars from different parts of India and abroad and made a passionate appeal to help Punjab regain its lost glory. Dr. Latika Sharma who addressed the participants mentioned that university was proud of Dr. Manmohan Singh, an old student and teacher of the university who brought honour to this centre of learning on his appointment as Prime Minister of India for two consecutive terms. 

In his welcome address Dr. Mohinder Singh, Director of National Institute of Panjab Studies recalled the days when Punjab was able to recover from the trauma of partition with sound leadership and committed bureaucracy and highlighted the role of distinguished civil servants such as Dr. M S Randhawa, Dr. P N Thapar and S Tarlok Singh. 

The theme of the Seminar was introduced by Prof Manjeet Bhatia , the Convener of the Seminar and Joint-Director of NIPS and Prof Pampa Mukherjee, the chairperson of the Department of Political Science. 

In his inaugural address, former Chief Secretary of Punjab S Ramesh Inder Singh said that the past and present are organically linked. Punjab has always been in episodes of turmoil and has the grit to emerge out of these.  Punjab has missed the revolutions of Industry and IT. It should not miss the third opportunity of excelling offered by the era of Knowledge. He substantiated his points with data on Punjab  and shared his experience as long-time civil servant of Punjab.

Prof Rana Nayar delivered the Keynote address encompassing different images of Punjab. He started with a myriad of crises, including the crisis of society at war with itself, crisis of political leadership, crisis of governance; that Punjab is afflicted with. He said that the Punjabi society needs to take guidance from Guru Granth Sahib, an egalitarian and secular text. He defined Punjabiyat as a mish-mash of colours like that of the Phulkari, where even if one thread is removed, the design falls apart. 

Jyoti Malhotra, Editor-in-Chief of The Tribune Group of Newspapers who joined as the chief guest addressed the audience. She asked, are Punjabis victimising themselves out of their hopelessness? She emphasised that democracy and right to vote empowers both the elite and the weaker sections of society. She mentioned that while much has been talked about the addiction among the youth, people hardly mention about addiction among women and quoted the example of helpless women victims of drug addiction from Kapurthala. She encouraged the young scholars who are present in large number to debate the burning issues and invited them to express their opinions through the columns of the Tribune, the oldest newspaper in the region.

Prof Latika Sharma, Dean Alumni Relations, congratulated both the institute’s coming together to address this important subject. She gave her best wishes for the success of the seminar. 

Prof Jaswinder Singh, the General Secretary of Sadan presented a formal vote of thanks to all the speakers. While most of the well-known specialists in the Punjab Studies attended the function in person, some senior scholars from University of London, University of California, Santa Barbara and Sucha Singh Gill, eminent economist joined online.

Dr Janaki Srinivasan from the Department of Political Science ably conducted the event.