History book row: SAD-BJP delegation to meet Pb Governor

Opposition party the Shiromani Akali Dal today said a joint delegation of Akali Dal and BJP will meet Punjab Governor tomorrow, seeking his intervention to enure no change in the history books of class 11 and 12.

It also gave an ultimatum to the Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh not to "tinker with" the chapters of Sikh Gurus in history book, otherwise the government will face "worldwide movement of resistance from Sikh community".

A decision to this effect was taken at an emergency meeting of the core committee of the SAD here this afternoon, said party spokesperson Harcharan Bains.

Former Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal also took part in the deliberations of the meeting which was chaired by party chief Sukhbir Singh Badal.

Bains said that the core committee met for nearly three hours and expressed grave concern over the "attempts" of the Punjab government to "play havoc with Sikh history".

He said the core committee was of the view that the matter was far too vital for the future of the Sikh community to be treated merely as an issue of political difference of perception.

"This is a fight for the preservation of the proud Sikh history and heritage for the coming generations as it affects the future of our community. The entire country and indeed the whole mankind looks at Sikh history as a source of immense moral, psychological and spiritual inspiration for the present and the future generations. The SAD will make every sacrifice needed in order to protect history and legacy of the Sikh quom (community)," said a resolution passed an emergency meeting of the Core Committee.

Later, talking to media persons, the party president Sukhbir Badal said, "It seems that Amarinder does not realize the enormity of the damage being done to Sikh history by the decision of the government to delete it from the prestigious Board class of 12 in PSEB.

The CM needs to know how deeply the Sikh community is perturbed over this anti-Sikh conspiracy to deprive the coming generations of our children of the legacy and heritage of the Khalsa Panth, he said.

Bains said that the party president has convened an emergency meeting of the political affairs committee, the working committee, the general council, all political advisors etc at Bhai Gurdas Hall at Sri Amritsar Sahib on May 11.

A controversy had erupted over the history book of Class 12 with opposition parties including Akali Dal and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) charging the state government with deleting the history of Sikh Gurus from the history book of Class XII.

However, Congress led government had rubbished such accusations and claimed that the chapters pertaining to Sikh history had been shifted from Class XII to Class XI.