Punjab CM slams Akali Dal, AAP for 'playing politics' over religious issue

Chief Minister Amarinder Singh today criticised the Akali Dal and the AAP for "playing politics" on a sensitive religious issue, after the two opposition parties accused the Punjab government of removing chapters related to Sikh Gurus from Class 12 history books.

Singh slammed Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal over his statements, which, he said, has the potential to "disturb peace and harmony" in the state. He also condemned the Aam Aadmi Party for joining the Akali campaign on the issue.

The AAP has claimed that 23 chapters related to Sikh Gurus and Sikh history have been "deleted" from the Punjab School Education Board (PSEB) Class 12 history books.

The government says the chapters have been moved to Class 11 history books, which are yet to be printed.

Following the allegations, PSEB said today it will upload a copy of the Class 11 history book on its website within 10 days.

In a statement issued here, he slammed the two opposition parties for "playing politics" over a sensitive issue.

The chief minister said it was during the Akali government in 2014, that the decision to realign the courses with the NCERT syllabus was taken.

The SGPC was party to all the discussions on the matter since his government took over in March last year, Singh said.

He said soon after he took over the governance in Punjab, his government wrote to the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) in March 2017 for discussion on the issue.

The SGPC deputed Paramveer Singh of Panjabi University in Patiala to discuss the issue, he said.

Singh made it clear that the entire history of Sikh Gurus has been retained in the realigned syllabus. The chapters on Sikh history have been organised in a cohesive format across Class 11 and 12 for ease of learning, he added.