CHANDIGARH: The Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) has asked Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh to “apologise” to the Sikh community for the distortion of Sikh history in revised textbooks of senior classes of Punjab School Education Board (PSEB). After a meeting held in Amritsar, a resolution was passed asking Amarinder Singh to apologise for the controversial contents in the Class 12 textbooks.
SGPC President Gobind Singh Longowal spoke to the media. He said, “This is a grave sin that has been committed by distorting Sikh history. The responsibility for this lies on Chief Minister Amarinder Singh. He should apologise to the Sikh community. There should be action taken against the expert committee which allowed such glaring distortion in Sikh history to take place and be published in textbooks. The Chairman of the expert committee, Dr Kirpal Singh, should have apologised for the wrong done but he has tried to justify the distortion. We have removed him from the Sikh history project being undertaken for the SGPC.”
The SGPC and other Sikh organisations and experts have objected to the distortion of Sikh history in textbooks in the portrayal of Guru Arjan Dev, Guru Hargobind, Guru Tegh Bahadur, and the 19th Guru, Gobind Singh. Former Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal had earlier said that no Sikh could tolerate the claim as written in the new book that Guru Gobind Singh fled from Chamkaur Sahib without informing anyone and that the Mughals did not order the martyrdom of the fifth Guru, Arjan Dev, but had merely “fined” him.
Meanwhile, CM Singh has directed the Punjab School Education Board to continue with the old history textbooks for Classes 11 and 12, till the completion of the review by an expert group. A government spokesperson said the CM had asked the Education Minister to ensure a comprehensive review by the group, taking into consideration all complaints and suggestions.
