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‘Youngsters not speaking Punjabi disappoint me’

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Express news service

Posted: Jan 05, 2008 at 0000 hrs IST

Chandigarh, January 4 Even 43 years after he left India to settle abroad, former Canadian Health Minister and Parliamentarian Ujjal Dosanjh speaks fluent Punjabi. On trips to his homeland, he actually converses most of the times in Punjabi, something that he rues those in Punjab are actually not doing.

"I can make political speeches in English. But, if I wish to convey the feelings in my heart, the only language that I use is Punjabi. But, it disappoints me when I see youngsters not speaking in Punjabi. Our youth is neither fully conversant with Punjabi nor English. There is something seriously wrong here," he said.

He said this was true in case of most other Indian languages too. "Tagore (Rabindra Nath) achieved international fame writing in Bangla. But now, we are producing only good English authors. Why are we not content in our own skin? We have to be proud of who we are," he said.

He also lamented the fact that most Indians were ignoring the core values associated with this country. "Till honesty, integrity and ethics are not there, progress has no meaning. Even Gandhi did not want a new India, he sought new Indians," Dosanjh said.

On his take on the recent directions of the Akal Takht regarding same sex marriages, Dosanjh said, "I am not interested in what the Akal Takht says. We have to follow a secular path and the issue of religion should be left to the individual's choice. The governments have no business inside the bedrooms of individuals. Likewise, religion too is a private matter for each individual," he added.

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