Chief Khalsa Diwan (CKD), an Amritsar-based Sikh educational and religious organisation, has called on the Central and Jammu and Kashmir governments to restore Punjabi’s official-language status in the Union Territory and reintroduce it in school education.The Diwan’s support comes amid renewed demands by the Jammu Punjabi Morcha, led by members of the Sikh community in Jammu and Kashmir, including Surjan Singh, general secretary of the District Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee, Jammu, and Taranjit Singh Tony, chairman of Gurdwara Rani Talab, Digiana, Jammu. The morcha has been campaigning for official recognition of Punjabi and its inclusion in the school curriculum.Related news: Punjabi official language demand genuine, under consideration: J&K Dy CMSikh community protests in Jammu, seeks restoration of Punjabi in educationThe demand has historical roots, with Punjabi having been taught in schools in the erstwhile state until 1947 and maintaining a visible presence in public life, particularly in the Jammu region.In a statement issued on Monday, CKD president Dr Inderbir Singh Nijjar, who is also the AAP MLA from Amritsar South, said a substantial Punjabi-speaking population lived in Jammu and Kashmir and that the language was closely linked to the region’s history, cultural heritage and social fabric.“Punjabi has historically been a significant part of the state’s cultural history. Safeguarding Punjabi is essential to preserving the identity and linguistic rights of its speakers,” he said.CKD also announced that it would soon send a delegation to Jammu to meet leaders of the Jammu Punjabi Morcha and discuss ways to advance the demand.Besides seeking official recognition, the Diwan has called for Punjabi to be reintroduced in schools, vacant posts of Punjabi teachers to be filled and an effective policy to be formulated to encourage younger generations to learn and use their mother tongue.The demand has gained renewed attention since the enactment of the Jammu and Kashmir Official Languages Act, 2020. The legislation recognised Kashmiri, Dogri, Urdu, Hindi and English as official languages of the Union Territory, leaving Punjabi out of the list.However, Section 4 of the Act provides for efforts to promote and develop regional languages, including Punjabi, Gojri and Pahari.Punjabi’s historical roots in Jammu and KashmirPunjabi’s historical links with Jammu and Kashmir extend beyond the administrative boundaries separating the region from Punjab. The two regions have shared cultural, literary and social connections over centuries, while Punjabi-speaking communities have maintained their linguistic traditions in Jammu and parts of the Kashmir Valley.Gurmukhi, the script closely associated with Punjabi’s literary and religious traditions, remains an important part of the language’s cultural identity for many Punjabi-speaking Sikhs.According to parliamentary records, Rajya Sabha MP Naresh Gujral stated in 2020 that Punjabi had been taught alongside Urdu and Hindi, and Punjabi signboards had been visible in parts of Jammu and Kashmir until around 1980.Dr Satwant Singh Rissam, chairman of the Baba Banda Singh Bahadur Memorial Trust in Jammu and Kashmir, has also sought a white paper from the Union Territory government explaining why Punjabi was excluded from the list of official languages. He has called for a time-bound review of the decision.Emphasising that protecting a language was not merely a matter of official recognition but also of preserving its literature, traditions and collective memory, Dr Nijjar said Punjabi’s exclusion from the official-language list and its absence from school education failed to adequately acknowledge this legacy.For the Jammu Punjabi Morcha and its supporters, the demand goes beyond adding another language to the official list. It is also about restoring Punjabi’s place in the educational and cultural life of a region where the language has a longstanding historical presence.