Two-day Global Punjabi Conference Commences at Khalsa College, Patiala
Fourth Khalsa College Global Punjabi Conference, dedicated to 400th birth anniversary of Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahib ji, was inaugurated at Khalsa College, Patiala today. More than 500 delegates from India and abroad participated online and offline. Dr. Dharminder Singh Ubha, Principal, Khalsa College, Patiala welcomed the guests and told about the objectives of the conference. He said that as a result of the efforts made by Khalsa College Patiala, fourth consecutive Khalsa College Global Punjabi Conference is being organized and its main purpose is to have discourse on the problems of the farmers and their solutions. He said that farming is not just a matter of economy for us but the relationship of this matter is with souls of the ancestral farmers of Punjab. He emphasized that the conference dedicated to the 400th birth anniversary of Guru Tegh Bahadur Sahib ji is also of special significance in the context of agriculture as Guru Sahib during his journey to the East had dug many wells and provided livestock to the poor.
During the inaugural session on the first day of the conference, the keynote address was delivered by Dr. Satish Kumar Verma. In his address, he said that this initiative taken by Khalsa College has always created a high level discourse. He also said that the purpose of this conference is to solve the problems of the farmers. Khalsa College always takes an optimistic approach to the contemporary issues and takes steps for their solution. Talking about the issues related to agriculture, he said that the problems of the model we have for agriculture have become very complex and we need to make special efforts to enable agriculture to compete with the world in the latest ways.
Presiding over the entire session, Gurjatinder Singh Randhawa from USA, said that the agrarian crisis is not limited to Punjab but it has become a global issue. Even the condition of the farmers is not very good. He said that in the United States, corporate houses dominate agriculture on a large scale due to which the farmers get very little value for their labor.
Chief Guest Mr. Ajaib Singh Chattha from Canada, while addressing the conference online, said that Punjabi literature is constantly presenting the problems of the farmers which have been discussed by the scholars in many international conferences. But in the context of the present agrarian crisis, this issue needs to be addressed in a more serious manner. He congratulated Khalsa College for playing a leading role in this dialogue and for organizing this conference.
Another delegate, Dr. Baljinder Singh Nasrali, from University of Delhi, while talking about the impact of the peasant crisis on the Punjabi novel, said that today's novel is not only limited to the realistic picture of the peasant society but also to the background of the happenings and the future consequences.
Dr. Praveen Kumar, from Panjab University, Chandigarh, while talking about the life and philosophy of Guru Tegh Bahadur ji, said that the martyrdom of Guru Sahib was surely to usher in a new era in Indian history. His martyrdom not only saved the whole of India from Aurangzeb's deadly policies but also made it clear that religious narrow-mindedness can never succeed in establishing a great system. Mr. Karnail Singh Shergill from UK, in an online address, lauded the great efforts being made by Khalsa College Patiala.
Shrimati Mita Khanna, who specially came from Canada to attend the conference, said that the martyrdom of Guru Tegh Bahadur ji is unparalleled in the history of the world. Guided by this sacrifice, we should work for the betterment of all. At the end of the first day session Prof. Paramjit Kaur, Head of Punjabi Department thanked all the guests and delegates. The stage was conducted by Dr. Devinder Singh.
