CHANDIGARH: 

Harpreet Sekha, Barinder Singh Dhahan and Sadhu Binning

might have left India years ago to settle in Canada, but their love for Punjabi
literature and culture continue to thrive in their hearts.
“What Nehru did was compartmentalise Punjabi by calling it the language of
the Sikhs and not recognise it as a language of India. The same treatment was
given to Urdu at the time of Partition, which is historically wrong and shouldn't
have happened,” said Dhahan, an Indo-Canadian and the founder of the
‘Dhahan Prize.’ He along with two Indo-Canadian authors Binning, 70 and
Harpreet Sekha, 50, were in the city as part of a three-city tour organised by
the office Canadian Consulate General. The authors will hold programmes in
various universities of Punjab and will spread the reach of Punjabi language
and culture across the length and breadth of Canada. “We are representing a
huge Punjabi diaspora living in Vancouver, Canada, along with various other
cities of the province of British Columbia here in India. Our aim is to get
Punjabi, our mother tongue, a mainstream status in the working environment
of Canada along with other parts of the world,” added Dhahan. After holding
seminars in Punjabi University, Patiala and Guru Nanak Dev University, the trio
also held a similar session in Lahore, Pakistan before coming to India.