THE Punjabi Language Education Association (PLEA) celebrated its 20th Annual International Mother Language Day event in Surrey last Sunday. Alongside active members of PLEA, well over 100 supporters of Punjabi were in attendance.
Harman Pandher, the MC, opened the event with a land acknowledgement, recognizing they were on the unceded territory of the First Nations people. PLEA’s Vice President, Dr. Sadhu Binning, paid tribute to prominent painter Jarnail Singh, who recently passed away. Then, he read a message from PLEA President Balwant Sanghera, who was absent due to health reasons. Binning also shared a consistent message from PLEA: Punjabi should receive national recognition in Canada.
Gurvir Singh Muker opened the program by reading the poem ‘Label’ written by Ajmer Rode. This was followed by comments from Jessie Sunner, who is a Canadian born MLA representing Surrey Newton. She shared her personal experiences with Punjabi. PLEA member Rajinder Pandher shared some words in support of reading Punjabi and informed everyone of free books that were being given during the event.
Two students from Princess Margaret School in Surrey, Japjee Aujla and Sureena Nagra, presented on cultural artifacts. Gary Thind from Surrey School District and Nimmi Daula from Delta School District provided an update on the progress of Punjabi. A report from Preet Rai from Abbottsford School District was read out.
Singer Sukhi Lally recited a song from the famous poet Shiv Kumar Batalvi, after which Inspector Jag Khosa from the Surrey Police Service talked about the importance of connecting with youth.
Jaiden and Rohan Gill from Simon Fraser University made a visual presentation on Punjabi. Sarbjit Randhawa, Librarian from the University of British Columbia, shared information about Punjabi resources at the Asian Library of UBC. This was followed by details from Prabhjot Kahlon, who works for Multicultural Media Relations at the City of Surrey. Announcements were also shared about resources available.
KPU student Raunik Birk spoke on ‘Why you should learn Punjabi’. L.A. Matheson’s Gurman Singh Doad narrated the poem ‘Seena Patan Di Gal’, from Sadhu Binning. PLEA member Parabjot Kaur Singh made an announcement about Punjabi reading, and introduced her latest book. Gurfateh Brar from UBC explained the importance of Punjabi, after which Satkaar Kaur Sodhi shared the poem ‘Huva da Jeevan’ by Mohan Singh. Mannat Jindal and Diljot Gill from Princess Margaret shared a poem on Punjabi language, followed by comments from SFU student, Cayley Geddes.
Towards the end, MC Harmen Pandher provided information on his books. L.A. Matheson teacher, Gurpreet Bains, thanked the audience. She also expressed thanks to Surrey Public Library for having a booth to share information about books, as well as to Satish Gulati from Chetna Prakashan for their book display. Gurjinder Sekhon was thanked for decorating the PLEA stage. Appreciation was expressed to PLEA members Ranbir Johal, Paul Binning, Gurinder Mann, Amandeep Chhina and Reetinder Kaur, for their contribution in making the event a success.
– BY GURINDER MANN
