People who forget their history are forgotten by history- Badal

Chandigarh May 02, 2018: Former Chief Minister Punjab Parkash Singh Badal said here today that people who forget their history are
forgotten by history. “Teaching of history to the present and the future generations of our children with impressionable minds is the
sacred and the most serious responsibility of every society and every government. No society and no government which allows the history of
its people to be treated as a matter of mere politicking or of winning petty arguments will be forgiven by history.”

Talking about the controversy raging around the ‘havouc played with history books meant for impressionable young minds of school
children’, Mr Badal said, “The proper course on the issue was for the Chief Minister to immediately set up a committee comprising a team of
credible and highly respected historians and be guided by their report instead of depending on the briefing by the very officers who were
responsible for the mischief in the first place and have landed the CM in this ugly situation. In the meantime, Captain Singh should have
ordered the restoration of the old syllabus and books so that the students did not suffer. There was no need at all for him to show such
haste in jumping to the defense of his guilty officers,” ,” said the former CM

“I have personally gone through all the relevant chapters and am convinced that there has been extensive and massive tampering with
sensitive, crucial and prestigious parts of Sikh history. I would not have intervened if I had not personally been convinced after a
thoroughly study of the old and new syllabus that disturbing scale of damage had done to the teaching of Sikh history for students not only
of class 12 but even of the lower classes.”

Mr Badal asserted that 23 detailed chapters on Sikh history alongwith pictorial illustrations of each one of the great gurus
individually have been dropped by the officers under the present regime. “All these chapters were being taught between 2013 and 2017,
that is during the SAD-BJP tenure. The CM should personally ask the officers where all the deleted 23 chapters on Sikh history have
disappeared, and why.””

Mr Badal also appealed to the media to treat the matter as one which will have far reaching consequences for generations to come. I
appeal to the media to appreciate and respect the sensitivity of the matter and refrain from commenting on it based merely on government
handouts or explanations offered by political ideologues sympathetic to one or the other political party. Instead, the media must be guided
by historians with credible credentials. This is not a debate between two political parties. At stake are not he political fortunes of A or
B . The entire sacred intellectual and spiritual legacy of our great people and the future psyche and morale of coming generations are at
stake,” said Mr Badal.
Talking to media persons at the party headquarters this morning and also later in a statement, Mr Badal asked the Punjab CM Captain
Amarinder Singh even at this stage to coolly, objectively and dispassionately study the controversial new and old syllabus and the
relevant books for the school children of Classes 11 and 12., and be guided by his own historical perspective and his conscience to see
whether his officers have played havouc with Sikh history or not,” said the former CM

The five times former CM said that responsibility needed to be fixed on who has played this horrid mischief with Sikh the teaching
of Sikh history to our children with impressionable minds. In addition, Mr Badal said, everyone knows that class 12 carries far
greater seriousness, significance and solemnity for a student than class 11 does,” said Mr Badal