Chandigarh, Sep 14 (UNI) Senior Congress leader and MP from Sri Anandpur Sahib, Manish Tewari while raising the issue of Punjabi language in Parliament, today lashed out at anti-Punjabi attitude of the BJP government at the Centre, revealing that the during selection of the five official languages for the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir by the Central Government, Punjabi has been ignored.
Addressing Parliament, Tewari said Sher-e-Punjab Maharaja Ranjit Singh had asserted his authority over Jammu in 1808. In 1820, he gave the Jagir of Jammu to Mian Kishore Singh Jamwal, father of Maharaja Gulab Singh. Whereas in 1822, he himself crowned Maharaja Gulab Singh as the King of Jammu at Akhnoor with his own hands. Punjabi has been written and spoken in Jammu and its surrounding areas for nearly 200 years.