Association with the Sikhs

Association with the Sikhs

Punjabi is not the predominant language

of the Sikh scriptures (which though in Gurmukhi script

are written in several languages). 

A few portions of Guru Granth Sahib use the Punjabi dialects,

but the book is interspersed with several other languages

including Brajbhasha,Khariboli , Sanskrit and  

Persian. Guru Gobind Singh, 

the last Guru of the Sikhs composed Chandi di Var in Punjabi, 

although most of his works are composed

in other languages like Braj bhasha and Persian.

However, in the 20th century,

the Punjabi-speaking Sikhs started attaching importance 

to the Punjabi written in the Gurmukhi script as a symbol of

their distinct identity. 

The Punjabi identity was affected by 

the communal sentiments in the 20th century.  

Bhai Vir Singh, a major figure in the movement

for the revival of Punjabi literary tradition, 

started insisting that the Punjabi language was

the exclusive preserve of the Sikhs. 

After the partition of India, the Punjab region was divided 

between Pakistan and India.

Although the Punjabi people formed the 

2nd biggest linguistic group in Pakistan after Bengali,

Urdu was declared the national language of Pakistan, 

and Punjabi did not get any official status. 

The Indian Punjab, which then also included

what are now Haryana and Himachal Pradesh, became Hindi-majority.

In the 1960s, the Shiromani Akali Dal proposed "Punjabi Suba", a state for Punjabi speakers in India. Paul R. Brass, the Professor Emeritus of Political Science and South Asian Studies at the University of Washington, opines that the Sikh leader Fateh Singh tactically stressed the linguistic basis of the demand, while downplaying the religious basis for the demand—a state where the distinct Sikh identity could be preserved. The movement for a Punjabi Suba led to trifurcation of Indian Punjab into three states: Punjab (India), Haryana and Himachal Pradesh.