CHANDIGARH: Military history is a genre that is scarcely written about in Punjabi, said Gurinderpal S Josan, author of the book ‘The Epic Battle of Saragarhi’.
Speaking at the Military Literature Festival here on Saturday he rued the fact that the interest in writing in Punjabi is decreasing.
Other panellist speaking in the session on ‘Military writing in Punjabi’ agreed that most military books in India are being written in English at the cost of vernaculars.
The session began with a recital of ‘Jangnama’ by Babbu Tir.
Speaking at the festival, Brig JS Arora (retd) said Josan wrote a book in Punjabi sitting in New York but the Battle of Saragarhi does not find mention in the schools in Punjab.
“You can see how many officer have written on military affairs in Punjabi in the past 70 years.”
Brig OS Goraya (retd) recounted that when he wrote an eyewitness account of Operation Bluestar in Punjabi, he was dismayed when a publisher told him that it would be better if he published it in English.
“Now is the time when I want it to be published in Punjabi so that people know what we saw,” he said.
Referring to the decline of Punjabi, Brigadier KS Kahlon (retd) said, “The concept of military writing in Punjabi hasn’t developed yet. The language is under threat and it is for this reason that Surjit Patar had to pen the poem ‘Mar rahi hai meri bhasha’ (my language is dying).”