Chandigarh, July 27:
On the occasion of the 100th birth anniversary of Padma Shri Dr. Rattan Singh Jaggi, a great scholar of Punjabi, Hindi and Gurmat literature, a memorial function was organized by the Punjab Kala Parishad today at Punjab Kala Bhawan in collaboration with Dr. Rattan Singh Jaggi Memorial Foundation.
During the function, Punjab Vidhan Sabha Speaker S. Kultar Singh Sandhwan honoured former MP and former Chairman of National Minorities Commission Padma Bhushan S. Tarlochan Singh with the first Dr. Rattan Singh Jaggi Memorial Award, in which he was presented with a cash prize of Rs. 51 thousand, a citation and a plaque.
Speaker S. Sandhwan also inaugurated the Dr. Rattan Singh Jaggi Open Air Theatre equipped with ultra-modern facilities and his statue inside Kala Bhawan on this occasion.
Addressing the occasion, the Chief Guest Speaker S. Kultar Singh Sandhwan said that today we are celebrating the day of a Karma Yogi who was a man of the era in the true sense. He said that Dr. Jaggi’s contributions were commendable for uniting the society. He said that it is a matter of pride for all of us that we are honouring S. Tarlochan Singh. Tarlochan Singh led the Sikhs and Punjabis by becoming the voice of truth in the Parliament. He highly appreciated the efforts made by the Jaggi family through the Foundation. He said that any nation survives only with its language, literature and art.
Padma Bhushan Tarlochan Singh praised the literary works and handwritten works of Dr. Rattan Singh Jaggi. He said that Dr. Jaggi will remain a beacon for everyone and returned his cash prize of Rs. 51000/- to the Foundation. He added that Dr. Rattan Singh Jaggi’s books should be distributed free of cost to the young generation by using this amount.
Punjab Kala Parishad Chairman Swaranjit Swai, while addressing, gave a brief information about the work done by the Kala Parishad. He said that the Dr. Rattan Singh Jaggi Memorial Award will be given every year on July 27, which began today. He thanked Dr. Rattan Singh Jaggi Memorial Foundation for spending Rs 20 lakhs to renovate the open air theatre of Kala Bhawan.
Dr. Amarjit Singh delivered a speech on Dr. Rattan Singh Jaggi’s ‘Contribution to Punjabi Language, Literature and Culture’. He said that Dr. Jaggi has devoted himself to medieval literature with full dedication and sincerity for more than six decades. He was a multifaceted personality with deep insight and expertise in English, Hindi, Punjabi, Urdu, Persian and Sanskrit. He made a wonderful and comprehensive contribution in the field of literature with his unparalleled works like books, commentaries and encyclopedias.
Vice Chairman of Kala Parishad Dr. Yograj, while reading the letter of honor of Tarlochan Singh, looked back at his life and said that S. Tarlochan Singh is a personality dedicated to minorities, religion, society and culture. He served in many important positions in the Punjab Government, including the Information and Public Relations Department, Tourism and Culture Department. He served from the Chief Minister’s Office of Punjab to the President’s Office of the country. He also served as the Vice-Chairman, Chairman and Member of Rajya Sabha of the National Minorities Commission. He was also the Vice-President of the Indian Olympic Association, where he contributed greatly to the prosperity of sports in creating a healthy society. He was honored with the Padma Bhushan by the Government of India in the year 2021.
At the conclusion of the event, Dr. Rattan Singh Jaggi Memorial Foundation Chairman and retired IAS officer Malvinder Singh Jaggi, thanked all the guests.
At the beginning of the event, ‘Shabad Gayan’ was performed by the students of Sri Guru Gobind Singh College, Chandigarh.
On this occasion, MLA Gurdit Singh Sekhon, Dr. Rattan Singh Jaggi’s wife Dr. Gursharan Kaur Jaggi, Amarjit Singh Grewal, Secretary Revenue Manvesh Singh Sidhu, Director of Language Department Jaswant Singh Zafar, Gulzar Singh Sandhu, Dr. Deepak Manmohan Singh, Padma Shri Pran Sabharwal, Padma Shri Jagjit Singh Dardi and other prominent personalities from the literary world were present.
