Mahan Sing Dhesi Annual Memorial Lecture at GNDU

Amritsar, March 23 (Punjab Post Bureau) – Department of History Guru Nanak Dev University organised Mahan Singh Dhesi Annual Memorial online Lecture on 22.03.2021 under the leadership of its Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Dr. Jaspal Singh Sandhu.  Prof. Amandeep Bal, Head, Department of History started with the introduction of  Sardar Mahan Singh Dhesi, a Pioneer Punjabi in California on whose name the Annual lecture has been instituted by his family. Sardar Mahan Singh Dhesi was one of the founder members of the Gurdwara at Stockton, famously known as Gurdwara of Ghadris.

            The lecture was delivered by Prof. Mridula Mukherjee, former professor, Centre for Historical Studies, Jawahar Lal Nehru University and Director, Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, New Delhi. She spoke on the Peasant political protests in pre-independence Punjab. Prof. Mukherjee has devoted most of his life to the study of Kisan movements in pre-independence Punjab. According to her, the peasants all over the world have their distinctive way of life and culture. Similarly, the Punjab peasant also have their distinctive way of looking at life, their sense of community, their bhaichara  which is different from the  peasants in rest of India.  For example People here rarely used caste or clan names. Most of the heroes of the Akali movement, Gadar movement and of left political parties used their village names. It is their heritage, what UNESCO calls an intangible cultural heritage.  She found many parallels in farmer protests of present and that of pre-independence Punjab.  According to her, the present fight of farmers is not only about production, but a certain way of life and for preserving their past and culture.  Prof. Sarbjot Singh Behl, Dean Academic Affairs in his concluding remarks stated agriculture is the foundation of any civilisation. He also shared few lines from his poetry about the difficulties a farmer face every day in his life. Dr. Harneet Kaur took the Q/A session.