South Asian Review

Date:12-11-05

Source: South Asian Review

Virasat Foundation and Punjabi Sath, Lambra, Punjab organized a celebration to release the memorial book of well-known Punjabi scholar Dr. Prem Prakash Singh. Bhupinder Malhi, president of Virasat Foundation, welcomed everyone and informed the audience about the many faceted personality of Dr. Prem Prakash Singh and began the program.

After the welcoming remarks, Dr. Karnail Singh Thind, editor of the memorial book and professor and former registrar at the Guru Nanak Dev University, informed the gathering about the memorial book and its contents. He pointed out that more than 125 scholars contributed to this edition which contains sections in Punjabi, Hindi and English.

Sandra L. Smith, director of research at the Ideological Studies Centre, and Manzur Ejaz, national coordinator of the Academy of Punjab in North America, then unveiled the second edition of memorial book to the applause of more than 400 workers, scholars, poets and writers who were present.

In her tribute to Dr. Prem Prakash Singh, Sandra L. Smith pointed to his invaluable contribution to the study of the Punjabi language and highlighted the need to propagate this work so as to help provide the younger generation with the coherence it seeks and to restore the dignity and honour of the Punjabi nation. Manzur Ejaz compared Dr. Prem Prakash Singh to a banyan tree under which many scholars had flourished. Dr. Swaraj Singh said in his tribute that while other Punjabi scholars were looking towards the West, Dr. Prem Prakash Singh looked deep into the Punjabi tradition.

More than a dozen scholars, writers, poets and activists paid their tribute to Dr. Prem Prakash Singh on this occasion and pointed out that his work was a great milestone in the study of Punjabi language, philology and poetics. Bibi Sawran Kaur of Punjabi Sath, Lambra informed the gathering that their organization had instituted an annual award in memory of Dr. Prem Prakash Singh.

The audience was mesmerized by the performance of Avinash Mehra who sang two of Dr. Prem Prakash Singh's poems with melodies he composed himself and accompanied on tabla by Amarjeet Singh.

Sucha Deepak, editor of South Asian Review, concluded the first part of this program by highlighting Dr. Prem Prakash Singh's contribution to the 2nd World Punjabi Conference held in Prince George, British Columbia in 2003. He informed the audience about plans to work together on the history of Punjab and Punjabi darshan. He called the memorial book a historic document.

On this occasion, the Vancouver community also honoured Dr. Karnail Singh Thind with a gold medal for his work on Punjabi folklore and his tireless efforts in editing the memorial book.

The second session, a seminar dedicated to Dr. Prem Prakash Singh, received a presentation by Manzur Ejaz on Waris Shah, the famous Sufi poet-philosopher of Punjab. In his presentation, Manzur Ejaz reflected on Waris Shah’s socio-economic critique of the society of his times in Heer. He pointed out that Waris Shah makes his Ranjha, the protagonist of his work, go through all the important institutions of his time and reveals the inner contradictions of these institutions. A lively discussion followed the presentation during which many questions were raised from the audience.

Dr. Prem Prakash Singh's last work Punjabi Bhasha Da Janam ate Vikas and Dr. Sukhpal Singh Thind's travelogue Canada Ek Bahurangi Bagh were also released during the program.

The program ended with a moment of silence to pay homage to well-known Punjabi poet Amrita Pritam who recently passed away.