PVS Speaker Sandhwan condoles demise of eminent punjabi poet Surjit Patar 

Chandigarh: The Punjab Vidhan Sabha Speaker, S. Kultar Singh Sandhwan, expressed deep sorrow over the unfortunate demise of Padma Shri recipient Punjabi poet and eminent writer S. Surjit Singh Patar, who passed away on May 11 morning at his residence in Ludhiana’s Ashapuri area.

In a press communique issued here, Speaker S. Kultar Singh Sandhwan said that S. Patar made a significant contribution to spreading the promotion of the Punjabi language across the globe. His notable achievement includes receiving top honors like Padma Shri and the Sahitya Akademi Award for his work of writing in a regional language.

He said that S. Patar hailed from Patar Kalan village in Jalandhar and retired as a professor of Punjabi from Punjab Agricultural University. He received the Padma Shri in 2012 and served as the president of the Punjab Arts Council.

S. Sandhwan said that the passing of S. Patar is a significant loss to the Punjabi community and a great loss for society. He added that S. Patar will always be remembered with respect for his notable contributions to the mother language.

The speaker recalled that S. Patar played a crucial role in raising the issue of the Punjabi language not being included on Google’s Gemini iApp (Artificial Intelligence) platform, even though the platform included many other regional languages, including Gujarati.

He said that recently, along with S. Patar and others took the initiative of preparing the data of Punjabi quickly and uploading it online on Google’s Gemini iApp. He said that the real tribute to S. Patar will be to complete that mission.

The Speaker prayed for eternal peace for the departed soul and strength for the bereaved family to bear this loss.