AAP Condemns VP Dhankhar’s Statement on Panjab University

On 24 Dec, India's Vice President and Chancellor of Panjab University (PU), Chandigarh, Jagdeep Dhankhar said colleges of Haryana should also be affiliated with Panjab University. Dhankhar was the chief guest at the Fourth Global Alumni Meet organized by the University Alumni Association. He said there are rumors of making PU a central university, but the central government has no such intention. He asked the alumni to come forward to help the university financially. The AAP government completely rejected the VP’s statement. AAP Panjab chief spokesperson Malvinder Singh Kang said that PU is a symbol of Panjab’s legacy and we have emotional, historic and constitutional right over it. ‘No Haryana College shall be granted an affiliation as no other state than Panjab has any right over PU.’ Dhankar’s statement could be a response to Panjab government’s Punjab Affiliated Colleges (Protection of Services) Amendment Bill, 2023 and the Punjab University Laws Amendment Bill, 2023 which seeks to remove the Governor as chancellor of state universities. These Bills were passed on 21 Jun 2023 but the Panjab governor has not yet given his assent to the Bills. Panjab University was established in 1882 in Lahore and an additional unit moved to India after 1947. Until 1966, Haryana was part of Panjab and its colleges were affiliated to the university. Once Haryana was carved out of Panjab, in 1973, the Ministry of Home Affairs notified that the university had ‘ceased to function and operate in the state of Haryana.’ For five decades, Haryana colleges have not been affiliated with the university and given the politics, it is impossible to turn the clock now unless there is unified Panjab that includes Haryana and Himachal are reconsidered which surfaced last week as well.