Anniversaries may prompt one to look back and ask some tough questions. On November 1 every year, Punjab remembers the formation of a smaller, Punjabi-speaking state in 1966.

The state was carved after years of the Akali Dal-led Punjabi Suba movement which was initially dismissed as parochial in the wake of India’s Partition. The 1955 States Reorganisation Commission, in its report, refused to recognise Punjabi as a distinct, independent language. The Arya Samaj had also once urged Punjabis to abandon their language. That battle is now history.

Punjabi has travelled farther and wider than its critics ever imagined. Even the renowned British singer Ed Sheeran uses it effortlessly. Remember his 2025 hit song “Sapphire” in which he sang the line, “Cham cham chamke sitare wargi (she shines like a star)”, like a true-blue Punjabi? And late Sidhu Moosewala continues to command a loyal fan base across states, including Bihar and beyond.…