Panjab University cancels first Master Tara Singh memorial lecture, granddaughter calls it ‘shameful’

Former chief minister Charanjit Singh Channi was invited as the chief guest, while pro-Khalistan leader and former Sangrur MP Simranjit Singh Maan was to be the guest of honour. Bibi Kiranjot Kaur was set to attend the lecture as a special honourable guest.

According to Kaur, she received a message from the coordinator on Tuesday stating, “The ‘First Master Tara Singh Memorial Lecture,’ which was going to be held at Panjab University Chandigarh on 19 March 2025, has been cancelled on orders from the Vice Chancellor of the Panjab University. I am sorry for the inconvenience caused to those who had planned to attend the programme.”

The organisers of the lecture, which was scheduled to take place at the university’ English Auditorium at 11 am on Wednesday, were the Guru Nanak Research Institute, Birmingham; the university’s history department; and the Punjabi Sahit Academy, Ludhiana.

Dr Salil Mishra from Ambedkar University, New Delhi, was to deliver the keynote address, while Prof Joginder Singh, former head of the history department at Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, was to preside over the session. Other notable invitees were Dr Jasbir Singh, head of the history department at Panjab University; Dr Harjinder Singh Dilgeer, director of the Guru Nanak Research Institute; Dr Sarabjit Singh, president of the Punjabi Sahit Academy; and Munish Singh, coordinator, Department of History, DAV College, Amritsar.