A linguistic controversy has erupted after a video surfaced from the main post office at Rialto Chowk in Amritsar, Punjab. The video shows a young man forcibly demanding that a postal assistant conduct business in Punjabi. In the video he can be heard saying, "You are in Punjab, so you should know Punjabi. You are a government employee, well-qualified, that's all fine, but you should be able to work in Punjabi."
The postal assistant and postal department officials have also responded to the incident. Postal assistant Vishal Singh stated that he is from Delhi and has been working at the Amritsar post office for the past four years. He said that he has a complete command of Hindi and English, but, recently a person who came to the post office pressured him to speak and read in Punjabi.
Vishal further added that this is completely unacceptable and action should be taken against such individuals. Following the incident, the Deputy Postmaster of the post office has also taken a firm stance. He said, "My employee was intimidated and threatened; we will take action."
Some people are coming in support of the man and demanding the use of local languages in government offices, while others say that this issue is being unnecessarily blown out of proportion and is being misrepresented. Currently, this video remains a topic of discussion and is giving a new twist to the ongoing debate about language.
