A post is being shared on social media claiming that Punjab CM Charanjit Singh Channi had recently issued an order to set up a chair at the university level for the study of the Christian holy text Bible. This post alleges Charanjit Singh Channi as an OBC who converted to Christianity. This post further claims that the Punjab Government is not encouraging Hindu practices but is indulging in appeasement politics. Let’s verify the claim made in the post.
Claim: Punjab CM Charanjit Singh Channi issued an order to set up a chair at the university level for the study of the Bible, but hasn’t promoted any Hindu holy texts like Gita.
Fact: Recently, during a state-level Christian event, Punjab CM Charanjit Singh Channi announced setting up a chair at the university level for the study of the Bible. But in November 2021, Charanjit Singh Channi made a similar announcement about setting up a research centre on the holy texts Ramayana, Mahabharata and Bhagavad Gita. Charanjit Singh Channi even promised that he would learn Sanskrit and will do a doctorate on the Mahabharata. Punjab CM Charanjit Singh Channi is a Dalit belonging to the Ramdasia Sikh community. Hence, the claim made in the post is MISLEADING.
When we searched to check whether Punjab CM Charanjit Singh Channi had made any such press statement, we found an ‘Indian Express’ article reporting similar information on 17 December 2021. On 16 December 2021, Charanjit Singh Channi attended a state-level function to mark the birth anniversary of Jesus Christ at Gurdaspur. While addressing the event, Charanjit Singh Channi promised the Christian community that his government will facilitate due representation of Christians in the state government boards and announced the setting up of a chair at the university level for the study of the Bible. Reporting the same, several other news websites have published articles. They can be read here and here.
But in November 2021, CM Charanjit Singh Channi announced setting up a research centre on the holy texts Ramayana, Mahabharata and Bhagavad Gita. Charanjit Singh Channi promised that he would learn Sanskrit and will do a doctorate on the Mahabharata. Also, in January 2020, during the Captain Amarinder Singh led Congress government, the Panjab University in Punjab approved the introduction of a one-year certificate course in Vedic studies. The Punjab University started implementing this course from the 2020-21 academic session. So, the allegation that Punjab Government is encouraging only Bible studies and not Hindu texts is false.
Also, while searching for the personal details of Charanjit Singh Channi, we found several news websites reporting Charanjit Singh Channi as a Dalit belonging to the Ramdasia Sikh community. They can be seen here and here. If Charanjit Singh Channi had converted to Christianity, several media channels would have reported that information. However, there are no such reports.
To sum it up, the allegation about Punjab CM Charanjit Singh Channi encouraging only study of Bible in universities is not true.
