AAP trying to muzzle voice of media in Punjab: Sukhbir Badal
Darpan News Desk IANS, 26 May, 2023 10:13 AM
Chandigarh, May 26 (IANS) Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) President Sukhbir Badal on Friday accused the AAP government in Punjab of trying to muzzle the voice of media ever since it assumed power.
"The government has registered false cases against journalists besides banning web channels and even stopping advertisements to publications which refused to relay its propaganda," he said.
"It has also proceeded against artists, academicians and intellectuals. The SAD will do its utmost to guard the freedom of the press and democratic values and warns the AAP government not to trample upon civil rights in this manner."
Reacting to summoning of Managing Editor of the Ajit newspaper, Barjinder Singh Hamdard, Badal said the act of summoning of Hamdard by the state Vigilance Bureau was a "brazen act of a power drunk Chief Minister who wanted to exact revenge against the him for his principled stand on freedom of the press".
In a statement here, the SAD President expressed solidarity with Hamdard and said the Akali Dal would do its utmost to defend the voice of the media in Punjab.
Asserting that the intimidation of Hamdard had shocked Punjabis worldwide, Badal said the Chief Minister first stopped advertisements to the Ajit newspaper. "Then it started intimidating functionaries of the Ajit and now it has stooped down to persecuting its Managing Director. This is the height of vendetta politics and is totally unacceptable in a democracy."
The accused -- 19-year-old Rohit Kumar and 26-year-old Kamal -- are residents of Sitapur. During interrogation, Rohit told police that the truck driver Harpinder, 60, originally from Faridkot district, tried to harass him sexually under the influence of alcohol.
XBB 1.16 was first found in January. However, while only two samples were found then, the number rose to 138 in February, and in March till date total 204 samples of this variant have been found through genome sequencing. The highest number of cases of this variant have been found in Maharashtra at 105, followed by Telangana 93, Karnataka 57 and Gujarat 54 as per the data.
Surat district court in Gujarat on Thursday convicted Congress MP Rahul Gandhi in a criminal defamation case against him over his alleged 'Modi surname' remark in 2019.Gandhi was convicted under Indian Penal Code sections 499 and 500. The maximum possible punishment under this section is two years.
These meetings are being held in over 30 different work-streams comprising Sherpa Track Working Groups, Finance Track work streams, Ministerial meetings and Engagement Groups. The dates and venues of G20 official meetings are periodically updated on the G20 website, Minister of State for External Affairs V. Muraleedharan told the Rajya Sabha in a written reply.
Attorney General R. Venkataramani submitted that the matter appears to be not really moving further despite the best endeavour of the Centre. Haryana government counsel disputed the position about possibilities of any settlement unless Punjab moves from its stated position.
Gurjot Singh Kaler, working as a senior police officer in Punjab as AIG (Excise and Taxation), was awarded with the Shaheed-E-Azam Bhagat Singh State Youth Award at the Hussainiwala Border in Ferozepur district on the anniversary of Bhagat Singh that falls on Thursday.
