Patna, Feb 17 (IANS) Following Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi's allegedly derogatory remarks on the people of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi, a criminal case was filed against him in a court in Bihar's Muzaffarpur and an application moved in a Patna police station on Thursday.
Social activist Tammannah Hashmi filed a plea under various sections of the Indian Penal Code in Muzaffarpur and the CJM's court has admitted the case.
"Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi insulted the people of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Delhi. His statement has hurt the sentiments of these states. Hence, I have filed an application against him in the Chief Judicial Magistrate's court. It is accepted by the court. The next hearing of this case will be on February 24," Hashmi said.
The BJP's youth wing came forward to file a FIR in Patna as well. Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) Vice President Manish Singh moved an application in Kadam Kuan police station to register an FIR against Channi.
"We have strongly demanded legal action against the Punjab Chief Minister. He should apologize for his derogatory remark on the people of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and Delhi," Singh said.
BJP OBC Morcha national General Secretary and Bihar BJP spokesperson Dr Nikhil Anand said: "The statement of Punjab CM Charanjit Singh Channi shows the regional and casteist bias which is hardcore ingrained in the Congress culture. Interestingly, when Channi was abusing the people of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, (Congress General Secretary) Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was laughing shamelessly enjoying the slant on Purvanchal. We condemn the statement of Channi and demand an apology from Priyanka Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi."
"The state of Punjab will economically collapse if the people of Bihar and UP go on 100 per cent strike. The cultural inheritance of Guru Gobind Singh ji, Sant Kabir and Ravidas ji belongs to the land of Bihar-UP. The state of Punjab will be culturally and economically uprooted if it discards Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. People of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh will keep teaching lessons to Congress till the time it loses the status of a national party," he added.
Channi has claimed that his statement was twisted by opposition parties and media.
"My statement was against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, (and AAP leaders) Durgesh Pathak and Sanjay Singh who came from outside and creating disturbance. My statement is not for common people of Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and Rajasthan who come to Punjab for work. Their contribution in the making of Punjab is immense and I have great respect for them," Channi said in a video statement.
"We all are migrant people and we have equal rights on the lands of Punjab. A large number of Punjabi people are also working in other states and in other countries," Channi said.
Calling the Congress as the only party who protested against these 'black' laws from the very first day, the Chief Minister said his government called an all-party meeting and then held consultations with farm unions.
The highly specialised medical services to be rolled out across the state by end November will prove to be a boon for people, especially the poor for whom expert private sector medical care is out of reach, he said.
The Minister while addressing the inaugural session of 'Connect Karo 2021 - Towards Equitable, Sustainable Indian Cities' event, said that there can be no doubt that India's cities "enabled by citizen-centric infrastructure and transformational technology" will be the key to achieving the nation's development objectives.
Meanwhile, India logged 27,254 new Covid cases in the last 24 hours. The country also reported 219 Covid deaths in the same time span. The country presently has nearly 3.75 lakh active cases.
At a virtual Covid-19 review meeting, the Chief Minister said vaccine effectiveness is evident from the data being analysed. Special efforts were made to reach out to the government employees, and those who continue to avoid getting vaccinated will now be asked to go on leave till they get the first dose.
DGP Dinkar Gupta said with the case load decreasing, people had started being lax about wearing masks, which the Health Department should strictly enforce with the help of the police.
