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 RBI has a Central Repository of Information on Large Credits (CRILC) database system where the banks report their exposure of Rs 5 crore and above which is used for monitoring purposes.
A decision to this effect was taken at a meeting of the Cabinet held under the chairmanship of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann here. A spokesperson for the Chief Minister's Office said the new policy would be applicable for five years from October 17, 2022 and will spur industrial development and generate more employment opportunities.
The group has lost $100 billion since the Hindenberg report came out. All the Pradesh Congress Committees have been requested to issue the necessary instructions to the District Congress Committees so that apart from senior leaders, party functionaries and workers, mobilisation from the BCC, Panchayat and Booth level is ensured in full measure.
Addressing a gathering before flagging off a train of pilgrims from here to Varanasi to celebrate the Parkash Purab of Guru Ravidass, the Chief Minister, after taking blessings from head of Dera Ballan Sant Baba Niranjan Dass, said the government is duty bound to ensure the wellbeing of the poor.
SKM said that Union Budget 2023 is silent on the status of minimum support price (MSP) on crops as per recommendation of M.S. Swaminathan Commission and what shall be done to ensure that farmers get legal guarantee of MSP.
The accused were identified as Sardar Jagpal Singh, 51, Harjinder Singh Raina, 71 and Sudershan Singh Wazir, 67. Wazir is a cousin of the deceased J&K politician. The 68-year-old Wazir was found murdered in a flat in Delhi's Basai Darapur area in March, 2021.
