Chandigarh, May 26, 2023 (Yes Punjab News)
Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal today while condemning the persecution of Padma Bhushan and Managing Editor of the Ajit group – Dr Barjinder Singh Hamdard by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government, said the latest act of summoning of Dr Hamdard by the State Vigilance Bureau was a “brazen act of a power drunk chief minister who wanted to exact revenge against the Ajit MD for his principled stand on Freedom of the Press”.
In a statement here, the SAD president expressed solidarity with the Ajit MD and said the SAD would do its utmost to defend the voice of the media in Punjab. “We are also convinced that such cheap pressure tactics cannot silence the voice of Punjab’s conscience and “Punjab di Awaz” – the Ajit newspaper. He also described Dr Hamdard as the true voice of Punjab, Punjabi and Punjabiyat and said his contribution in the field of journalism and social life was unmatched”.
Asserting that the intimidation of the Ajit newspaper and Dr Hamdard had shocked Punjabis worldwide, Mr Badal said chief minister Bhagwant Mann 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 SAD President said the AAP government had been trying to muzzle the voice of free media ever since it assumed power in the State. “The government has registered false cases against journalists besides banning web channels and even stopping advertisements to publications which refused to relay its propaganda. 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”.
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