An Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Punjab delegation met Punjab Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav regarding the fake video circulated with the intention of tarnishing the image of Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann and disturbing peace and communal harmony in the state.
The delegation submitted two reports to the DGP and demanded the strictest legal action against those involved in creating, circulating and amplifying the fabricated video on social media. The delegation comprised AAP Punjab State President Aman Arora, Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema, State Media In-charge Baltej Pannu and other senior party leaders.
Addressing the media after meeting the DGP, senior AAP leader and Cabinet Minister Harpal Singh Cheema said that Akali Dal is completely baffled by the clean image of the popular government and CM Bhagwant Singh Mann elected by three crore Punjabis.
“To regain its lost political ground, Akali Dal has now stooped so low that it is hatching a deep conspiracy to defame the Chief Minister by fabricating a video. Such cheap acts will not be tolerated at any cost,” said Cheema. The Minister said that Akali Dal (Badal)’s history has always been anti-Punjab and anti-Panthic.
“Whenever Akali Dal comes to power, Punjab suffers heavy losses. The party has repeatedly worked against the interests of Punjab and its people,” he said. Recalling past incidents, Harpal Singh Cheema said that in 1986 and 2015, both of which occurred during Akali Dal governments, he said that in 1986, following the beadbi of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji in Nakodar, four 4 youths were killed when the Sangat sought justice.
“Similarly, in 2015, after the beadbi of Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji, 2 youths were killed during protests. Both incidents were marked by conspiracy, attempts to suppress the truth and injustice towards those demanding accountability. These episodes expose the real face of Akali Dal and its repeated betrayal of Punjab and the Panth,” he said.
He further said that the report of the Justice Gurnam Singh Commission, constituted during the Akali-BJP government, was deliberately made to disappear because it was going to expose the real face of Akali Dal. “Even during the five years of Congress rule, this report remained suppressed.
In 2015, during Akali Dal’s rule, Sri Guru Granth Sahib Ji was desecrated, bullets were fired at protesting youths and later evidence was destroyed. Commission reports clearly indicate that even the empty cartridges recovered from the spot were tampered with to protect the culprits,” he said.
The Minister said that Akali Dal itself created and nurtured gangster culture in Punjab. “Today, when the AAP government under CM Bhagwant Singh Mann is eliminating gangsters and criminals from Punjab through decisive action, Akali Dal is unable to digest it.
The party is once again eager to set fire to Punjab’s peace, brotherhood and unity,” he added. The AAP delegation demanded that Punjab Police immediately arrest the mastermind behind the fake video as well as all those who circulated it on social media.
Harpal Singh Cheema said that no one would be allowed to disturb Punjab’s peace and law and order. “Whether the conspirator is sitting in Punjab or abroad, he will be brought before the law and made accountable for his actions. No one will be permitted to play with Punjab’s peace, harmony and stability,” he said.