FROM blocking Twitter accounts of journalists and Facebook pages of web channels, to arresting a TV reporter and her two colleagues, and now the summons to Editor-in-Chief of Ajit newspaper, the Aam Aadmi Party government in Punjab is facing accusations of trying to muzzle the press. While the charges began soon after the AAP took over the reins of the state, in December 2022, an intervention by Leader of the Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa of the Congress brought them into the spotlight. Bajwa raised the matter in the Assembly, accusing the AAP government of attempting to control the media by blocking government advertisements to media companies not in its good books. BJP leader Sunil Jakhar then shot off a letter to Governor Banwarilal Purohit, saying the Bhagwant Mann government was penalising media institutions that did not toe the government line. During the long hunt for radical Sikh preacher Amritpal, Punjab saw the Twitter accounts of several mediapersons blocked. Later, the Facebook pages and YouTube accounts of several local web channels were blocked. In March, the journalists of these web channels formed a 'Punjab Digital Media Association' to together take up the matter with the authorities. They approached the Governor saying they had not been given any reason for the blocking of their telecast, and that they were not running any news reports that could be seen as threatening the law and order. Jagtar Singh Bhullar, the officiating president of the association, told The Indian Express they met DGP Gaurav Yadav as well, and urged him to look into the matter. Their request for an appointment with Chief Minister Mann was not granted, he added. “We lost viewers as our channels were blocked for long. Some are on the brink of shutting down.” The Editors' Guild later issued a statement criticising the blocking of Twitter accounts and web channels as “arbitrary”. Recently, during the Jalandhar Lok Sabha by-election, a Times Now Navbharat journalist and her two colleagues, who had come to cover an AAP government event where Arvind Kejriwal was to be present, were arrested on the charges of knocking a woman down with their vehicle and “using casteist slurs” against her. They were later released on bail. The AAP government action came soon after Times Now first reported the crores worth of revamp carried out on the CM bungalow in Delhi by the Kejriwal government. In the most recent instance, the Punjab Vigilance Bureau summoned Editor-in-Chief of the vernacular Ajit newspaper, Barjinder Sigh Hamdard, in connection with the ongoing probe into the construction and running of a Rs 315-crore Jang-e-Azadi Memorial museum, whose construction Hamdard oversaw. The summons followed a battle of sorts between the government and Hamdard, which started with alleged blocking of advertisements to the newspaper. The entire Opposition came together to condemn the action against Hamdard, with a meeting held at Ajit office seeing leaders from the Congress, Akali Dal, BJP, BSP and Left expressing support to the paper. Unlike previous Punjab governments, the Mann regime strictly controls the media's access to its ministers, which can only be arranged through specified channels. Officials admit in private that interactions with the media are frowned upon. Bajwa said the action against Hamdard was “a perfect example of the draconian stance of the AAP government”. “It is oppressing and intimidating independent media institutions and silencing constructive criticism and dissent,” the Congress leader told The Indian Express. Akali Dal president Sukhbir Badal also accused the Mann government of trying to muzzle the voice of the media. “The government has registered false cases against journalists, banned web channels and even stopped advertisements to publications that refuse to relay its propaganda." The “intimidation” of Hamdard had shocked Punjabis worldwide, Badal said. AAP chief spokesperson Malvinder Singh Kang denied the charges, and said it was wrong to link Hamdard’s case with other allegations. "He was summoned for the probe into the Jang-E-Azadi Memorial case not as vendetta against any media house," he said. On the government blocking Twitter and other social media accounts, he said: "This was under the guidelines of the Central government. There was no political interference by the AAP government in Punjab. The pages and accounts were blocked after the cyber cell found provocative posts there following the police action against Amritpal.” On newspaper advertisements being stopped, he said the government was following the advertisement policy of the state, and that there was no violation.
