It may have sounded music to Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi’s ears. But the din created by an order passed by the Punjab Police to increase the volume for drowning the voices of protests has forced it to mute the directions and issue a fresh one.
Punjab police, on Thursday, first issued orders to districts’ top officials to turn up DJ’s volume playing gurbani shabad or religious songs during Chief Minister’s functions so that the loud slogans, being raised by protesters (near the venue), are not heard.
And hours later, in a complete volte-face, the Government issued fresh orders while withdrawing the previous one citing a “clerical mistake”. In fresh orders, the directions were issued to reduce the volume of the loudspeakers at the venue so that the Chief Minister can hear the “woes of the people”.
The controversial diktat was withdrawn as the Punjab police came under massive criticism over its directives to all Deputy Commissioners (DCs), Police Commissioners, and Senior Superintendents of Police (SSPs) in the State “regarding security arrangements during Chief Minister's visit”.
The letter, issued from the office of the Inspector General of Police (IGP) of the Special Security Unit, pointed out that various unions or organizations indulge in sloganeering in loud voices when the Chief Minister arrives for any function or programme in the respective district.
“That is why, in future, whenever the Chief Minister arrives for any function or programme in your district, station a DJ in areas where the various unions or organisations were protesting for their demands and play Gurbani Shabad or religious songs so that their slogans could not be heard,” said the orders.
The orders were criticized by not only the opposition parties, but also by the senior Congress leader Sunil Jakhar, who shared the official letter on his Twitter account, calling it a “sacrilegious and a mockery of democracy”.
“It couldn't be true! Sacrilegious and a mockery of democracy,” tweeted Jakhar.
Dubbing the orders “utterly shameful”, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA and the Leader of Opposition in the Punjab Vidhan Sabha Harpal Singh Cheema asked the Chief Minister how afraid is he of the protesting unions.
“How afraid you are @CHARANJITCHANNI ? Trying to silence voice of protesting unions by such tactics shows your fear from them. You are not ready to face them & hear them. All you do is drama of being a sympathizer of all those who are fighting for their rights. Utterly Shameful,” said Cheema, who also shared the copy of the official letter.
The letter, written in Punjabi language, went viral on social media causing much outrage prompting the authorities concerned to withdraw it citing “clerical mistake”, and take a u-turn.
While withdrawing the controversial order, the IG (SPU) issued a fresh one, asking the districts’ top officials to turn down the volume of the loudspeakers so that Chief Minister Channi can listen to the grievances of the people clearly.
“The previous order was a clerical mistake...Whenever the Chief Minister visits your district, the volume of the loudspeakers should be lowered, enabling the Chief Minister to listen to the people's woes,” read the fresh order.
Notably, various employees unions and organizations, including unemployed, teachers, contractual employees, are staging protests against the State Government notwithstanding the announcements of several pro-people measures and freebies.