The Indian Express: Chandigarh: Monday, 21 August 2023.
Rights activist Harmilap Grewal said Section 144 has now become a tool for the police to silence the Opposition rather than for maintaining law and order. Lack of proper supervision by senior officers makes matters worse, he said.
Days after Punjab Assembly Speaker and Deputy Speaker, Kultar Singh Sandhwan and Jai Kishan Rori, hoisted national flags in Bathinda and Amritsar, respectively, on the 75th Independence anniversary last year, the Court of Chief Judicial Magistrate Tarn Taran, Bagicha Singh, issued non-bailable warrants against both, including two more Cabinet ministers of the Aam Aadmi Party government, Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer and Laljit Singh Bhullar, and AAP MLAs Dalbir Singh Tung, Manjit Singh Bilaspur, and others.
This case is related to violating orders against assembly under Section 144 on August 26, 2022. The case was registered when AAP leaders protested in front of the local District Administrative Complex on August 20, 2020, over more than 100 deaths due to spurious liquor in the border districts of Amritsar and Tarn Taran.
After 76 years of independence, the alleged arbitrary imposition of Section 144 against gatherings of five or more persons without permission, raising slogans, and taking out protest processions has become a norm in Punjab. According to information gathered by Human Rights activist Harmilap Grewal under the RTI Act, restrictions under Section 144 on gatherings, raising slogans, and protest marches in Barnala district remained imposed for 302 days out of 304 days from September 29, 2022, onwards.
Similarly, Faridkot was under the same restrictions for 291 days out of 295 days from October 16, 2022.
Shahid Bhagat Singh Nagar was also mostly under these restrictions for 299 days out of 304 from November 2022 to September 2023.
Bathinda had some relief, with 312 days out of 391 days under restrictions between July 20, 2022, and August 28, 2023.
Only Sahibzada Ajit Singh Nagar remained mostly free for 250 days out of 455 days from June 2022 to September 2023.
“Arbitrary use of Section 144 in Punjab is in direct contradiction with the points underlined for its use by the SC in 2020. Imposing arbitrary restrictions under Section 144 is one of the many things that remain the same in the newly formed Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government that promised change,” said Harmilap Grewal.
He said, “It has now basically become a tool for the police to silence opposition and please political masters rather than maintaining law and order. The sad part is the DC is part and parcel of this game, who enforces this section on the pretext of maintaining law and order and does not oversee its implementation on the ground, and thus the Police, who have to ensure implementation, use it on a pick and choose basis.”
The situation was no different in the previous government. The lack of sensitization over the use of Section 144 led to a situation where the Amritsar police had imposed a ban on any assembly or holding any gatherings at the Jallianwala Bagh or anywhere in the city on the 100th anniversary of the tragedy, Jallianwala Bagh massacre in 2019.
Many organisations had planned gatherings to remember martyrs, and the orders took them by surprise. These orders were revoked after criticism. On Baisakhi in 1919, Brigadier General Reginald Dyer had opened fire on unarmed people at Jallianwala Bagh, claiming that he had ordered a ban on public assembly in any part of the city.
When contacted speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan, an accused of violating orders issued under section 144, and asked about alleged misuse and arbitrary use of section 144, he said, “I cannot express my opinion on the issue as I am speaker of the house. But I would like a discussion over this issue in-house. I hope some member of the house would bring it for discussion.”
Rights activist Harmilap Grewal said Section 144 has now become a tool for the police to silence the Opposition rather than for maintaining law and order. Lack of proper supervision by senior officers makes matters worse, he said.
Days after Punjab Assembly Speaker and Deputy Speaker, Kultar Singh Sandhwan and Jai Kishan Rori, hoisted national flags in Bathinda and Amritsar, respectively, on the 75th Independence anniversary last year, the Court of Chief Judicial Magistrate Tarn Taran, Bagicha Singh, issued non-bailable warrants against both, including two more Cabinet ministers of the Aam Aadmi Party government, Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer and Laljit Singh Bhullar, and AAP MLAs Dalbir Singh Tung, Manjit Singh Bilaspur, and others.
This case is related to violating orders against assembly under Section 144 on August 26, 2022. The case was registered when AAP leaders protested in front of the local District Administrative Complex on August 20, 2020, over more than 100 deaths due to spurious liquor in the border districts of Amritsar and Tarn Taran.
After 76 years of independence, the alleged arbitrary imposition of Section 144 against gatherings of five or more persons without permission, raising slogans, and taking out protest processions has become a norm in Punjab. According to information gathered by Human Rights activist Harmilap Grewal under the RTI Act, restrictions under Section 144 on gatherings, raising slogans, and protest marches in Barnala district remained imposed for 302 days out of 304 days from September 29, 2022, onwards.
Similarly, Faridkot was under the same restrictions for 291 days out of 295 days from October 16, 2022.
Shahid Bhagat Singh Nagar was also mostly under these restrictions for 299 days out of 304 from November 2022 to September 2023.
Bathinda had some relief, with 312 days out of 391 days under restrictions between July 20, 2022, and August 28, 2023.
Only Sahibzada Ajit Singh Nagar remained mostly free for 250 days out of 455 days from June 2022 to September 2023.
“Arbitrary use of Section 144 in Punjab is in direct contradiction with the points underlined for its use by the SC in 2020. Imposing arbitrary restrictions under Section 144 is one of the many things that remain the same in the newly formed Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government that promised change,” said Harmilap Grewal.
He said, “It has now basically become a tool for the police to silence opposition and please political masters rather than maintaining law and order. The sad part is the DC is part and parcel of this game, who enforces this section on the pretext of maintaining law and order and does not oversee its implementation on the ground, and thus the Police, who have to ensure implementation, use it on a pick and choose basis.”
The situation was no different in the previous government. The lack of sensitization over the use of Section 144 led to a situation where the Amritsar police had imposed a ban on any assembly or holding any gatherings at the Jallianwala Bagh or anywhere in the city on the 100th anniversary of the tragedy, Jallianwala Bagh massacre in 2019.
Many organisations had planned gatherings to remember martyrs, and the orders took them by surprise. These orders were revoked after criticism. On Baisakhi in 1919, Brigadier General Reginald Dyer had opened fire on unarmed people at Jallianwala Bagh, claiming that he had ordered a ban on public assembly in any part of the city.
When contacted speaker Kultar Singh Sandhwan, an accused of violating orders issued under section 144, and asked about alleged misuse and arbitrary use of section 144, he said, “I cannot express my opinion on the issue as I am speaker of the house. But I would like a discussion over this issue in-house. I hope some member of the house would bring it for discussion.”
.JPG)
.JPG)
