Row over TV serial: Doaba shuts amid Punjab bandh call
A near complete shutdown was observed in Punjab’s Doaba region on Saturday on a statewide bandh call given by various organisations belonging to the Valmiki community against the telecast of TV serial ‘Ram Siya Ke Luv-Kush’ for alleged distortion of facts.
Even as the Punjab government on Friday ordered to stop airing of the show on TV in the state for a month, the community members went ahead with the bandh call demanding a nationwide ban on its telecast.
Most of the markets in cities and towns across Doaba remained closed with protesters taking to the streets to enforce the bandh call and also blocking the National Highway-44 at different places besides other roads.
In Jalandhar, the NH-44 was blocked near Rama Mandi Chowk, Pathankot Chowk and Phagwara Chowk, leading to hours-long traffic snarls on the roads leading to various towns of adjoining districts. Officials said hundreds of police personnel were deployed in the city to maintain law and order.
With transport services adversely hit, passengers and commuters walked for miles to reach their destinations. Resham Kaur, a commuter, said the bus she was travelling in was stopped at Rama Mandi Chowk and she had to walk at least 5 kilometres to reach the city bus stand.
Also, there were reports of the agitators vandalising vegetable shops at Jyoti Chowk of the city.
Sunil Kumar, a trader, said some youths came and forcibly shut down their shops and threw their vegetables on the road. In the ensuing scuffle, they snatched three mobiles and ₹15000 from the cash counter, he alleged.
The protesters agreed to lift the protest and allow traffic to move after 4:30pm.
The Doaba region, comprising Jalandhar, Kapurthala, Hoshiarpur and Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar districts, is the most affected by Dalit protests as it constitutes the major chunk of scheduled caste (SC) population in Punjab. Of the state’s 2.8 crore population, the Dalits make up about 32%, the highest in the country.
NAKODAR TRADER OPENS FIRE ON PROTESTERS AFTER SPAT, ONE HURT
Tension prevailed in the Nakodar area of Jalandhar district on Saturday after a trader opened fire on protesters, leaving one injured, when they forcibly tried to shut down his shop as part of the bandh call.
The injured, identified as Gurpreet Gopi (26) of Nakodar’s Nanakpur locality, was being treated at a private hospital in Jalandhar. A bullet hit his stomach but his condition is out of danger, doctors said.
The trader, Nirvair Singh (46), who owns a tractor-trolley repair shop, fired four rounds on the protesters, police said. He was arrested after a case under Section 307 of the Indian Penal Code and relevant sections of the Arms Act was registered against him, Jalandhar senior superintendent of police (SSP) Navjot Singh Mahal said.
As per information, Nirvair Singh resorted to firing when the protesters pelted his shop with stones and bricks after having a heated argument with over his refusal to close his shop.
Later, the protesting community members also tried to vandalise the shop.