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Why are newspapers being held up by police in Punjab? Uproar against AAP govt over 'censorship', ‘Sheesh Mahal 2.0’
BJP links it to ‘Sheesh Mahal 2.0’ news reports spooking AAP, while police insist checks are for security; press club condemns action as attack on journalism
Punjab's Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government faced massive backlash with allegations of censorship after parts of the state on Sunday morning experienced delay in newspaper deliveries. Reason: police conducted checks and held up vehicles carrying newspapers during the intervening night of Saturday-Sunday.
Punjab Police later issued a clarification that it undertook checking of vehicles carrying various items following specific intelligence inputs. The vehicle checks were conducted under the supervision of gazzetted officers at selected points in a streamlined and orderly manner without causing any inconvenience to the public, news agency PTI reported quoting the police.
Opposition parties including the Bharatiya Janata Party, Congress and Shiromani Akali Dal alleged that the move was a part of AAP's attack on media.
“The raids on newspaper delivery vehicles across Punjab raise serious questions about press freedom and public safety,” Punjab Congress president Amrinder Singh Raja Warring said in a post on X.
“Raids on newspaper delivery vans across Punjab are a chilling attack on press freedom,” leader of Opposition and Congress veteran Partap Singh Bajwa alleged.
Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal argued that the government targeted vehicles carrying newspapers “because they do not want anyone writing against them”.
“We will oppose such dictatorial actions aimed at preventing the truth from reaching the people tooth and nail,” Badal further wrote on X.
BJP's working president in the state Ashwini Sharma termed it “undeclared Emergency by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann in Punjab”, claiming that panicked by the “Sheesh Mahal 2.0 news”, the AAP government attacked the media.
The BJP on Friday alleged that former Delhi chief minister and AAP national convenor Arvind Kejriwal is being provided a ‘Sheesh Mahal’ with seven-star facility in Punjab under Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann's quota, even though the former is neither an elected MLA nor part of the state government.
Responding to the allegation, Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann on Saturday said the house in Chandigarh which the BJP is calling “Sheesh Mahal” is a government accommodation and his camp office, as he asked the saffron party to stop its “dirty propaganda”.
The Sheesh Mahal 2.0 allegation stems over an earlier allegation over massive construction at Kejriwal's official residence as CM in New Delhi.
The controversy at 6 Flag Staff Road in the national capital erupted when he was the Delhi chief minister in 2024 after the Central Public Works Department (CPWD) submitted a report on the complaint of BJP leader Vijender Gupta. Kejriwal was accused of violating norms to construct the lavish mansion, dubbed as ‘Sheesh Mahal’ or Glass Palace by the BJP, covering eight acres.
What did the police say on newspaper hold-up?
According to the police statement, Punjab has been “facing the brunt of the designs of Pakistan's ISI to bleed India by waging a proxy war” through smuggling of contraband, arms and explosives from across the international border using rogue drones and further transporting them using various types of vehicles.
“Anti-national forces have been innovative in changing their modus operandi and their activities have increased in intensity and efforts after Operation Sindoor,” the statement read.
Responding to reports of delayed newspaper delivery, Punjab police affirmed that security exercises in the state will be carried out with diligence and care to ensure that minimum inconvenience is caused to the public during the conduct of security checks, especially vehicle checks.
“At the same time, the need for an active and energetic internal security grid cannot be overemphasised in the present internal security scenario,” the statement added.
Chandigarh Press Club's stance
The Chandigarh Press Club said in a statement that it strongly condemns “the police action of stopping vehicles carrying newspapers in various districts of Punjab".
The CPC, which functions as journalists' guild, alleged that newspaper delivery vehicles in several instances were reportedly taken to police stations, leading to undue harassment of the delivery staff and delays in distribution.
“Reports have been received from districts including Gurdaspur, Patiala, Amritsar, Hoshiarpur, and others, where newspaper distribution was either delayed or completely halted. Such actions are seen as an attack on press freedom and an attempt to control the free flow of information through state machinery,” the statement said
The club urged the Punjab government to immediately intervene, ensure the unhindered distribution of newspapers, and uphold the fundamental right to freedom of the press.
