The Canadian Parvasi - Issue105

The International News Weekly INDIA
August 02, 2019 | Toronto 10
Punjabi singers continue
to face ordeal of attacks
Guru Randhawa became
the latest victim of attacks
on Punjabi singers while he
was on a tour to Canada. On
July 28, Guru, who was performing
in Vancouver was
attacked by a Punjabi man
from the audience who insisted
getting on stage while
Guru was performing. On
Monday, Guru returned to
India from his US/Canada
tour and his managers posted
the clarification of the
incident as, “Guru is back in
India with four stitches on
his right eyebrow and mega
successful USA/Canada
tour. The incident happened
on July 28 in Vancouver
when Guru told one Punjabi
man not to come on stage
while he was performing for
the audience.”
While this was a case of
a hurt fan who was refused
proximity to the singer,
Punjabi singers have been
in the centre of controversy
for some time now since
Parmish Verma was shot at
by gangster, Dilpreet Dahan
in Mohali last year. Following
this incident was a set
of extortion calls to singers
including Gippy Grewal and
singer, politician Balkar
Sidhu.
In February this year, a
bloody fight erupted during
the concert of Elly Mangat
and Sidhu Moosewala, in
Surrey, Canada. Though
there was no verification
about the reason behind the
scuffle, some attributed it
to personal rift between local
artists in an inebriated
state.
"Guru is Back in India
with four stitches on his
right eybrow... the incident
happened on july 28 in Vancouver
when Guru told one
Punjabi man not to come on
stage while he was performing
for the audience"
Concerts And Foreign Tours Become
Breeding Ground For Attacks On Singers
Earlier in June, there
was news of singer Karan
Aujla also being attacked
in Surrey, Canada. It was
claimed that notorious
Punjabi gangster, Sukhpreet
Budda was behind
the attack. However, that
claim was not verified by
the Punjab police as stated
by Kunwar Vijay Pratap
Singh, IG, Punjab Police
Organised Crime Control Unit, who said,
“We are verifying both the posts and the
location from where they
have been made. They
don’t seem from anywhere
in India.” When
Gippy Grewal approached
the Mohali police against
the extortion calls last
year, a case was registered
against, “Dilpreet Dhahan
after Gippy informed us
that he received an extortion
call from him," said
Mohali Senior Superintendent of Police
(SSP) Kuldeep Singh Chahal.
Bill to provide death penalty for sexual
assault on child taken up in LS
New Delhi: A bill
seeking to provide death
penalty for aggravated
sexual assault on children
and greater punishments
for other crimes
against minors was taken
up for consideration and
passage in the Lok Sabha
on Thursday.
Piloting the Protection
of Children from
Sexual Offences (Amendment)
Bill, 2019, Women
and Child Development
Minister Smriti Irani
said it aims at making offences
against children
gender neutral.
The Bill, which was
already approved by the
Rajya Sabha, defines
child pornography, making
it punishable.
Cutting across party
lines, members supported
amendments to
POCSO Act though some
demanded that Bill be
referred to the standing
committee or select committee
as it makes certain
offences punishable
with death.
The Bill, said Irani,
would provide added legal
protection to 39 per
cent of population or 43
crore children, irrespective
of whether they are a
girl or boy.
Besides other things,
she said, the Bill defines
child pornography so
that sexual predators, indulging
in such heinous
crimes could be punished.
Regretting that 5,000
persons followed the
child pornography site
operated by a person,
Irani said, "this is a matter
of grave concern for
the society. The site had
even showed the rape of a
minor girl.”
Recalling a case
wherein children were
administered drugs and
harmones to make them
sexually active, she said,
the law is aimed at providing
stringent punishment
to such offenders.
"We want to provide
added protection to children...in
rarest of rare
cases death (penalty),"
she added.
Participating in the
discussion, Su Thirunavukkarasar
(Cong) suggested
that since the bill
has a provision for death
penalty, it should be sent
to a Parliamentary committee
for further scrutiny.
Rita Bahuguna Joshi
(BJP) said the Bill will go
a long way in bringing offenders
against children
to book.
Kanimozhi (DMK)
said that bill should be
sent to select committee
or standing committee
as harsher punishment
could deter people from
reporting the crime.
While presiding over
the proceedings, BJD's
Bhartruhari Mahtab
pointed out to Irani that
the Hindi version of the
POCSO bill used the
word "balakon", a term
for young boys, while the
English word "children"
is gender neutral.
To this, she responded
that the legislative department
of the government
had vetted the bill
and cleared it.
Rajiv Ranjan Singh of
the JD(U) hailed the bill,
saying it will curb the
growing trend in the society
toward such heinous
crimes.
He, however, suggested
the government work
to have special courts
across the country and
ensure speedy trial so
that the cases of sexual
crimes against children
are taken to logical conclusion.
A short period of trial
will also minimise the
chances of accused influencing
witnesses. Citing
a survey, he said the cases
of sexual harassment
against children have
risen by 500 per cent.
TMC's Satabdi Roy
wondered if death penalty
will deter criminals
and asked the government
to explain as to
what it is doing to help
victims.
Shiv Sena'a Vinayak
Raut supported the bill
and sought a time-bound
trial for the accused.
BSP's Danish Ali also
backed the bill, saying he
supports capital punishment
for those convicted
under this Act even
though he is ideologically
against death penalty.