Final pdf 21 July 2020

The International News Weekly July 21, 2020 | Toronto 12
Punjabi singer Sidhu Moosewala
booked for promoting violence,
gun culture in new song 'Sanju'
CHANDIGARH : Punjab
Police is set to move
the Punjab and Haryana
High Court for cancellation
of the anticipatory
bail granted in an Arms
Act case to singer Sidhu
Moosewala, against whom
the Crime Branch booked
another case on charges
of promoting violence and
gun culture with his latest
song 'Sanju'—which was released
on social media a few
days ago. Sharing details,
Punjab ADGP and Director
Punjab Bureau of Investigations,
Arpit Shukla, said
the singer had been booked
at Mohali, on the basis of
information received that
his song 'Sanju', which is
trending on various social
media platforms, blatantly
glorifies the use of weapons
and boasts about the various
FIRs, including the one
under the Arms Act, registered
against him.
The ADGP said the police
would file a petition
for the cancellation of the
anticipatory bail granted
to Moosewala by the High
Court.
Shukla said it had been
verified that the latest
video song, 'Sanju', was uploaded
from Moosewala’s
official YouTube channel.
In the song, Moosewala
makes explicit references
to the case registered
against him under the
Arms Act, and the video
starts with a news clip of
him being booked in the
said case by Punjab Police
for unauthorised use of an
AK-47 rifle.
In the video, Moosewala’s
news clip is later
merged with news reports
of film actor Sanjay Dutt
having been convicted
and sentenced for similar
offences. Shukla said the
lyrics of the song, as well
as the video, promoted and
glorified possession and
use of illegal firearms, and
boasted about registration
of FIR as sign of a ‘real
man’. Shukla said Moosewala
had earlier been
booked for a similar offence
on February 1 this year by
the Mansa police.
On May 4, he was
booked by the Barnala police
for various offences under
the Disaster Management
and Arms Act after
his photographs of firing an
AK-47 rifle at a firing range
during the curfew went viral
on social media.
His latest act is clearly
intended not only to ridicule,
mock and undermine
the police but also showed
that the singer is incorrigible
and had repeatedly
committed such offences,
said Shukla.
The ADGP said the
Punjab and Haryana High
Court had already directed
the Director General of Police
of Punjab, Haryana and
Chandigarh to ensure that
no songs glorifying liquor,
drugs and violence were
played even at live shows.
Even Chief Minister
Capt Amarinder Singh has
expressed deep concern
over the propagation of
violence and gun culture
in Punjabi songs and has
given clear directions to
the state police not to show
any relaxation or concession
towards such singers,
who allure innocent youth
into following the path of
violence and hooliganism.
Shukla said it seemed
that with his latest song,
which he seemed to
wear as some sort of a
badge of honour, Moosewala
deliberately wanted
to incite and mislead the
youth of this border state,
which had borne the brunt
of terrorism in the '80s and
'90s, by glorifying the use
of AK-47 rifles and other
weapons.
He said Moosewala had
been booked under Sections
188, 294, 504 and 120-B
of the IPC.
25 cops test positive in
Sangrur’s Lehra sub-division;
Coronavirus cases in
Patiala double in 10
days; tally reaches 981
set off panic in the area
SANGRUR: Twenty-five
policemen tested positive
for coronavirus in Sangrur’s
Lehra sub division,
officials said---a development
that set off panic
among residents, who accuse
health authorities of
keeping them in the dark
about the cases.
Among those who tested
positive was an officer of
the DSP rank. All of those
whose results came back
positive on Monday were
contacts of four policemen
who tested positive four
days ago.
Barnala Civil surgeon
Dr G B Singh, who is also
in charge of Sangrur, confirmed
the development on
Monday evening----hours
after news of cops testing
positive had spread panic
in the area.
“I have ordered all policemen
to get tested to prevent
further spread,” Sangrur
Deputy Commissioner
Ramvir said.
Locals meanwhile have
accused health authorities
of not sharing details of the
development. They also accuse
health authorities of
neither conducting enough
COVID-19 tests nor holding
enough awareness drives.
“It’s the failure of health
department that they made
tall claims of conducting
testing. Such large numbers
of policemen testing
positive show that before
the start of infection,
health department authorities
have neither made the
cops aware nor have they
conducted timely tests on
policemen to prevent the
spread of infection. The
chief minister and health
minister must look into
this issue,” said a local on
the condition of anonymity.
“Despite the directions
of Punjab CM and health
minister to share the maximum
details of positive
patients with residents to
prevent the spread of infection,
the Sangrur authorities
are working at their
best to hide information to
hide their failure, which
has cost dearly to Lehra
residents and cause widespread
infection here,” said
another resident.
Sangrur’s death toll
now stands at 22, with the
virus killing another resident
of Longowal block at
GMC Patiala on Sunday.
The latest victim was a 54-
year-old woman admitted
to the hospital last week.
Fifteen of the 22 deaths so
far are from Malerkotla,
two from Amgarh and
two from Sherpur and one
each from Fatehgarh Panjgrayan,
Ahemdgarh and
Longowal. The district currently
has 96 active cases.
PATIALA : Coronavirus cases in Patiala have doubled in
10 days, taking the total number of cases in the district to
981. The district had just 480 cases till July 9.
Patiala on Sunday reported 80 new cases of coronavirus.
Of the 80 cases, 51 are from Patiala city, three from
Nabha, 11 from Rajpura, nine from Samana, and six from
different villages in the district.
Sources said that it was the result of people’s indifferent
attitude towards social distancing.
It has been learned that people are still holding kitty
parties, small gatherings, and marriage functions at their
residences. Sources in the health department said that a
surge in cases of coronavirus was the result of the small
gatherings wherein social distancing norms had gone
for a toss. The health department informed that in many
cases, one person had spread the virus to over 30 people.
A boutique owner in Partap Nagar has tested positive
and had become the source of the entire staff and their
families testing positive. Similarly, a local leader in Top
Khana Mor, an area in the city, has already infected over
20 people, including 16 of his family members.
Another factor that has contributed to the surge in Patiala
was interstate movement and then hiding of travel
history. A health officer said: “Nobody wants to get quarantined
as it affects one’s daily routine. But, pandemic
can’t be controlled with this attitude of the people.”