CHANDIGARH, Punjab—On April 12, the Punjab police had arrested journalist Bhupinder Singh Sajjan from his house in Hoshiarpur’s model town for allegedly trying to justify the violence committed by the Nihangs in Patiala by organizing a special program on his web channel ASP TV.

The Punjab police have leveled charges of inciting communal disharmony against Bhupinder Singh Sajjan by terming his statements as “inflammatory and vicious” and lauding the violence committed by the Nihangs.

Besides Bhupinder Singh Sajjan, the Punjab police also two other Sikhs who endorsed the Nihangs from their social media accounts.

All of them have been booked under similar charges i.e. Section 115, 153-A, 188, 269, 270, 271 & 505 (2) of IPC, Section 3 of Epidemic Diseases Act 1897 and Section 54 of the National Disaster Management Act-2005.

Meanwhile, reaction has started emerging to Punjab police’s attempt to crush the right of freedom to make speech and express opinion.

The Article 19 of the Indian Constitution provides freedom to speak and express one’s opinion freely without any fear through oral / written / electronic/ broadcasting / press.

Reacting to the arrest of Bhupinder Singh Sajjan, renowned mainstream journalist Yadwinder Karfew has questioned that if the democratic values and institutions will get abolished then how will democracy survive?

Similarly, Daily Post’s renowned journalist Simranjot Singh Makkar has said termed the arrest of Bhupinder Singh Sajjan as a murder of Indian constitution. He has also raised questions over the working of Punjab police by quoting the murder of Sikh activist Jaswant Singh Khalra who had exposed extra-judicial killings of more than 25,000 innocent Sikh youths carried out by Punjab police in fake encounters.

Have a look at some of the reactions to Bhupinder Singh Sajjan’s arrest: