JALANDHAR: An image of a Punjab cop resting his knee on the chest of a protester to pin him down, when police were dispersing a demonstration by ‘5994 ETT qualified candidates’ in Anandpur Sahib on Saturday, has elicited comparisons to the case of George Floyd, whose death had sparked protests against police brutality across the US and the world in 2020.
The police action in Anandpur Sahib has already attracted strong reactions from opposition parties and sparked online outrage. It has also led to claims of “Punjab being turned into a police state”. While this phrase was once employed by Sikh groups, it has now been adopted by farm groups, other activists, and the Congress.
Although the police did not use batons to remove protesters on Saturday when they were demonstrating near the residence of education minister Harjot Singh Bains, this particular picture — along with a video of a police inspector and other officers assaulting another protester — has evoked imagery of police aggression. On Sunday, police said they were left with no option but to forcibly remove the protesters, as they had blocked a busy road.
Opposition parties were quick to attack chief minister Bhagwant Mann. They posted videos of his old speeches, where he claimed that when his party would come to power, people would not have to protest, and there would be “no lathi charge, and turbans and dupattas would not be removed”. In the videos, he could also be heard saying that “his govt would provide so many jobs that even white people would come to Punjab for jobs”.
Congress MLA and former education minister Pargat Singh posted a picture of the officer’s knee on the protestor’s chest next George Floyd’s image on his social media accounts. “What the world saw in America with George Floyd, Punjab is now witnessing under @BhagwantMann’s govt… Turning Punjab into a ‘police state’ and silencing every voice with force will not go unanswered,” Pargat Singh wrote.
Punjab Youth Congress also posted these pictures and the same text on its official X account. The pro-farm X handle, ‘Tractor2twitr_P’, posted the same picture, writing: “Panjab has turned into a cruel police state.” It criticised CM Mann and AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal. Numerous others also posted similar content with the common refrain that Punjab was being turned into a police state.
Shiromani Akali Dal and BJP posted video clips of the Punjab Police confronting the protesters and criticised the ruling party. Recently, Congress leaders, among others, had mainstreamed the expression “police state”.
Congress MLAs Sukhpal Singh Khaira and Pargat Singh had repeatedly used it. The most scathing such attack came recently from leader of opposition Partap Singh Bajwa, who, on April 5, said: “Punjab Police is morally corrupt. It has lost its conscience. No crime, including drug peddling, can happen without the police’s complicity. Therefore, I strongly advocate that the Punjab Police be dismantled and then restructured.”
In the last week of Sept 2023, Bajwa accused AAP govt of “converting Punjab into an absolute police state”.
Akal Takht acting jathedar Giani Kuldeep Singh Gargajj on March 19 said Punjab was heading towards becoming a “police state”. Slain Punjabi singer Sidhu Moose Wala’s father, Balkaur Singh, used the same expression on March 21. This expression was also used when a serving colonel was assaulted by a group of officers in Patiala.
Panel led by ex-HC judge to form rights group
On April 17, in a meeting of intellectuals, activists, advocates and independent journalists at Kendri Sri Guru Singh Sabha, Chandigarh, a 10-member committee led by former Punjab and Haryana high court judge, Justice Ranjit Singh, was formed to work on human rights issues and establish a formal group in view of “Punjab being turned into a police state” and “bulldozer culture”. Former Baba Farid University of Health Sciences registrar and public intellectual Dr Piara Lal Garg is also a member of this group.
