CHANDIGARH: Mr. Sukhdev ‘Singh, a senior journalist and editorial consultant of the Chandigarh based fortnightly ‘Dignity’ was arrested. He was remanded to judicial custody till March 19 by the Executive Magistrate, MS. Chaudhari. He was charged with 124A and 153 of LP.C. and section 4 of the Terrorist Activities Prevention Act. In a statement before the Magistrate the Journalist said that he has been charged with sedition which went against the freedom of expression guaranteed by the Constitution as interpreted by the Supreme Court in 1984, He also added that the charge was contrary to the stand of the Editor’s Guild of India that no newsman should be arrested under the said sections. Dignity published the alleged seditious article in its issue of March 2, 1986, The article was taken from the ‘Dalit Voice’ of Bangalore and was duly credited to it. The article gave Dalit Voice’s viewpoint over the Punjab problem and held the Central Government solely responsible for the Punjab crisis. The defense counsel Mr. HS. Bajwa said that it was the democratic right of the paper to give as many view points as possible for bona- fide reasons. However, the paper had reproduced an already published article. It was not a journalist’s job to indulge in seditious activity or to overthrow a government and install another Government in its place. The journalist repeatedly wrote regarding Punjab River waters, civil liberties and police ‘encounters’, State and individual terrorism as well as against the repressive policies of the Central Government, their collaborators and public servants. The journalist is being victimized because of his political writings against the political bosses and corrupt officers, Earlier the allotment of his house was cancelled without giving him any opportunity. He was not given the accreditation even though he fulfilled all the qualifications prescribed under the relevant law. This was being done to penalize the Journalist for his fearless reporting and to pressurize him to tow the Government line. The arrest has been made to silence the small voice of the newspaper.
Mr. DS. Gill, Secretary of Punjab Sikh Lawyers conference and Gurdev Singh, General Secretary of Punjab Khetibari Zamindari Union in separate press statements condemned the arrest of S. ‘Sukhdev Singh and described it as a slur on the freedom and liberty of the Press guaranteed by the constitution. They further claimed that action against this Journalist had been taken at the instance of the Union Government which is afraid ‘of the reality projected by Dignity. Mr. Gurdev Singh suspected Punjab Government’s hand in his arrest as it was headed by traitors of Punjab who had sold the natural resources of the State for the sake of their chairs and vested interests.
In a telegram to the Editor’s Guild Of India and chairman of the Press ‘Council, Rajinder pal Singh, convener of the Manukhi Adhikar Rajya ‘Committee, Chandigarh, condemned the arrest of Mr. Sukhdev ‘Singh, Editorial Consultant of Dignity. He described the arrest as a blatant attack on the freedom of press which is a hallmark of our constitution. He also appealed to the democratic organization of the country not to take this arrest lying down and face the Government’s repression tooth and nail.
Article extracted from this publication >> March 21, 1986
