PUNJAB CONGRESS ANNOUNCES MASSIVE PROTEST ON SEPTEMBER 8 FOR DA AND OLD PENSION SCHEME

HARDIP SINGH KINGRA EXPOSES AAP’S INSTITUTIONAL CORRUPTION AND STATE TERRORISM

Face2News/Chandigarh

Senior Congress leader Hardip Singh Kingra, along with Punjab Congress SC Department Chairman Gurpreet Singh Lucky Pakho, addressed journalists today at Punjab Congress Bhawan on behalf of the Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee. Kingra announced that the Congress party will organize a massive protest march on September 8 at 10:30 AM against the Punjab Government’s apathy and atrocities regarding DA and the Old Pension Scheme. Protesters will gather at Punjab Congress Bhawan, Chandigarh, and march toward the Deputy Commissioner’s Office as well as the Chief Minister’s Office.

​Expressing deep concern over escalating state terrorism and attacks on democratic pillars, Kingra began his address by condemning the brutal assault and humiliation in custody of women journalists. He also mentioned the incident where Delhi Police targeted Shaheen Khan and Nafeesa Khan of the TV9 media team. Launching a sharp attack on the BJP, he alleged that Nafeesa Khan and Shaheen Khan were subjected to such inhumane treatment solely because they are Muslim. Strongly condemning the physical violence, batons, and verbal threats used to suppress independent journalism, he termed it a dangerous attack by the ruling party on press freedom and constitutional democracy.

​Referring to police brutality in Punjab, Kingra exposed shocking events that took place during a public event of Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann at village Sheron in Sunam. He stated that merely for asking questions about governance, a local Sikh youth, Mohanjeet Singh, was taken into custody, brutally beaten, and subjected to inhumane third-degree torture such as administering electric shocks, sprinkling salt on wounds, and plucking hair from his beard. Strongly condemning this attack on human rights and Sikh religious sentiments, the Punjab Congress leadership strongly demanded an immediate and impartial CBI inquiry into the incident, alongside the immediate suspension of all guilty police and administrative officials and registration of criminal cases against them.

​Exposing the deep-seated corruption hollowing out the administration, Kingra cornered the government over the multi-crore excise and liquor policy scam. He alleged that an illicit profit of over 300 crore rupees was made through an illegal distillery network, directly bleeding the state exchequer.
​Citing digital evidence presented by central agencies in the High Court against Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann’s OSD Rajbir Singh Ghuman, he alleged a running “cash-for-transfer” syndicate for the transfers of IAS, IPS, PCS, and DSP officers, as well as the leaking of confidential cabinet files.

Apart from this, he exposed the web of bribery spreading across Regional Transport Authorities and Automated Driving Test Centers. Kingra said that ordinary citizens are being harassed in the name of inspection and the official system is paralyzed, while licenses are being issued and renewed through loopholes by taking bribes worth lakhs of rupees.
​Citing National Human Rights Commission intervention and judicial remarks, Kingra alleged that a transaction of 5 crore rupees allegedly linked to the Chief Minister’s wife, Dr. Gurpreet Kaur Mann, has come to light to suppress a sensitive rape investigation, which warrants a time-bound judicial and CBI probe.

​Concluding his address, Kingra clarified that along with exposing corruption and state oppression, standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Punjab’s government employees and pensioners is the primary aim of the September 8 protest. Congress will vigorously raise its voice for the immediate and unconditional payment of pending Dearness Allowance installments and arrears, the ground-level implementation of the Old Pension Scheme in its entirety, and the revocation of repressive show-cause notices issued to union leaders.

Kingra called upon all Congress workers, employee unions, youth, and the general public to gather at Punjab Congress Bhawan, Sector 15, Chandigarh, at 10:30 AM on September 8 to launch a decisive march toward the DC Office and the Chief Minister’s Office.