‘AAP’ Turns Punjab into a Police State Illegal Detention of Opposition Leaders and Attack on Free Press is disgusting and shameful: Grewal

Jalandhar, 18 March 2026: National BJP leader, Advocate Sukhminderpal Singh Grewal Bhukhri Kalan has strongly condemned the shocking and disgraceful actions of the Punjab Government over the illegal detention of opposition leaders in Jalandhar.
Grewal said the “AAP” has once again exposed its authoritarian and anti-democratic face before the people of Punjab. He said that the government led by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann has reduced Punjab into a police-controlled state where peaceful democratic protest is being crushed with brute force.
Grewal said that nearly 40 opposition leaders and workers including senior political figures such as Manoranjan Kalia, Nawal Kamboj, Sushil Kumar Rinku, Sheetal Angural, Darshan Bhagat and many others were illegally detained by the Punjab Police while they were peacefully protesting against the municipal action at Punjab Kesari Group’s Hotel Park Plaza in Jalandhar.
He said that it is extremely shameful that leaders belonging to the Bharatiya Janata Party, Indian National Congress and Shiromani Akali Dal who had gathered peacefully to protest were forcibly taken into custody and kept inside Police Station Sadar Jamsher for several hours. Grewal said that around 40 leaders were detained inside the police station while nearly 100 to 150 supporters stood outside protesting, creating a tense situation because of the high-handedness of the police.
Grewal said that such behaviour clearly proves that the Bhagwant Mann government is terrified of democratic dissent and opposition voices. Instead of addressing the real issues of Punjab such as rising crime, drugs, gangster culture and law and order failure the government is busy misusing police machinery to silence political opponents.
Grewal said that the targeting of the Hind Samachar Group including “Punjab Kesari” and “Jagbani” is a direct attack on the freedom of the press, which is the fourth pillar of democracy. He said that the Mann-Kejriwal regime cannot tolerate independent journalism and wants newspapers to publish only those stories that suit the government’s propaganda.
He further said that this action clearly shows the desperate attempt of the Punjab Government to intimidate media houses and suppress the truth so that the people of Punjab do not come to know the ground reality of growing gangsterism, drug menace and rising murders across the state.
Grewal said that the present situation in Punjab is extremely alarming and that the state is gradually being pushed towards a dangerous police state where democratic rights are being crushed and opposition voices are being silenced through intimidation and repression.
Strongly condemning the entire episode, Grewal said that the AAP government should immediately stop its dictatorial behaviour and apologise to the people of Punjab for this shameful misuse of police power.
He warned that the Bharatiya Janata Party along with all democratic forces will continue to raise its voice fearlessly against such authoritarian actions and will stand firmly in defence of democracy, press freedom and the constitutional rights of the people.