Punjab Congress leader's ‘doctored video’: Partap Bajwa's complaint against AAP leads to FIR
Leader of Opposition Partap Singh Bajwa says AAP snipped his video to suggest he was supporting arrested Akali leader Bikram Singh Majithia
Punjab Congress leader Partap Singh Bajwa has alleged that the state's ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and its leaders doctored a video of his to imply he was supporting arrested Akali leader Bikram Singh Majithia. An FIR was registered in Chandigarh on Friday based on the July 7 complaint.
Bajwa said that in his original video, he had spoken against the way police behaved with Bikram Majithia's wife, Ganieve Kaur Majithia, who is a member of the assembly.
"Recently, an FIR was registered against (Bikram) Majithia by the Punjab Vigilance Bureau. His wife, Ganieve Kaur, is a Member of the Legislative Assembly, Punjab. In blatant violation of the law, officials from the Punjab Vigilance Bureau entered her home and even went into her bedroom. Such conduct towards a woman is unacceptable and contrary to the law," Bajwa said.
He explained that on June 25, he posted a 3-minute-48-second video on his X account at 3.13 pm, criticising the actions of the vigilance officials. He highlighted similar “misconduct” by them towards Congress MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira.
Bajwa alleged that the AAP’s social media accounts “edited the video to remove references to Ganieve Kaur and her position as a lady MLA”. "AAP leaders began sharing these altered videos on their official X accounts and circulating them on social media, implying that I supported Majithia, who is under investigation," his complaint read.
He named state finance minister Harpal Singh Cheema among those who shared the edited video on Facebook account. Punjab AAP chief Aman Arora, who is a minister too, be heled responsible for the same post on AAP Punjab's Facebook page, Bajwa said.
"This edited video was purposely circulated to damage my political reputation and that of the Congress Party. I was defamed and falsely accused of supporting a person facing prosecution and siding with lawbreakers, while the original issue I raised regarding the conduct of the Punjab Vigilance Bureau officials was obscured," he alleged.
The FIR was registered against unknown persons, with police saying the probe is on charges related to forgery, defamation and criminal conspiracy.
"Democracy provides for freedom of speech, but does not permit fabrication and doctoring of videos to harm the reputation of a person and misleading the public. Therefore, I request that requisite legal action be initiated against them at the earliest," Bajwa stated in his complaint.
Reacting, minister Harpal Singh Cheema they were not afraid of any FIR. “The FIR has exposed that Bajwa has a friendship with the BJP, thus he has managed to get a false FIR registered at in the centrally governed UT of Chandigarh," Cheema said during the ongoing assembly session.
Bikram Majithia is accused of having assets disproportionate to his known income. The police and AAP have alleged that the money is related to the illicit drug trade. Majithia has denied the allegations as political vendetta.
