With the opposition parties terming the Vigilance Bureau notice to Managing Editor of a Punjabi daily Barjinder Singh Hamdard, as an “attack on press freedom,” Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Saturday said that he will expose every Hamdard, headache (Sirdard) or cruel (Bedard) person for the embezzlement of public money.
In a statement, the CM said the Vigilance Bureau is calling an affluent person for swindling funds in the Jang-e-Azadi Memorial building. Mann said that he fails to understand how this investigation is an attack on the media.
The CM said it is a matter of accountability of Rs 200 crore used for the construction of a memorial in the name of great martyrs. “Was money issued in the name of the media and if not, then what does the newspaper have to do with this,” Mann asked.
“I am not amongst those who touched the feet of Hamdard to save their skins,” the CM said, adding that he will ensure accountability for single penny spent from the public exchequer.
The Managing Editor of Punjabi newspaper Ajit, Hamdard has been summoned by the Punjab Vigilance Bureau (VB) for questioning in the case related to the Jang-E-Azadi project at Kartarpur, Jalandhar.
The Jang-E-Azadi project, a venture of the Parkash Singh Badal government, was completed in 2016 at a cost over Rs 300 crore. Hamdard was the Member Secretary of the Jang-e-Azadi Memorial Foundation and chairperson of its Executive Committee.
He recently resigned from posts accusing the Aam Aadmi Party of tarnishing the memorial’s reputation by frequently sending police and vigilance teams there.
On 2 June, all opposition parties gathered at the office of the daily to express solidarity with Hamdard. They had termed the Vigilance notice as “targeting of Hamdard” and an “attack on press freedom.” The meeting was attended by senior members of Shiromani Akali Dal, Congress, BJP, BSP, Left parties, SAD (Sanyukt) and several other parties.