- Saturday, April 20, 2024
By: Shubham Ghosh
The BBC was again in headlines in India after the official Twitter handle of BBC Punjabi News, one of the leading news sources in Punjabi language, was withheld. The account was not accessible for users in India for several hours on Tuesday (28). It was restored later.
A message was shown on the Twitter handle saying the account has been taken down “in response to a legal demand”, India Today reported.
ਕਈ ਘੰਟਿਆਂ ਦੀ ਰੋਕ ਤੋਂ ਬਾਅਦ ਬੀਬੀਸੀ ਨਿਊਜ਼ ਪੰਜਾਬੀ ਦਾ ਟਵਿੱਟਰ ਅਕਾਊਂਟ ਮੁੜ ਬਹਾਲ ਹੋ ਗਿਆ ਹੈ। ਮੰਗਲਵਾਰ ਸਵੇਰ ਤੋਂ ਬੀਬੀਸੀ ਨਿਊਜ਼ ਪੰਜਾਬੀ ਦਾ ਖਾਤਾ ਖੋਲਣ ਉਪਰ ਅਕਾਉਂਟ ਵਿਦਹੈੱਲਡ ਲਿਖ ਕੇ ਆ ਰਿਹਾ ਸੀ, ਪਰ ਹੁਣ ਸਾਰਾ ਸਮੱਗਰੀ ਭਾਰਤ ਵਿੱਚ ਵੀ ਦੇਖੀ ਜਾ ਸਕਦੀ ਹੈ।
FULL STORY: https://t.co/zAKDXeLOim#AmritpalSingh #Twitter pic.twitter.com/IU5XMAB7wm— BBC News Punjabi (@bbcnewspunjabi) March 28, 2023
While the reason behind the move by the social media giant was not known, it happened at a time when police in India were looking for fugitive Khalistan ideologue and radical preacher Amritpal Singh. Some social media users accused the BBC of spreading disinformation and promoting anti-India sentiments.
The BBC faced a massive backlash in India a few months ago over a controversial documentary series showing the role prime minister Narendra Modi had played during the 2002 riots in the western state of Gujarat of which he was the chief minister then. Tax surveys were conducted soon after at the BBC’s offices in New Delhi and Mumbai, a move which was seen accused as an attack on the freedom of press.
It may be mentioned here that Twitter accounts of several journalists based out of Punjab and members of the Sikh community were withheld in India last week amid the police crackdown against Singh. A manhunt for the radical leader was launched on March 18 after he gave the lawkeepers a slip. India has also requested its northern neighbour Nepal to tighten borders so that Singh cannot flee to any third country. It is suspected that he could take shelter in the Himalayan nation.
The crackdown against Singh’s ‘Waris De Punjab’ outfit was launched after he and his aides stormed a police station in Amritsar in Punjab to get one of their arrested associates released.
Many of Singh’s supporters and close aides have been arrested since the crackdown amid fears that the episode could stoke the Khalistan militancy in Punjab, something which had taken a serious form the 1980s.
