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Appeals media to verify facts lest truth becomes casualty
CHANDIGARH, May 6: Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee president Capt Amarinder Singh has taken strong exception to the malicious propaganda being spread and circulated by the anti-India forces and fringe groups like the Sikhs for Justice and appealed to the media to verify and cross check the facts before publishing these, lest the truth becomes casualty.
Reacting to the media reports that he was allegedly heckled and shoes, stones and bottles were hurled at him during a function at Fresno in California on Tuesday, Capt Amarinder said, “nothing can be far from the truth than such baseless claims”. He regretted that the media took cognisance of the claims of SFJ without verifying and cross checking the facts.
“Even the video circulated by the SFJ to substantiate its baseless claims nowhere shows that I was heckled or objects were thrown at me”, he pointed out, while appealing, “at least take note of the credibility and motives of the person who circulated these rumours”.
Capt Amarinder also appealed to the media organisations to ensure that facts are carefully verified lest the truth becomes the casualty. “Is it enough for you to go ahead with a story, just because Gurpatwant Singh Pannu says that shoes were hurled at me, without verifying and cross checking the facts?” he asked, while adding, “particularly in this case cross checking the facts was not very difficult as the video Pannu had circulated was self explanatory”.
He said, the rumour of hurling of shoes was deliberately spread to overshadow the successful meetings he has been holding with Punjabi NRI community in the US. “Isn’t it strange that the media took note of the pro-Khalistan slogans raised by a handful people outside the venue, but totally ignored the meeting inside which was attended by about a 1000 people and lasted for three hours?” he asked.
The PCC president said, the protestors were raising ‘Khalistan Zindabad’ slogans and they were chased out by his supporters and at no stage did they throw any object at him or his car. “Not that it would have mattered or made any difference had they thrown anything, but the motive behind spreading this rumour, which unfortunately some newspapers turned into a ‘factual story’, was to overshadow our meetings and programmes”, he regretted.
The former Chief Minister said, he was saddened that a dozen odd anti-India people raising slogans outside the meeting venue were given precedence over about a thousand people who had gathered inside the venue and were interacting with him and discussing the ways and means to revive Punjab’s economy and agriculture.
“Just because someone like Pannu, whose reputation, credibility, motives and intentions are quite well known to everyone, claimed something which was far from the truth, was taken to be gospel truth without any cross check or verification”, Capt Amarinder remarked, while regretting, in the process Pannu has taken everybody for a ride and truth has become a casualty.
