In a major action against the ‘gun culture’ in Punjab, the Punjab government on Sunday cancelled the licences of 813 guns in the state. The ruling government is being sharply criticized by opponents in assembly for not being stern on law-breakers, be it an Ajnala Incident or Sidhu Moosewala assassination.
Among the licences cancelled, 87 were from Ludhiana Rural, 48 from Shaheed Bhagat Singh Nagar, 10 from Gurdaspur, 84 from Faridkot, 199 from Pathankot, 47 from Hoshiarpur, 6 from Kapurthala, 235 from SAS Kasba, and 16 from Sangrur. Arms licences of 27 people of Amritsar Commissionerate, and 11 of Jalandhar Commissionerate and many other districts have also been cancelled.
As per the official document, the Punjab government has cancelled more than 2,000 arms licences so far.
There are strict rules that have to be followed to keep guns, the state government said, adding that there is now a complete ban on carrying and displaying weapons in public functions, religious places, marriage ceremonies or any other events in Punjab. However, last week, two young men succumbed to swords in one of the religious ceremonies in Anandpur Sahib.
There will be a complete ban on glorification of violence and weapons, the Aam Aadmi Party’s government said, adding that random checking will be done in different areas in coming days.
There are a total of 3,73,053 arms licences in Punjab. The Punjab government said that it continuously took action to end ‘gun culture’.
This news of cancelling gun licences came afore after Sidhu Moosewala’s parents sat on protest outside the Punjab Assembly and after ruling government Minister Aman Arora’s statement in assembly that opposition was making mountain out of mole while asking for chargesheet against those who leaked security pruning information into the public domain.
The killing of 28-year-old Punjabi singer Sidhu Moose Wala last year had brought into focus the prevalent glorification of guns in Punjabi pop culture, leading to calls for regulation.
