Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh on Thursday hit out at his Delhi counterpart Arvind Kejriwal, accusing him of trying to exploit the COVID crisis to instigate people in Punjab’s villages, which have witnessed a spurt in fake news and provocative videos. At least one video-post found to have emanated from abroad, most likely Pakistan, was allegedly propagated here by an active worker of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).
The Punjab AAP unit, however, denied that the person in question was a member of the party.
“AAP’s Amrinder Singh has been arrested and is being questioned to ascertain who motivated him to circulate the outrageous post of a dead body to mislead the people of Punjab into believing that organs of dead corona patients were being removed by the Punjab health department,” said the Chief Minister.
‘Endangering safety’
The Chief Minister said the video-post propagated by the AAP worker was seen to be exhorting and provoking people not to cooperate with health authorities, thus endangering the health and safety of the citizens of the State.
“Such rumours are provoking a section of the community to resist proper medical care which needs to be provided to all COVID-affected citizens, which is a clear case of a deadly criminal conspiracy against the people of the State who are already suffering due to the pandemic,” said Captain Amarinder Singh, in a statement.
Capt. Amarinder said Mr. Kejriwal’s announcement in the midst of the shocking viral campaign, asking AAP workers to go around villages and streets of Punjab with oxymeters to check people’s oxygen levels, raised serious questions on the role of his party in the conspiracy to undermine the Punjab government’s efforts to keep the pandemic under check and save the lives of the people.
“The Delhi Chief Minister’s decision could have grave repercussions for Punjab’s security and integrity,” he said. Capt. Amarinder asked the Delhi CM to stay out of Punjab and focus on managing COVID in his own State.