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Mohali, Punjab (KP) – Known notoriously for stirring up controversies, the Rozana Spokesman has entered the headlines again with an article that it published on August 15th in it's daily edition. The article was focused on Parashuram, a Hindu diety, and as alleged by his followers, it contained blasphemous information.
The members of the Brahmin Sabha of Punjab, along with other activists, held protests outside the main offices of the Rozana Spokesman demanding an official apology by the Editor, Joginder Sawney, and the author of the controversial article, Ashwani Kumar. The protestors claimed that the misinformation published by Rozana Spokesman has disturbed the Hindu Community that holds Parashuram as a respected figure.
Reportedly, Joginder Sawney has already submitted his apology that was published in the newspaper on August 17th. Interestingly, Sawney followed the exact script of his schema by apologizing while defending his blasphemous remarks.
| "Sawney now claims right-wing Hindu Shiv Sena militants support his offending article..." |
The Brahmin Sabha has said they will raise this matter with the Punjab Prime Minister Sukhbir Singh and also threatened to seek cancellation of Rozana Spokesman’s registration. A case has been filed by the Sabha with the Sahibzada Ajit Singh Nagar Police on Joginder Sawney and Ashwani Kumar. The case has been registered under Indian Penal Code Section 153 B, 295 A and 120 B.
Interestingly, while the Rozana Spokesman has submitted an apology, it also published statements by some US based organizations that denounced the protests outside the Rozana Spokesman office. In an article published on August 19th from San Jose, California, USA, some alleged personalities claimed that “any time someone will try to raise talk on Sikh issues; the demoncratic anti-Sikh organizations will try to provide harm to stop the cause.”
Rozana Spokesman is notorious for stirring up useless controversies to keep its name in the limelight. It should be noted that while preaching truth is the job of all media, insulting someone else’s faith without any purpose or basis is unacceptable. While Rozana Spokesman has faced the wrath of non-Sikh communities at different times in the past for publishing derogatory articles, to redicule Sikh beliefs and institutes seems like the favorite hobby of its editors.
Sikh leaders worldwide should be wary of offering any support to this newspaper, as in the past, it has questioned the core beliefs of the Sikh religion and also mocked many of its practices. The main editor of the newspaper, Joginder Sawney, has also been excommunicated from the Khalsa Panth for spreading the ideology of Kala Afghana.
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