Punjab prohibits gun-glorifying music and demands a review of all weapons licences

• Image Credit: Internet

• Nov 13, 2022 | Sourav Boruah

 Digital Desk: The Punjab Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government, led by Chief
Minister Bhagwant Mann, has banned songs that glorify gun culture and violence,
outlawed flashing guns, and commanded a review of all active arms permits in
the state.

The state government's home department on Sunday issued a formal
directive to the director general of police (DGP), police commissioners, deputy
commissioners, and senior superintendents of police in this respect. Following
the chief minister's directives, the crackdown on gun culture also includes
stricter requirements for the issue of new weapons permits and sporadic gun.

The state's
deteriorating law and order situation has drawn criticism from the opposition,
including the Congress, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), and Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP). After the consecutive killings of Dera Sacha Sauda supporter Pardeep
Singh in Faridkot and Shiv Sena (Taksali) leader Sudhir Suri in Amritsar within
a week, concerns about

The home department has
ordered a rigorous prohibition on songs that glorify guns and violence as well
as a total ban on carrying and displaying weapons at public events, social
gatherings, weddings, and religious locations. It said that showing off guns,
especially on social media, should be entirely prohibited.

The department has
also mandated that all permits for weapons be thoroughly reviewed within the
next three months, with clear instructions that any licence found to have been
issued to the incorrect individual must be immediately cancelled. According to
a government decree, no new arm licence will be granted unless the district
magistrate (deputy commissioner) is satisfied with the justifications for doing
so. According to government sources, the majority of the four lakh licence
holders for both prohibited

The government's directives for filing a police report
against anyone engaging in hate speech against any community were also
reaffirmed in the order. On May 12, Mann denounced the gangster and gun culture
trend that some musicians are promoting and issued a warning that anyone found
to be participating would face severe punishment.