
Mann govt under fire for ‘smothering protest'—teacher under police watch, ‘detention' for dissenters
As pictures and videos of the teacher, Veerpal Kaur Sidhana, sitting in her classroom attending to her students with the police next to her went viral Tuesday, the opposition put the state's ruling AAP on the mat for 'smothering growing voices' of protest against the government.
Chandigarh: On Monday, a pre-primary teachers' union leader in Punjab's Bathinda carried out her school duties with a police team keeping a watch on her lest she organise a protest at a government function in Ludhiana where Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann was the chief guest.
'I went to sit in the classroom with only a few students so that they don't get traumatised with the police presence. There is a legal bar on police entering schools. For over two decades, I have never seen such a move undertaken by any government,' said Sidhana.
She leads the Shaheed Kiranjit Kaur Pre-Primary Associate Adhyapak Union, Punjab, an organisation that is demanding regularisation of services in government schools.
Leader of the opposition, senior Congressman Partap Singh Bajwa, slammed the Punjab government, saying police in classrooms was the Delhi model of school education, bringing in a revolution that terrified teachers and kids alike, referring to AAP's stint in power in the Capital.
'All this because the teacher might protest for job regularisation? And guess what—she wasn't even going!' he wrote on X.
🏫 @AAPPunjab Shiksha Kranti in Action:
Welcome to the Delhi Model – now with police in classrooms!
So THIS is what @ArvindKejriwal and @BhagwantMann meant by Education Revolution?
👮♀️ 3 uniformed cops sat inside a pre-primary classroom in Bathinda for 6 hours — not to protect… pic.twitter.com/FdRfLgmr7Q
— Partap Singh Bajwa (@Partap_Sbajwa) August 5, 2025
Another Congress leader, Pargat Singh, said on X that the tendency of the government to detain protesters was a 'dangerous, dictatorial trend'.
Akali leader Parambans Singh Romana termed the action a 'shame' on the Mann government.
The true face of #Badlav and #SikhyaKranti ….police enters a pre-primary classroom in a govt school in Bathinda to prevent a teacher from joining a protest against the govt ‼️@ArvindKejriwal and @BhagwantMann do you realise the effect on such young impressionable minds when… pic.twitter.com/ooy0muPAm3
— Parambans Singh Romana (@ParambansRomana) August 5, 2025
The Punjab government has so far offered no explanation for the incident. ThePrint reached AAP spokesperson Neel Garg via message for a comment, but he did not respond.
However, at the Ludhiana function where Mann launched ward and village defence committees to curb drug abuse, he criticised the earlier governments in Punjab for silencing voices of protest.
'During Akali rule, people would sit with folded hands in villages when their leaders spoke. Then in 2014, when I became MP, I told the people to question their leaders. Some MPs from Punjab even complained to me that I had made it difficult for them to get out of their cars in villages as people were asking questions,' he said.
'This is the change… I am accountable and anything can be asked from me… In Sunam, once someone dared question Sukhdev Singh Dhindsa during a public programme and he was immediately taken away and locked up.'
The Bathinda school incident comes less than a week after a protester was removed by the police from the venue of a function in Sunam where Mann and AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal were speaking to mark the death anniversary of martyr Udham Singh on 31 July.
At the event, the man sitting among the audience had stood up and held up a banner that said '646 ETT', referring to the union of trained teachers who are demanding jobs from the government, but was immediately surrounded by the police.
Also Read: 2 states, 2 dams & a political slugfest: The Nangal water sharing dispute between Punjab, Haryana
Crackdown
Earlier in the day on 31 July, leaders of the '646 ETT' union had claimed that many of them were put under house arrest to stop them from protesting against the government.
Even some members of the extended family of martyr Udham Singh who were invited to the 31 July programme alleged that they were removed from the stage and detained for hours in a room after they informed the administration that they will demand a government job from Mann and Kejriwal.
'I was sent an invitation card for the programme to be honoured as a family member of Shaheed Udham Singh. I was made to sit on the stage initially, but when I told the SDM on duty that I will be giving a memorandum regarding the pending issue of a government job to my son, I was asked by the police to step down from the stage and taken to a room where I was made to sit for hours,' Jeet Singh, grandson of Udham Singh's sister Aas Kaur, told ThePrint Monday.
'The SDM could have just taken the memorandum himself instead of treating me like this. I was a teenager when I along with my grandmother lit Udham Singh's pyre in 1974 after his body was exhumed and brought to India from London. And this is how the government of Punjab honours us today,' he added.
Jagga Singh, Jeet Singh's son who too was detained in a room after he went looking for his father, said: 'We were told that Kejriwal and Mann would meet us in the room to talk about my job. But no one came to meet us. Instead of humiliating us like this, it would have been better had the government shot us dead.'
He added that he had been promised a government job by Captain Amarinder Singh when he was CM of Punjab in 2006 but no government since then has bothered to fulfil that promise. 'I work in a cloth shop and my elder brother works as a painter,' he said.
When contacted, Sangrur deputy commissioner Viraj Shyamkarn Tidke told ThePrint that he had received a complaint in the matter and was inquiring into it.
Congress leader Sukhpal Singh Khaira put up a post on X detailing the ordeal of Udham Singh's relatives. 'The truth about fake revolutionaries like @BhagwantMann who exploit the name of Shaheed Udham Singhji for political purposes but disrespect his living family members,' he wrote. Khaira was also among the first to highlight the Bathinda incident.
On Sunday, protesting computer teachers who tried to meet the CM in Sangrur were allegedly roughed up by the police and stopped from meeting him. On 1 August, at Arniwala village in Fazilka tehsil, almost 50 unemployed teachers were rounded up by the police from outside the venue of an event attended by Mann and Kejriwal, where they were raising slogans against the CM. The duo was on a visit to a school of eminence in Arniwala.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
Also Read: Punjab is new Kingdom of Kejriwal as CM Mann plays host but Delhi AAP takes over power corridors
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles

The Hindu
an hour ago
- The Hindu
AAP steps up efforts to rebuild after Delhi poll loss
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has been quietly working behind the scenes to rebuild and reorganise its political machinery over the past four months following its loss in the Delhi Assembly poll, according to multiple party insiders. With volunteer outreach drives, a restructured Delhi unit, and a rejuvenated students' wing, the party is setting the stage for a political comeback even as its top leadership's gaze shifts to Punjab, Gujarat, and Goa ahead of the 2027 elections. While AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal keeps a close watch on the party's revival in Delhi, insiders say his primary focus is Punjab, a State seen as critical to the party's long-term future. 'He is monitoring Delhi, but the focus is more on Punjab. Many from the core team, including [former Delhi Deputy CM] Manish Sisodia, have been working from there for a while now,' said a party insider. Mr. Kejriwal is also expected to spend considerable time in Gujarat and Goa in the coming months. In Delhi, the party's revival strategy begins with listening, not talking. Over the past few months, AAP has conducted about 35 volunteer meetings across Assembly constituencies, with plans to cover all 70. 'It's volunteer-centric, no long speeches from leaders. A microphone is passed around so workers can speak freely. At the end, the MLA or leader sums up in two minutes,' explained a senior functionary. Invitations go out via WhatsApp and Facebook groups, drawing not only active members but also former volunteers and sympathisers. Feedback from these sessions is feeding directly into the reorganisation blueprint. Three-tier meetings AAP's Delhi president Saurabh Bharadwaj told The Hindu that the party is formalising a regular three-tier meeting structure. 'Every first Sunday of the month, workers meet the constituency leadership at 6 p.m. in every Assembly seat. On every second Sunday, each of the 14 districts has meetings, reviewing the previous week's discussions. And on the third Sunday, there is a State-level meeting that I chair in which all district incharges attend,' he said. The Delhi unit is also preparing to appoint new office-bearers and replace booth-level agents (BLAs) across 1,400 booths, Mr. Bharadwaj said. Beyond internal reorganisation, AAP is consolidating support by wading into grassroots struggles. 'Slum demolitions are on the rise. We stand with affected families, arrange legal help, and fight for relief. When residents of a Karol Bagh slum got an eviction notice, we helped secure a court stay,' said a senior party leader. The party blames its Delhi election loss partly on 'extreme misuse of government machinery' by the BJP, along with shifting middle-class sentiment and voter suppression in slum areas.


Time of India
2 hours ago
- Time of India
War On Drugs: In 6 months, Punjab cops filed 16,400 FIRs, over 25K held
Chandigarh: As part of the Punjab govt's ongoing anti-drug campaign, the Punjab Police has registered 16,400 FIRs and arrested 25,646 individuals in drug-related cases since March 1. The campaign resulted in seizures, including 1,059 kg of heroin, 366 kg of opium, 215 quintals of poppy husk, and 32.35 lakh intoxicant pills and tablets, in addition to Rs 12.32 crore in drug money. AAP spokesperson Baltej Pannu said the govt's campaign is encouraging residents to take a stand against drug use. Meanwhile, AAP MLA Kuldeep Singh Dhaliwal launched a strong attack on Congress MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira. Dhaliwal alleged that Khaira's recent actions and statements are a "cover-up" driven by fear following the arrest of his former personal security officer, Joga Singh, in a drug case. "The day Joga Singh was arrested, Khaira became visibly restless... clearly fearing that Joga Singh's statements might lead to his re-arrest," he added. MSID: 123283516 413 | Stay updated with the latest local news from your city on Times of India (TOI). Check upcoming bank holidays , public holidays , and current gold rates and silver prices in your area.


Time of India
2 hours ago
- Time of India
HC asks Mansa court to consider Bhagwant Mann's exemption request in defamation case
Chandigarh: The Punjab and Haryana high court has asked the trial court in Mansa, where a defamation case is pending against Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann, to consider his request for exemption (if filed) based on its merits, without being bound by the earlier order of Aug 2, 2025, which said that his bail would be cancelled if he did not appear. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Justice Tribhuvan Dahiya passed these orders while hearing an application filed by the Punjab CM. A counsel representing CM Mann submitted that the summoning order dated Dec 14, 2020, is not sustainable. There is no material before the magistrate to even prima facie establish that the alleged imputation lowered the complainant's estimation in the eyes of others, as none except the complainant was examined as a witness. The counsel further contended that the challenge to the impugned order is already pending before the court in another petition. Hearing the plea, the HC has asked the state govt to file a reply on the matter by August 18. "In the meanwhile, the trial court is directed to consider the petitioner's application, if any, moved before it for exemption on merits dehors the stipulation in the order dated August 2, 2025, that on his non-appearance the bail will be cancelled," the HC observed further in its order. The court of Mansa chief judicial magistrate has summoned Bhagwant Mann in a defamation case filed against him by former MLA Nazar Singh Manshahia. Manshahia, who left the AAP for Congress on April 25, 2019, stated that two days after his joining the Congress, then Sangrur MP Bhagwant Mann held a press conference in Sangrur and accused him of switching parties in lure of Rs 10 crore.