There are many people in Punjab and outside who are against gun culture, be it people who have it personally or they glorify it in songs. One of the renowned and award winning journalists Srishti Jaswal has wrote an article and specials against Gun Culture. She took her official twitter handle and wrote information related to her article.
A thread of tweets by Srishti went viral on social media that reads, “Presence of guns in the hands of Punjabi youth is no accident.There are more than 390,275 licensed weapons in the state.This means that Punjab has 2% of India’s population but 10% of the total guns.”
The series continues and also added that the main reasons behind gun culture are Punjabi singers and their songs. The tweet targeted Sidhu Moosewala too. “The proliferation of arms and ammunition goes hand in hand with the popularity of Punjabi pop music videos that show men engaging in acts of violence and firing weapons. These photos are from Instagram of Sidhu Moose Wala, one of the most popular Punjabi singers.”
But some sections of people also disclosed the merits and reasons for having guns and weapons. To these tweets, renowned Journalist Sandeep Singh also took his official twitter handle and retweeted. He seems to be against all this information and clarifies. His tweet reads, “Weapons in Punjab. Punjab was number third in terms of gun licenses by Dec,2016, the year Sidhu Moosewala started his singing career. So to Blame Sidhu Moosewala for gun culture is unfair. Most of gun licenses in Punjab were issued during militancy period.”
When he dig more about the situation, he then added, “According to a report in HT based on MHA’s report of gun licenses as on 31 Dec “Punjab,which witnessed terrorism in 1980s and 1990s,has 3,59,349 active gun licences,most of which were issued during the two decades wherein militancy had engulfed the state.”
The thread continues, and Sandeep wrote, Punjab has 2 percent of India’s population but it has 10 percent of total gun licenses.(5times more than population)
Not only Punjab, but the same way Himachal accounts for only 0.57 % of India’s population but it has 3.98 percent of India’s total gun licenses.(4 times the population).
He then gave the reason why people in Punjab are fond of weapons. Adding more information Sandeep wrote, “Punjabis love guns and weapons because Punjab is a border state sharing a border with Pakistan. Apart from this, youngsters in Punjab are settling abroad and their parents are buying guns as they are staying at home alone.”
This conversation took place between two journalists on Twitter over the increasing trends of Gun Culture In Punjab. What are your views on the topic, should Punjabi songers be blamed for gun culture in Punjab?
This article is completely based on Public or Journalists’ opinions.
