NRI BUSINESSMEN GET APOLOGY AND CORRECTION FOR FALSE NEWS!
“On November 27 and 28, 2013, Punjabi Tribune reporter Aman Sood ran a story which mentioned John Singh Gill, Jaswinder Singh Shokar and Major Singh Natt in news related to drug racket. We acknowledge that this news was not factually correct or in any way true as the Punjab police never gave their names in relation to the drug racket charges. We also acknowledge that some deviant elements in the media also spread this false news both in Punjab and abroad which caused great pain and loss of reputation to the individuals mentioned in the report. Punjabi Tribune sincerely regrets printing this false news.,” the newspaper said in their correction and apology.
By R. Paul Dhillon
VANCOUVER – Last November, the Punjabi media, both print and radio, were in a frenzy over NRIs named in the Punjabi drug racket of cartel boss and former DSP Jagdish Bhola, aka King Kong, who was nabbed with running one of South Asia’s biggest drug running operations, supplying drugs to all corners of the globe, including North America.
Instead of accurately reporting on the drug arrests and the Punjab politicians hand in the racket, Self-proclaimed media gurus, who were never heard of even in Punjabi media circles before, suddenly began to preach the gospel of deeply entrenched illicit drug business in Punjab, even going so far as to provide hours, daily updates directly from the Punjab Anti-Drug police forces.
While the hysteria helped radio and some newspapers get much needed listeners and readership but something sordid also began to happen as some in the media made up names of Canadian and American Kabaddi promoters who were well established businessmen in the community either to malign them at the behest of their opponents or to seek favours and money from others whom they would choose to suppress for favors or money, even though their names were not on the list.
In fact, no one really had any list but there were names provided by the authorities of people they were seeking from abroad in connection with the drug charges. And there were indeed some NRIs who were charged from Vancouver and Toronto and other parts of the world, who are still wanted by the Punjab police in connection drug smuggling related crimes.
But somehow the names of Indo-American businessman John Singh Gill and Ontario-based businessmen Jaswinder Singh Shokar and Major Singh Natt also came up in many Punjabi newspapers and radio stations even though those names were never on the official list.
All three – Gill, Shokar and Natt – sued many Canadian based Punjabi newspapers for defamation, many of whom have since settled, paying out thousands of dollars in settlement, according to LINK sources. But the trio also went after the Punjab-based daily Punjabi Tribune newspaper, one of the biggest regional language dailies in India.
The Punjabi tribune recently printed a front page correction and apology to Gill, Shokar and Natt, saying they most sincerely regret printing the story which was not based on facts.
“On November 27 and 28, 2013, Punjabi Tribune reporter Aman Sood ran a story which mentioned John Singh Gill, Jaswinder Singh Shokar and Major Singh Natt in news related to drug racket. We acknowledge that this news was not factually correct or in any way true as the Punjab police never gave their names in relation to the drug racket charges. We also acknowledge that some deviant elements in the media also spread this false news both in Punjab and abroad which caused great pain and loss of reputation to the individuals mentioned in the report. Punjabi Tribune sincerely regrets printing this false news.,” the newspaper said in their correction and apology.
Natt told the LINK this week that his family and the families of his two friends Gill and Shokar have suffered immensely from this false reporting, including their reputations maligned, but he hopes that their fight to restore their name and reputation will hopefully bring closure to this unnecessary mud-slinging.
“It’s been hell, especially for our families because we can fight those who are trying to ruin our reputation but our families can’t when they hear people make false assumptions from the false news,” Natt said.
