Punjab is not merely facing a controversy over a government bungalow. The government is exerting influence over the affairs of the Punjab government, and under what authority? At the centre of the controversy is Gayatri Bishnoi, described in recent reporting as an AAP Punjab co-in-charge/observer. She is not an elected member of the Punjab Assembly, and the public record cited in recent reports does not show her holding a constitutional or statutory position in the Punjab government.
Bishnoi has publicly said that she is staying with her parents at the official residence of Health Minister Dr Balbir Singh because her father is undergoing treatment. That explanation deserves to be heard. But it does not eliminate the administrative question: under what rules can a person without a government post reside in a Punjab government bungalow? Who authorised the arrangement? For how long? Under which rule? And how many other families of heart patients have received comparable access to government accommodation?
The questions become even more serious if a political functionary is participating in meetings or official programmes alongside SSPs, Commissioners of Police and senior government officers. In what capacity is she present? Who invited her? What authority does she represent? And are these political meetings or government meetings?
Then comes the question of Punjab Bhawan. If meetings are being chaired there by a political functionary, Punjab deserves to know: who authorised those meetings, who attended them, what official business was discussed, and under whose authority were they conducted?These are not personal questions. They are questions about public property, public money and public authority.
The famous words of Punjabi revolutionary poet Avtar Singh Pash are particularly relevant here:
“ਸਭ ਤੋਂ ਖ਼ਤਰਨਾਕ ਹੁੰਦਾ ਹੈ
ਮੁਰਦਾ ਸ਼ਾਂਤੀ ਨਾਲ ਭਰ ਜਾਣਾ,
ਨਾ ਹੋਣਾ ਤੜਪ ਦਾ, ਸਭ ਕੁਝ ਸਹਿਣ ਕਰ ਜਾਣਾ।
…
ਸਭ ਤੋਂ ਖ਼ਤਰਨਾਕ ਹੁੰਦਾ ਹੈ
ਸਾਡੇ ਸੁਪਨਿਆਂ ਦਾ ਮਰ ਜਾਣਾ।”
— ਅਵਤਾਰ ਸਿੰਘ ਪਾਸ਼
For Punjab, the danger is not merely that people may lose faith in one government or another. The deeper danger is that people may gradually stop asking questions, stop demanding answers and simply accept whatever happens around them.A government cannot expect citizens to remain silent when questions arise over government residences, official facilities and access to senior officers.
Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, Health Minister Dr. Balbir Singh, and AAP leader Manish Sisodia owe Punjabis clear answers: What official authority does Gayatri Bishnoi have in Punjab? Under what rules is government accommodation being used? Who authorised it? What is her role in meetings with senior officials? And under what authority are meetings being chaired at Punjab Bhawan?If everything has been done according to the rules, publish the rules and the authorisations.
Punjab does not belong to any political party. Government property is not party property. Government officers are not party workers. And public authority must never depend on informal political access.As Pash warned, the real danger begins when people stop feeling the need to question what is happening around them.