Punjab assembly polls: Drug menace hot issue in villages that saw deaths due to addiction

KOOM KALAN/ SAMRALA/ PAYAL: With the assembly elections round the corner, drug menace is the main issue in villages that have seen deaths due to addiction. At many such places, residents have been keeping a watch on people entering the villages, and there have been instances of them handing over suspected drug peddlers to the police. They want the elected government to wipe off this evil.
In Koom Kalan, a group of people from various villages has constituted Nasha Virodhi Lok Sangharsh Committee.Its members have asked the political parties to put the drug issue on top of their agenda. The committee members, who maintain a record of drug deaths, have put the figure at 55 in a decade.
“Last 10 years have seen about 55 drug deaths in the villages of Koom Kalan. Chaunta is the ‘drug capital’ from where these are supplied to various villages. We are working against the menace in about 70 villages in Sahnewal constituency of which Koom Kalan is a part. So, drugs are a major issue in the coming elections,” said Amarnath Singh, convener of the group who belongs to Koom Kalan.
“Drug peddlers got active in the area about 17 years ago and since then they have prospered due to impunity. In my village, there have been 10 to 11 deaths and we want the government to address the issue,” he added.
In Chaunta village, residents from other villages have also joined the ‘morcha’ against drug abuse. “We have been the worst sufferers of the drug problem. As youths are dying, we as a committee felt the need to set up this morcha through which we keep a watch on peddlers and inform the police. We have maintained a record of the deaths and have also written to many villages to socially boycott the peddlers. Once we come across an addict, we take an undertaking from his parents that they will get him treated or we ask them if we could get him admitted to a government de-addiction centre. In many cases, parents don’t even know about their ward being an addict,” said Rajinder Singh of the committee who is former sarpanch of Miyani village.
He said even as the police claim that they are with the villagers in this fight, they don’t touch big peddlers who enjoy political patronage. “We ask representatives of political parties what will we do with roads and other developmental works when our youngsters are dying. It is painful to see a number of youths dying with syringes in their arms,” he added.
People who have lost their loved ones want to vote for the party that promises an end to the drug trade. “My 31-year-old nephew Jaswinder Singh was a barber. Drug addicts coming to his shop got him hooked. We came to know about it two to three years later. He died seven years ago, leaving behind his wife and a son. His wife works as a maid to earn a livelihood,” said 65-year-old Roop Lal of Miyani village. “For us, drugs are the major issue in elections and we will vote for the party that we think can eradicate it.”
Balwinder Singh Bittu of Chaunta village, who is a member of the Nasha Virodhi Lok Sangharsh Committee, said he lost two of his cousins, Sukhjit Singh, 38, and Kuldeep Singh, 29, of the same village to drugs. “Sukhjit leaves behind a daughter and a son and Kuldeep a son. Though the families own land, they are yet to come to terms with the loss. It is the reason that we have set up the morcha. Though development is needed, this menace is a graver issue for us,” said Balwinder, adding that they want their elected representatives to get the tag of ‘drug capital’ removed from Chaunta.
A villager whose nephew was found dead in the forest area near his village in Saleempura echoes similar sentiments. “He was just 23 years old when he died of drug overdose. He had a syringe in his arm when we found his body in the forest area. He was the only son of my brother, who now works in a factory to support his family,” said the villager.
In Ghulal village in Samrala, a few months ago, villagers had caught three drug peddlers and handed them over to the police. Panchayat member Kulwinder Singh said drugs was the main poll issue, but things had improved a bit now, as after catching the three peddlers, they met the area MLA and the police officers and apprised them of the situation.
Drug-free campaign
Sarpanch of Otalan village, near Samrala, Prem Bir Saddi said they have formed a team of five members to keep a watch on suspected peddlers coming from outside and in the village itself. He added that once they get information, they share it with the police. A voter from a village in Payal said the police should be proactive in dealing with the problem as youths are the future of Punjab.