Instead of trading accusations, governments should show sensitivity towards those dying due to drugs : Giani Harpreet Singh.

Instead of trading accusations, governments should show sensitivity towards those dying due to drugs : Giani Harpreet Singh.

Chandigarh 16 October ( Ranjeet Singh Dhaliwal ) : Giani Harpreet Singh, President of the 'Shiromani Akali Dal Punar-Surjit' , alleged in a written press statement that the governments—which bore the responsibility of protecting the lives and property of the people—have shirked their duties and are instead busy leveling accusations against one another. He pointed out that a 50-kilometer stretch of Punjab’s border area falls under the jurisdiction of the Central government via the BSF (Border Security Force), yet the supply of drugs via drones continues unabated. Similarly, drugs arriving from across the border are being intercepted by the Punjab Police’s anti-drone units. In such a situation, which government should the people of Punjab trust? The political heads overseeing these forces, rather than feeling ashamed of their own failures, are merely engaged in a game of exchanging tweets. Giani Harpreet Singh stated that people in Punjab are dying due to drugs, and social activists who dare to question the drug peddlers are gunned down in broad daylight in crowded marketplaces. This is not merely negligence on the part of the elected governments; it is a major failure. 

Giani Harpreet Singh further remarked that while the discourse often centers on 'chitta' (synthetic drugs/heroin), the pills and capsules sold at medical stores are proving even more devastating—draining the physical and financial resources of the poor and pushing them toward death. This bitter reality has come to light through the video recordings of Parvinder Singh Jhota, which show daily-wage laborers visiting medical stores to purchase drugs before heading to work. In these instances, cheap and substandard intoxicants—which might otherwise cost only ten or twenty rupees—are sold to them at many times the actual price. He stated that this poison is manufactured within the country's own factories and is being sold openly by shopkeepers. Anyone who attempts to intervene is murdered. 

Giani Harpreet Singh remarked that instead of viewing such killings as a stain upon themselves and acting with a sense of responsibility, both the central and state governments are merely blaming each other. He asserted that if the nation is one, then the elected governments should work in unison for the national interest, rather than shifting the blame onto one another to evade their own responsibilities. If either government retains even a shred of empathy for its people, they must join forces to eradicate the menace of drugs from its very roots.