The biggest question is currently being raised on the ‘War on Drugs’ campaign launched by the AAP government in Punjab. On the one hand, the Punjab government, with the help of the police, has launched a large-scale campaign to prevent all types of drugs in Punjab, on the other hand, about two dozen people have died in Punjab due to consuming poisonous liquor. These are actually institutional killings, for which the current government of Punjab, including politicians, police and drug mafia, are responsible. Although Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann reached the spot and shared the grief with the victims, terming these deaths as murder and promised to provide compensation to the victims, will all this bring back the people who died due to consuming poisonous liquor? This tragedy is not an isolated case. Punjab has repeatedly faced such deadly incidents. In the last six years, more than 158 people have died due to poisonous liquor. In 2020, more than 100 people died due to spurious liquor in Tarn Taran, Amritsar and Gurdaspur districts. Similar incidents had come to light in the previous decades. These incidents are not just limited to statistics but have devastated families. The repeated occurrence of such incidents shows that there have been shortcomings in the implementation of the ‘war on drugs’ campaign.
Although the police have carried out raids along with arrests of the culprits, the ground reality is that illicit liquor may still be being sold. Despite continuous efforts, the state administration has failed to find any permanent solution to this problem. The rich class having access to safe liquor and the poor being preyed upon by toxic alternatives also highlights our socio-economic disparities. Where black marketing has taken advantage of the weaker sections and often targeted the poorest section of the society.
The policies of political parties and anti-people politics, instead of providing a healthy socio-cultural environment to the people of Punjab, have pushed them to poverty, unemployment, drugs and crimes. Under the patronage of the state, the liquor business has been made a major source of government revenue and a market for liquor and other deadly drugs has been created in a systematic manner. The wholesale use of liquor to buy votes during elections at all levels is an integral part of politics. The close relations of politicians with the liquor mafia are obvious to the world. Mining and drug mafia and political parties have become two sides of the same coin. The industrial cities that provided employment to the people were ruined due to the wrong policies of the governments, but new liquor distilleries were set up with special government patronage. Spurious liquor is a major source of income for the liquor mafia. The death of 21 people in a day due to poisonous liquor is very sad but it should not be forgotten that every day the youth is dying due to drugs and the government has failed miserably in protecting the lives of the citizens.
This problem is not only related to health or law but also to social, economic and political issues. Governments kept changing but the business of poisonous liquor did not stop. Deaths occurred due to drinking poisonous liquor during the government of every party. The poor and working class of Punjab need cheap liquor. The traders of spurious liquor take advantage of this demand and sell it by mixing poisonous substances like methanol in liquor.
The Punjab government is being held responsible for the tragedy caused by poisonous liquor by the opposition political parties of Punjab and various political leaders are issuing statements in this regard. Thus, politics has started on this tragedy as well. Whenever such tragedies happen in Punjab, politics continues for a few days and then everything goes back to normal. The common people also start forgetting such tragedies after some time and the cheap and illegal liquor business starts again. The poor section of the society often gets trapped in the web of such illegal liquor in the greed of cheap liquor that their life ends but the web of illegal liquor keeps increasing.
It is said that the sixth river of liquor/drugs is flowing in Punjab, the land of five rivers. There is a need to make joint efforts to dam this river of drugs. It is the responsibility of the government to completely stop the illegal liquor business. The culprits of the poisonous liquor tragedy should be given strict punishment. Government policies should be improved for the supply of cheap and safe liquor. It would be good if people stay away from liquor and all kinds of drugs.
