Driving Naari Programme launched in Chandigarh
Chandigarh, September 11 – The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) today said it was a matter of shame that Pradesh Congress president Sunil Jakhar was casting aspersions on a respected institution like PGIMER, Chandigarh in his desperation to defend vice president Rahul Gandhi’s blatant lie that 70 per cent Punjab youth were drug addicts.
In a statement here, former minister and party spokesman Maheshinder Singh Grewal said Sunil Jakhar should be ashamed of himself for indulging in mud-slinging against the PGIMER. “By doing so he has put himself in the camp of anti-Punjab forces who have constantly tried to malign the youth of the State by branding them as drug addicts”.
Asking Jakhar not to sweep the floor after Rahul Gandhi despite political compulsions, including his dependence on the latter to contest the forthcoming parliamentary by poll from Gurdaspur, Mr Grewal said the PCC president must realize that he is also answerable to the youth of Punjab. “You cannot build your career by destroying that of the youth who continue to face the smear of being implicated as drug addicts. This is costing them jobs and affecting their livelihood. You must come clean and tell the youth whether you believe 70 per cent of them are drug addicts? If not you must immediately apologize to them on behalf of the Congress instead of trying to confuse the issue by indulging in deceit”.
The Akali leader also asked Jakhar to tell Punjabis why he was deliberately degrading top institutions, including the army. “Before the PGIMER survey which asserted that only 0.9 per cent Punjabis are drug addicts, the AIIMS, Delhi also conducted a survey in 2016 and came out with figure of 0.84 per cent drug incidence. Earlier the Baba Farid Health Sciences University found only 1.27 per cent of 3.76 lakh candidates applying for police recruitment indulging in drugs. The Indian army’s Deputy Director General, Recruitment has gone on record to say there was negligent drug addiction among thousands of youth applying for recruitment in the army. Jakhar should clear his stand on all these surveys and tell if the AIIMS, Baba Farid University and army authorities are also lying about incidence of drug addiction in Punjab?” , he added.
Asking the PCC president to study the extent of drug incidence himself if he did not believe in premier agencies, Mr Grewal said Jakhar should conduct a survey of his village to find out if 70 per cent of its inhabitants were drug addicts. He said similarly Jakhar could hold a similar survey in Abohar town to arrive at the truth himself.
Meanwhile speaking about AAP Convener Bhagwant Mann’s reaction to the PGIMER survey, the Akali leader said the less said about Mann the better. “Chhajj tan bole chhanni kyon bole”, he quipped saying “Mann had lost all credibility to even speak on this issue after being officially accused by his own party member of reeling of liquor in parliament. Mann has also been caught drunk in the presence of the Sri Guru Granth Sahib ji. He is prone to hallucinating and making statements under the influence of intoxicants”, Mr Grewal added.
