Driving Naari Programme launched in Chandigarh
* Lakhs of Punjab demand stop to vilification campaign against entire
community by holding dharna at the international border
Attari, Lakhs of Punjabis led by SAD President Sukhbir Singh Badal today braved intense cold wave conditions and congregated along the international border here to stand up for Punjabi pride and put an end to the vilification campaign launched against the entire community. They also demanded complete sealing of the border and ban on cultivation and sale of opium and poppy husk in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.3
Leading from the front, the SAD President while addressing a sea of humanity appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to allocate special funds in the coming budget to modernise surveillance on the international border with Pakistan. “Punjab is being defamed even though it does not produce a single gram of drug and is only a transit point. The destination is the country”, he said adding sensors and CCTV cameras besides other equipment should be installed at the border to seal it completely.
Mr Badal also gave a clarion call for banning cultivation and sale of opium and poppy husk in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. “There cannot be two sets of laws in one country. Some States are earning profits by selling drugs even as we in Punjab are battling drugs”. He detailed how Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh had earned Rs 100 and 115 crore respectively through sale of drugs last year. He also lamented that drugs were easily available in many States which were known for their rave parties. He said in Goa only 55 arrests had been affected under the NDPS Act in 2013. “Isn’t this a joke”, he said while stressing the war against drugs in Punjab had led to more than 25,000 arrests last year besides record seizures.
Amidst enthusiastic response from Punjabis who came to the rally site travelling five to six hours in many cases, the SAD president said the entire false propoganda against Punjab had been started by Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi who made a false claim during a visit to Punjab that 70 per cent of youth in Punjab were drug addicts. “This despite the fact that the study he was quoting was of 1000 drug addicts out of which 70 per cent were youth”.
Mr Badal said under the direction of the Gandhi family which has nurtured a personal enmity against Punjabis vested interests had started a campaign to defame Punjabis. “This is not the first time this has been done to us”, Mr Badal said adding Punjabis has been dubbed as terrorists and separatists earlier. He asserted that come what may the fight against drugs would continue. “We have arrested drug lords from places like Madras and Kolkatta and will continue to battle this menace as we will not let our brave Punjabis be defamed at any cost”, he added.
Mr Badal also detailed how Punjab Congress president Partap Bajwa had helped drug lord Bhola to evade justice. He said Bajwa had got a police inquiry against Bhola shifted to another district in 2002 following which Bhola got relief from the law. He also criticised Congress legislature party leader Sunil Jakhar for claiming that only drug addicts would come to today’s rally. “This statement can only be made by a redundant leader”, he said.
SAD general secretary Bikram Singh Majithia detailed the entire conspiracy hatched by the Congress and it’s chief Partap Bajwa to defame the SAD. He said drug lord Bhola, who had made some allegations against him, was caught by the Punjab Police and not any central agency. He said the fact that both Bhola and Partap Bajwa spoke the same language proved Bajwa’s complicity in the conspiracy. Without mincing words he said the profession of the Bajwa family was known to everyone and it was a fact that the Pradesh Congress President’s father Satnam Singh Bajwa was referred as a drug smuggler at his Bhog ceremony for former Congress leader Ch. Sundar Singh. Mr Majithia even challenged Partap Bajwa to subject himself for a dope test.
Mr Majithia also made it clear that Punjabis had full respect for the BSF and the army and that it was the Congress which was twisting things to vilify the entire Punjabi community.
Senior SAD leader Ranjit Singh Brahmpura urged the people to take an oath on the occasion to expose drug smugglers and urge people not to consume drugs. He said people should also come forward to report any smuggling activity coming to their notice.
Others who spoke on the occasion included Dr Rattan Singh Ajnala, Nirmal Singh Kahlon, Suchha Singh Langah, Bibi Jagir Kaur, Balwant Singh Ramoowalia, Gulzar Singh Ranike, Bibi Upinderjit Kaur, Sewa Singh Sekhwan, Virsa Singh Valtoha, Harmeet Sandhu, Inderbir Bolaria, N K Sharma, Vir Singh Lopoke.
