With the Punjab Assembly elections drawing closer, the issue of drugs has once again begun to dominate public discourse. Several political and non-political organisations are running “anti-drug” campaigns and projecting themselves as well-wishers of Punjab. A few days ago, the Prime Minister of the country also called upon young people to fight drugs and launched the “Nasha Mukt Yuva for Viksit Bharat Sankalp Abhiyan.”
It is another matter that the Prime Minister and his government have neither been able to fulfil the promise made 12 years ago of providing two crore jobs every year to the youth, nor has the complete truth about the huge consignment of drugs seized at Mundra Port in his home state of Gujarat come before the public. Government data itself acknowledges concerns over employment, while independent assessments present an even more worrying picture.
To eliminate drugs from Punjab or the country, hollow publicity campaigns alone will not work. To understand the real roots of the problem, it is necessary to examine the nexus between the drug trade and political power. If the issue is to be addressed sincerely, listening to what people have to say is more important than merely delivering one’s own “Mann Ki Baat.”
A look at Punjab’s drug problem shows that in its agriculture-based economy, relatively traditional intoxicants such as opium, poppy husk and tobacco products had existed earlier as well. These were not generally considered as deadly as the synthetic drugs that came later. In villages, it was common to find one or two regular users. Farmers and agricultural labourers working in the fields sometimes consumed such substances.
The real crisis in Punjab began with the arrival of dangerous and synthetic drugs. First came pills, then injectable drugs, and later cocaine and “chitta”. According to the argument presented here, this trade continued to receive political patronage.
Renowned Punjab political scientist Prof. Jagrup Sekhon explains the drug problem in Punjab in these words:
“In reality, this problem belongs to the period after the Green Revolution. Drug use began growing during Punjab’s dark years. At that time, the people of Punjab faced both state and non-state violence. A large section of Punjab’s educated youth was also destroyed during this period. Progressive and left-wing student politics was dismantled. Student elections were stopped. As a result, an important platform that could have given young people a constructive direction disappeared. The vacuum that was created was filled by drugs, violence and despair.”
He further says:
“By the 1990s, Punjab’s political system had begun moving towards failure, and today it has largely failed. When the system could not provide support to young people, drugs became their support, while for political leaders drugs became a business. Punjab being a border state is certainly one factor, but it does not appear to be the biggest reason because many dangerous drugs are manufactured here and trafficked within the region. Such operations cannot continue without some form of protection from the state or those in power. From time to time, the names of prominent political leaders have also surfaced in connection with drug cases.”
Speaking about the drug trade in border areas, Prof. Sekhon says:
“Before Independence and Partition, Punjab’s border regions were among the most prosperous and developed areas. For some time after Partition too, things remained relatively stable. But later, terrorism and the wars between India and Pakistan devastated the region. Because of recurring tensions along the border, people were displaced repeatedly. Governments also failed to give adequate attention to these areas. In education, employment and development, the border belt fell far behind.”
“Gradually, local residents were drawn into the networks of drug smugglers. Without local help, it would be difficult for drugs to simply come across the border and circulate here. Once it became a major business, politicians also began providing protection to the trade. Several villages in the border belt became notorious specifically because of drug smuggling. In some families, almost every member became involved in the business.”
“For many people in the border areas, this itself became a source of livelihood. Sections of the police also had their share in it. Several police stations and officers in border regions became notorious because of their direct or indirect links with the drug trade. The Gharinda police post, for example, remained particularly controversial in this context.”
“A major reason for women becoming involved was that when male members of the family were arrested for drug smuggling, women were sometimes left with no means to feed themselves and their children and were pushed into the same business. There have also been cases where policemen involved in the drug trade allegedly forced women into such activity and harassed them if they refused. In reality, you cannot separate the drug problem, or women’s participation in this trade, from our polluted political system.”
If we examine Punjab’s drug problem in the light of Prof. Jagrup Sekhon’s views, it becomes clear that the role of successive governments has repeatedly come under question.
In 2002, when the Congress government led by Captain Amarinder Singh came to power, drugs were not as visibly widespread on the ground, nor had they yet become a major electoral issue.
During the ten years of the Shiromani Akali Dal-BJP government from 2007 to 2017, however, the drug issue intensified and drugs became increasingly visible at the grassroots level. Substances such as “chitta” began devastating families across Punjab.
At the local level, people often claimed to know which local or senior leaders of the ruling establishment were involved in the drug trade.
During this period, the case involving wrestler Jagdish Bhola also emerged, putting the then Akali-BJP government under serious scrutiny.
The author argues that Akali-BJP leaders who today shed “crocodile tears” over the drug problem were at that time unwilling even to acknowledge that the drug trade was expanding in Punjab and that young people were becoming trapped in addiction.
The then Akali-BJP government began accepting the seriousness of the issue to some extent only after suffering political losses in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, when the newly emerging Aam Aadmi Party, despite having little established organisational base in Punjab, won four parliamentary seats.
Even then, the government largely carried out symbolic action by arresting small-time drug users in villages, while, according to the author, the bigger players remained protected.
In the 2017 Assembly elections, drugs became one of the biggest issues. Both the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party made it central to their campaigns, while Akali-BJP leaders continued arguing that opposition parties were merely defaming Punjab.
The Congress government led by Captain Amarinder Singh came to power in those elections. However, despite the promises made, the author argues that the government failed to take meaningful action against those allegedly providing protection to the drug trade, nor was there any major decline in the availability of drugs.
In 2022, the Aam Aadmi Party government led by Bhagwant Mann came to power with a massive majority.
It launched the campaign “Yudh Nashian Virudh” against drugs and arrested many people. However, according to the author, most of those caught were small-time users rather than major drug traffickers.
The campaign attracted more criticism than praise, while little visible structural improvement was seen on the ground in terms of stopping the drug trade.
The real problem is that drugs cannot be stopped through publicity campaigns and sermons alone.
Young people have to be given a meaningful place within the system. Greater employment opportunities must be created, along with an environment free from violence and corruption.
Young protesters cannot be won over by beating them with batons, firing at them, or branding them anti-national.
To fight drugs effectively, cooperation from village-level panchayats is also essential.
Even more important is the need to create a non-sectarian and harmonious environment for young people in Punjab and across the country, something the author believes political leaders have seriously damaged over the past several years.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and do not reflect the views or opinions of Sadda Punjab or any affiliated organization.
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