Chandigarh, September 17
Former Deputy Chief Minister of Punjab and Member of Parliament Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa has launched a sharp attack on the BJP-led Central Government and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Punjab following the Centre’s decision to declare 73 districts across the country as ‘Ultra-Sensitive Drug Zones.’
Randhawa said that, according to reports concerning the border areas, districts including Amritsar, Gurdaspur, Pathankot, Tarn Taran, Ferozepur, Fazilka and Ludhiana have been identified as highly sensitive from the perspective of the drug menace. He said that both the AAP government and the Central Government are responsible for these districts being classified as ultra-sensitive, as both governments have failed at every step to effectively curb the drug menace.
Randhawa said that both the BJP and the Aam Aadmi Party are using Punjab’s pain as a tool for political publicity. On one hand, the Central Government is conducting campaigns and outreach programmes, while on the other, the Punjab Government remains busy with advertisements and claims. Meanwhile, the roots of the drug mafia continue to grow stronger. Families are being destroyed in villages, towns and cities across Punjab, young lives are being lost, while governments remain confined to press conferences.
He said that if six districts of Punjab have now been declared ‘Ultra-Sensitive’, this is not merely a failure of the Punjab Government but also a direct failure of the Central Government. The Centre is responsible for border security, preventing drone activities and controlling international smuggling, while taking action against drug traffickers, political patronage and corruption within the state falls under the responsibility of the Punjab Government. Failure on both fronts is clearly visible.
“If the Central Government can see Punjab’s districts as ultra-sensitive today, it must also explain why its agencies have failed to stop drugs, weapons and smuggling being brought in through drones across the international border for the past several years,” Randhawa said.
Randhawa added that Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and his government have repeatedly claimed that a decisive battle is being waged against drugs, but the reality is that Punjab continues to bear one of the country’s heaviest burdens of drug abuse.
Randhawa demanded that the Central and Punjab Governments jointly acknowledge their failures and issue a public accountability report. They must tell the people what concrete results have been achieved over the past four years in curbing drug trafficking, preventing drone infiltration, apprehending major drug traffickers and ensuring the rehabilitation of young people affected by drug abuse. The people of Punjab have the right to know the truth.