Ludhiana, Sep 25 (SocialNews.XYZ) A woman in Punjab's Ludhiana on Friday alleged that her husband had been using drugs for about a decade and was also involved in selling them, accusing the police of failing to act despite repeated complaints.
"My husband has been consuming drugs for the past 10 years and also sells them," Varsha, a resident of Manohar Nagar, told reporters during the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) 'Nasha Mukt Punjab Yatra', or Drug-Free Punjab March.
She alleged that whenever she spoke out against her husband, members of her own family turned against her.
She also claimed that police had taken her away when she approached them but had not taken action against her husband.
The media interaction, held under the banner 'Mavan Mangdian Jawab' (Mothers Demand Answers), was attended by families who said they had lost sons, nephews and other relatives to drugs.
Balwinder Kaur, a resident of Manjit Nagar, alleged that about 50 people had died due to drug use in her neighbourhood.
She said she could take reporters to the area to witness what she described as drug sales.
Another Manohar Nagar resident said 10 to 12 people had died from drugs in his area.
He alleged that police had acted against people speaking out against drugs rather than against those selling them.
At the event, photographs and newspaper reports about people who had died from drug-related causes in Ludhiana were placed on chairs that were left empty.
Organisers said the empty chairs represented lives that could have been saved through effective action against drugs.
Seventeen families from Ludhiana and nearby town Jagraon attended the event, including Shindo Bai, who said she had lost four sons to drugs.
Other families said they had lost one or two sons or other relatives.
The families spoke about their losses and appealed for stronger efforts to curb drug use and trafficking in Punjab.
Punjab BJP President Kewal Singh Dhillon said the suffering of families affected by drugs was difficult to express or endure.
He said that the party's 'Nasha Mukt Punjab Yatra' would continue until September 30 as part of an effort to highlight the issue.
Dhillon said residents had stopped his convoy in Bhucho Mandi town and told him that the BJP had begun what they described as a decisive campaign against drugs and should not retreat from it.
He called for people across Punjab to unite against drugs and said the campaign required public support.
"This is not a political exercise but a people' movement," Dhillon added.
He said that the BJP had pledged to eliminate drugs from Punjab and referred to what he described as the party's record in tackling Naxalism in India and gangsterism in Uttar Pradesh as evidence that it could address the drug problem.
The BJP's anti-drug campaign would continue, Dhillon said, appealing to residents to support efforts to make Punjab drug-free.
Source: IANS
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