Capt Amarinder asks Badal, Sukhbir to take drug menace seriously, not to trivialize it

5 Dariya News

Chandigarh 16-Oct-2012

Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee President Capt Amarinder Singh today asked the Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and his Deputy Chief Minister son Sukhbir Badal to take the issue of drug addiction in the state seriously as it was finishing the youth and not to trivialize it.Reacting to Badal and Sukhbir’s daily statements on the issue, Capt Amarinder asked them, “better behave and act responsibly and don’t make a joke of such a serious problem”. He said, running away from the problem and denying it vehemently does not make the problem vanish away.The PCC President pointed out, it was the Punjab government which had given the figures that 70 per cent of youth in Punjab in a particular age group had been affected by drugs which Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi had referred to.By criticizing what Mr Gandhi said, Capt Amarinder pointed out, the Akalis are contradicting their own stand in the court. He asserted, the Akalis cannot give one statement in the court that 70 per cent youth are affected by drugs and a different statement in the public to suit their petty partisan interests. “Instead of taking the issue seriously, the father-son duo joined by the others like Bikram Majithia have ganged up to continuously deny the problem and put the blame on others”, he remarked.Questioning Badal blaming the Border Security Force for the influx of drugs into this part of the country from Pakistan and Afghanistan, he said, this was a classic case of passing the buck. The BSF personnel are doing their job, but what about the domestic drug industry that is flourishing here in Punjab, he asked Badal while adding, the state needs to set its own house in order.The PCC President maintained that the Chief Minister and the Deputy Chief Minister should behave and act with a sense of responsibility and not make joke of a serious problem that is eating up the vitals of our society. He pointed out, a number of youth are not able to make it to the armed forces for lack of physical fitness which again is mainly due to the consumption of drugs.