SAD to protest against BSF over drug influx

The ruling Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) in Punjab has decided to protest against an unusual entity in its campaign to eradicate drugs from the border state: The Border Security Force (BSF) manning the 550-km Punjab-Pakistan border.

The protest will be at the international border with Pakistan to pressure the BSF to stop the flow of drugs into Punjab from Pakistan.

The SAD on Sunday announced that it would organise four massive protest dharnas on the international border on January 5 to pressure the BSF. SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal said the dharnas would be held at the Attari international border, the Sadki check post in Fazilka, the Hussainiwala international border and the Gurdaspur international border.

“Punjab and the nation are suffering from the ill effects of narco-terrorism due to continuous smuggling of narcotics from Pakistan into Punjab through the international border. The border is guarded by the BSF, a central agency over which we have no control. This smuggling must stop and the border with Pakistan must be completely sealed.

Only then can we fight a national war against drugs,” said Badal, adding that the protests would be completely peaceful. He said Punjabis deem it is necessary to congregate at the border as they were being branded drug-addicts despite waging a fight against drugs, including the arrest of more than 25,000 people.

Badal said Punjab did not manufacture a single gram of drugs, which were coming into the state from Pakistan or other Indian states, like Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh.

“Drug availability and consumption is prevalent in other states too, but their governments have not been as vigilant as Punjab's. Recent National Crime Report Bureau information says Punjab had the best record as far as registering cases under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances  Act was concerned.