BATHINDA: Union law minister Arjun Meghwal described the Punjab BJP’s Nasha Mukt Yatra as a movement for social reform.The objective of the campaign was to protect generations of Punjabis from drugs and take Punjab forward on the path of becoming a developed state, Meghwal said at Fazilka on Sunday before flagging off the third leg of the Nasha Mukt Punjab Yatra.Meghwal also visited the Asafwala Shaheedi Memorial, where he paid floral tributes to soldiers who made the supreme sacrifice for the nation.He was accompanied by BJP national general secretary and Punjab BJP in-charge Satish Poonia, state president Kewal Singh Dhillon, former state president Sunil Jakhar and former minister Surjit Kumar Jyani.Addressing the gathering, Meghwal said some people were viewing the yatra through a political lens, but it was not a political campaign and was an initiative for social reform.He said the BJP and the Narendra Modi government undertake various initiatives aimed at social reform, citing campaigns such as Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao and Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam as examples.Speaking about the harmful effects of drugs, the Union law minister referred to the Bani of Guru Amar Das Ji from the Sri Guru Granth Sahib and said people should stay away from anything whose consumption affects the human mind, intellect and sense of discretion.He also referred to the importance of Naam Simran in the Bani of Guru Nanak Dev Ji, saying one can truly engage in Naam Simran only when one’s sense of discretion remains intact. Meghwal also sang a Shabad of Guru Nanak Dev.Punjab BJP state president Kewal Singh Dhillon said, “Those who had spread the scourge of drugs have been rattled by the BJP’s Nasha Mukt Punjab Yatra. The yatra has put the chief minister on the back foot.”Referring to the Mohanjeet Sheron and Gulzar Singh incidents reported in Sangrur in recent days, Dhillon alleged that the government was suppressing voices speaking out against drugs.He said that if the BJP could eliminate gangsterism in Uttar Pradesh, Naxalism in Jharkhand and violence in Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370, then why could it not eliminate drugs from Punjab?Punjab BJP former state president Sunil Jakhar said that while deaths had so far been occurring due to drug abuse, more people were now dying for raising their voice against drugs.He alleged that some people were being killed by drug smugglers, while others were being forced to commit suicide on the pretext of having raised questions.Launching an attack on Arvind Kejriwal, Jakhar said the 79,000 arrests that had been made were not a sign of Kejriwal’s bravery, but evidence of the extent to which the younger generation had been pushed into the drug crisis.He said he was naming Kejriwal because, according to him, Bhagwant Mann was not the person actually running the government, and that it was Kejriwal who was running everything.BJP national vice-president Manpreet Singh Badal said that if Punjab remained weakened because of drugs, India could not become a developed India. He said the Bharatiya Janata Party had resolved to eliminate drugs from Punjab.“One day, drugs will be eliminated from Punjab and poverty will also be eliminated, but we will have to identify the thief and the watchman,” he said.Advocate HS Phoolka, Abohar MLA Sandeep Jakhar and a score of party functionaries were present.
