Manpreet for consensus on fighting drugs
Sunday, 28/12/2014
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CHANDIGARH: People’s Party of Punjab ( PPP) president Manpreet Singh Badal on Saturday called for socio-political consensus to confront the drugs menace, saying it was the biggest danger to Punjabi society.
“All political parties should sit across the table and evolve multi-pronged strategy, as this menace is deep rooted and cannot be checked by police methods alone,” Manpreet proposed in a statement. Observing that drug lords had clear politician-police support that no one ever admitted to, the PPP president said: “This patronage to the drug dealers must end.”
Manpreet agreed that the porous border was one of the major factors for the smuggling of drugs but said a major amount of substances in Punjab did not come from neighbouring Pakistan. “The chemical drugs are being produced in the region. Opium and poppy husk abuse has been prevalent in the state for years but it was never in so dangerous proportion,” he further said.
SAD-BJP DIVERTING ATTENTION: MLA
CHANDIGARH: Senior Congress leader and Kapurthala MLA Rana Gurjit Singh on Saturday said the blame game within the Akali Dal-BJP alliance over the drug racket was an attempt to deflect the public attention. “While the BJP is blaming the Akalis, tjhe Akalis saying drugs were being smuggled from the BJP-ruled states. Youth were the only sufferers,” he said.
