Mohali, Sep 26 (PTI) Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader and Bathinda MP Harsimrat Kaur Badal on Saturday appealed to women in Punjab to unite and launch an ‘andolan’ to free the state from the drug menace.
Addressing a ‘Maawan-Dheeyan Insaaf’ rally here, Badal said, “The time has come to take things in our own hands if we are to save our sons and the coming generation. Let us counter this menace in the same way that we opposed the three black agricultural laws and forced the Centre to take them back.”
“Let us start ‘thikri pehra’ in our villages to send a clear message to the messengers of death and the AAP leaders-police nexus that the women of Punjab have woken up. Enough is enough and we won’t let drugs be sold in our streets any longer,” she said.
‘Thikri pehra’ is a community policing practice in which people guard their localities during emergencies.
Lashing out at the AAP government over the drug menace, Badal said the situation had taken a turn for the “worst” under its rule.
“You may not get toffees in shops but you will get ‘nashe di goli’. Similarly, flour can be in short supply but not ‘chitta’,” she alleged.
Asserting that Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann was solely responsible for the situation, Badal asked, “Whose responsibility is it to keep drugs away?”
She also questioned why the chief minister was not fulfilling his promise to “put the drug lords behind bars”.
Asserting that the SAD alone could fight for people’s rights, Badal said, “For us, your grievances are most important. This is why I chose to leave the Union Cabinet in protest against the three agricultural black laws.”
She assured that if the SAD formed the government, laws would be changed to deny bail to drug traffickers for eight years and award them life imprisonment. PTI CHS MDO
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