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Journalism of Courage
Punjab’s long-standing drugs crisis has once again come into the spotlight, this time with a striking message painted on village walls. On Sunday, residents of Maur Kalan in Bathinda woke up to graffiti on at least five walls which said, “Aethe chitta shareaam vikda hai (heroin openly sold here).”
This discovery sparked alarm and anger among the community, prompting the police to paint over the sentence in black. The graffiti was believed to have been satirically drawn by few people from within the village, which has been officially listed as a drug hotspot in police records
Maur Kalan has recorded over 27 FIRs linked to drug smuggling in recent months, according to police sources. Many women say the graffiti merely articulates a grim reality they have lived with for years, and said several youths have died due to substance abuse in the village.
“Some have died, others’ families are shattered,” said a resident, demanding urgent intervention.
With block samiti and zila parishad polls scheduled for December 14, the incident has caused a significant embarrassment for the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which has been projecting an aggressive anti-drug stance across Punjab.
However, sources in the AAP said that internal differences within two local party groups may also be fuelling such graffiti to embarrass the government.
Police claim intensive action against drug abuse
Amneet Kaur Kondal, Senior Superintendent of Police, acknowledged the drugs crisis and said, “The Bathinda police recently registered 27 FIRs under the narcotics law, booking 52 people and recovering 142.65 grams of heroin.”
“To intensify action, the police carried out seven cordon and search operations (CASO) in the village, during which 10 FIRs were registered, 15 accused were arrested, and 54 grams of heroin were seized. Alongside law-enforcement action, efforts are also being made to shift addicts towards treatment—five addicts have been booked under Section 64-A of the NDPS Act, four others have been admitted to de-addiction centres, and two have been referred to the outpatient opioid assisted treatment (OOAT) centre,” said SSP Kondal.
According to local intelligence inputs, these sustained operations have led to a 70 per cent reduction in the availability of drugs in Maur Kalan, she added.
She added that one drug-related death was reported in October, while another recent death “due to injecting something” was attributed to causes other than drugs after postmortem.
On Sunday afternoon, the Bathinda police also held a meeting with the village defence committee (VDC). In a post on X, the police wrote,
“As part of the outreach campaign, the DySP Maur conducted a police-public meeting with the Village Defence Committee (VDC) of Village Maur Kalan. VDC members were encouraged to actively participate in the anti-drug campaign and contribute towards creating a drug-free environment in the District. Police and the community together, committed to ending the menace of drugs!”
The Punjab Police, talking about their efforts against drugs, stated on X Monday, “274 Days of #YudhNashianVirudhPunjab Police continues its relentless drive against drugs with focused raids, intensive search operations, and sustained awareness initiatives across the state. #NashaMuktPunjab”
Bathinda has seen similar protests earlier this year. On June 3, residents of the Bhai Bakhtaur village rallied behind farmer Lakhbir Singh after he put up a banner reading, “Sadda pind bikau hai (Our village is for sale)” to protest against drug abuse. The trigger was the assault of ex-serviceman Ranbir Singh, who used to fight against drugs, allegedly by two drug smugglers with prior records.
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