War on gutkha

Imagine a parallel government comprising 120 Jaipur businessmen, attired in grey uniform and wearing navy blue berets, much like the Indian ...

Imagine a parallel government comprising 120 Jaipur businessmen, attired in grey uniform and wearing navy blue berets, much like the Indian Navy. Christened the Rashtriya Jan Sena, it has its own constitution and agenda. Last week, this motley group fulfilled one, getting the real government to ban gutkha in the state.

The two-year-old Sena launched its campaign against gutkha in Dec. 2001 through a public bonfire of a 8216;Gutkha Ravana8217; in the heart of the Walled City in Jaipur. Beginning this March, its activists had been painstakingly traversing the city collecting two lakh signatures from citizens who supported the ban, and presented them to CM Ashok Gehlot.

Members of the Rashtriya Jan Sena burn gutkha pouches at
Badi Chaupar in Jaipur

Last week, a dealer in decorative tiles and the 8216;Director-General8217; of the Sena, 32-year-old Rajat Bharati, took the protest one step further. The man who had in 1992 taken out a 3,000-km cycle yatra through the state urging people to renounce gutkha and cigarettes sat on a fast unto death at the city8217;s local Badi Chaupar, flanked by banners screaming: 8216;8216;Mrityu dwaar band karo Close the doors of death.8217;8217; Along with this, the organisation also held a 8216;Sadbudhi havan a prayer for better sense8217;.

It seems to have worked. Health Minister Madho Singh Dewan personally came to urge Bharati to give up the fast, offering a glass of juice and promising an ordinance to prohibit guthka within a month. He also thanked Bharati for the 8216;8216;public pressure8217;8217; built up by him on the matter.

However, the minister could not resist adding: 8216;8216;I visited a dental college the other day where I saw hell in people8217;s mouths. We had been thinking of banning gutkha for the past year, but since it meant renouncing an annual income of Rs 25 crore, we were hesitant.8217;8217;

The government plans to draft a stringent legislation involving different agencies like the police, hospitals and food inspectors. Says Dewan: 8216;8216;We hope to curb it by 99 per cent. Already we have begun fining anyone who spits inside hospitals. Monetary punishment is important.8217;8217; Also on the cards are de-addiction cells in government hospitals.

Dewan has urged citizens to cooperate by taking photos of those who violate the ban and presenting them to enforcement agencies. 8216;8216;The message should go out that the government is serious.8217;8217;

The ban seems to have widespread support. Various Jain and Muslim social organisations have written to express their solidarity with the movement.

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For Bharati it is a proud moment. It is his organisation8217;s first successful campaign and he promises there are more ahead. 8216;8216;Big people fight for other things in life, but no one was bothered about the slow poisoning of society through gutkha,8217;8217; he says.

The Sena members primarily comprise an assortment of Hindu businessmen. Its constitution derives heavily from the Vedas, and it has both military discipline and stiff hierarchy, not to mention a red and white flag symbolising purity and aggression.