Punjab Chief Minister (CM) Amarinder Singh on Thursday condemned the Narendra Modi government’s repeated attempts to politicise the Indian Army over the issue of the surgical strikes.
Speaking informally to reporters after distributing compensation cheques to the Jodhpur detenues, the CM said while he had not seen the purported video of the surgical strikes, released by a TV channel, he was not in favour of using the Army for political mileage.
Echoing the sentiment expressed by the Congress party, Amarinder said the actions of the Army should not be used as fodder for political or electoral gains. “It was unfortunate that the surgical strikes, which had claimed the lives of many Indian soldiers, were being repeatedly politicised by the Central government,” he added.
In response to a question, the CM lambasted leader of Opposition Sukhpal Khaira over his attempts to secure political and personal gains by raising the bogey of drugs.
Amaridner said his government was well on way to eliminating the drugs menace and the drugs smugglers were under immense pressure.
His government had tightened the noose on drug smugglers and around 10,000 peddlers were in jail, said the CM, adding that one of the kingpins was lodged in Hong Kong prison and efforts were on to secure his extradition.
The government had information about three major drug suppliers having fled out of India, Amarinder disclosed. The price of Heroin had shot through the roof, further endorsing the success of the government’s anti-drugs campaign, said the CM.
Replying to another question, Amarinder said he would ensure a probe into the allegation made by former Cabinet minister Rana Gurjit about an addict being pushed into drugs by a cop.
With heroin and chitta (synthetically produced drug) scarce in the market, drug addicts were now resorting to the consumption of other mixtures, and even reportedly using anti-addiction drugs intravenously, to satisfy their cravings, the CM further said, citing information received from various sources.
He said directives would soon be issued to ensure strict supervision by drugs to prevent misuse of such drugs by the drug addicts.
Khaira, had on Wednesday accused CM Amarinder of failing to end the menace of drugs in the state as promised before winning the state polls.
“Amarinder has failed to honour his promise to end drugs menace within four weeks of assuming power,” Khaira said after visiting the families of drug victims in Kotkapura, Tarn Taran and Amritsar.
A large number of youth were dying every day due to abundant availability of drugs but as it is considered to be a social stigma, parents often hide the cause of the death, he said.