The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Monday questioned why opposition leaders Ravneet Singh Bittu, Partap Bajwa and Bikram Majithia are rushing to defend a person facing nine cases since 2018, including NDPS National Drugs and Psychotropic Substances) Act, Excise and rape cases, with convictions in four cases, while the opposition remained silent on the ground reality of Namol, where two panchayats, gurdwara committees, farmers’ organisations and villagers have united against drug sales.
The AAP said the previous Akali Dal, Congress and BJP governments had protected drug peddlers in exchange for money and pushed Punjab’s youth into drugs, while the Bhagwant Mann Government has broken that political protection nexus and disrupted the supply lines and money flow of drug peddlers through its Yudh Nashean Virudh. The party affirmed the opposition’s reaction reflected its discomfort with the crackdown and challenged its leaders to come to Namol and repeat their claims on the ground, instead of doing politics over a dead body.
Addressing a press conference, AAP Punjab President and Cabinet Minister Aman Arora said, “Over the past 10-12 days, you must have seen, and your channels must also have shown, the kind of incidents that have taken place in the villages of Punjab, particularly in our district, and the kind of political controversy that has emerged around drugs.”
The AAP Punjab President affirmed, “We fully agree that whenever a person loses their life, it is not only a loss for that individual’s house or family, but a loss for the entire society, and even more than that. But when people from political parties, political leaders, disregard the truth and engage in low-level politics merely to serve their own political interests, then society also suffers, Punjab also suffers and Punjab’s name also gets defamed. This is exactly what we are seeing.”
Referring to the Namol incident, he said, “You must have noticed that yesterday, in Sangrur district itself, a young man from Namol village, Jagga Singh, consumed some poisonous substance outside the DC (District Commissioner) office and was subsequently hospitalised. But look at the kind of dirty politics that has been taking place from yesterday evening until today. This is the latest example of how an incident is being used merely to defame the Punjab Government and the Aam Aadmi Party.”
Aman Arora said, “This village of Namol is in my constituency of Sunam and is situated close to Sunam. There is one village, but there are two panchayats here. Both panchayats, the entire village, all the gurdwara committees and all the farmers’ organisations came together and took a decision that drugs would not be allowed to be sold in the village. Everyone decided that we have to show courage collectively and work together on this issue.”
“Both panchayats jointly passed a resolution that they would not allow drugs to be sold in the village. This was a collective decision of the entire village, the panchayats, the gurdwara committees and the farmers’ organisations,” he said.
Explaining the events of September 7, the Minister said, “On the 7th, the panchayat members and the sarpanch were sitting together. As I have been informed, Jagga Singh came there and said, ‘Search me.’ They told him, ‘Brother, go ahead. There is no need to search you. The entire village already knows.’ After going a short distance, he abused them using extremely objectionable language concerning their mothers and sisters. There was then a minor altercation between the two sides.”
“Complaints were subsequently filed by both sides, by Jagga Singh as well as by the panchayat, at Cheema police station. That matter is currently under investigation,” he said.
Referring to the events of September 12, Aman Arora noted, “On the 12th, he came holding a bottle and threatened that if action was not taken on his complaint against the sarpanch and the panchayat, he would commit suicide and they would be responsible. Putting pressure on someone in this manner is itself a way of pressurising them.”
“A sarpanch is an elected representative. To pressure an elected representative by saying that you will commit suicide and that their name will be mentioned is, in my view, not justified,” he said.
On the incident outside the DC office, Aman Arora said, “After that, yesterday’s incident took place when he consumed some poisonous substance outside the DC office. No member of his family was accompanying him. Police personnel were present outside the DC office at the spot. The police first took him to the Civil Hospital. He was then shifted from the Civil Hospital, perhaps because all the doctors and facilities were not available on Sunday, to the private Ummed Hospital. There he was stabilised and treated. Once he was out of danger, he was shifted to Rajindra Hospital.”
Aman Arora then questioned the political narrative being built around the incident. “Now look at the politics that has been going on since yesterday. There are nine cases against Jagga Singh. Nine cases. What are these cases? Drug-related cases. And these are not cases registered today. They go back to 2018. There are cases from 6 April 2018, 2019-20, 2017-18, then 2020, 2021, and even this year, in January, a case was registered.”
“What are these nine cases? Out of these nine cases, convictions have already taken place in four cases. These include drug cases and liquor-related cases. There is even a rape case registered against this person,” he said.
Aman Arora questioned the social media statements being issued by political leaders. “And now look at the tweets that have been coming since yesterday evening. Tweets are coming from political leaders. I have come before you today only because I want to show how far these political parties and their leaders have descended into low-level politics.”
“Initially, our local political leaders put out statements. They informed their leaders, including leaders at the state and national levels. Then came a tweet from Amarinder Singh Raja Warring in support of alleged drug peddler and against the panchayat. Tarun Chugh tweeted that the alleged drug peddler was raising his voice against drugs,” he said.
The AAP Punjab President pointed out, “Sachin Pilot tweeted that Jagga Singh was raising his voice against drugs and that Punjab Police was doing nothing. Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, Partap Singh Bajwa, Kewal Singh Dhillon, Ravneet Singh Bittu and Vijay Inder Singla all said that Jagga Singh was working to stop drugs while the panchayat and the police were facilitating the drug trade. After that, Bikram Majithia also made the same argument. Normally, it does not look good when Bikram Majithia talks about drugs, but he does so.
“Your Akali Dal halqa in-charge is Winnerjit Singh Goldy. What is he saying? He says that Jagga Singh, who is known in the village as ‘Jagga Blackiya’, sells drugs and that he stands with the village,” Aman Arora said.
Aman Arora appealed to opposition leaders to exercise responsibility. “My only request to these leaders and these parties is that merely to serve your political interests, do not descend to such a low level of politics that the same fire on which you are cooking your political bread ends up setting Punjab on fire,” he said.
“It is extremely shameful for all these parties and all these leaders that without finding out the ground reality, they simply put out tweets to defame the Punjab Government, and us, while the ground reality is completely different,” Aman Arora said.
Challenging the leaders who had posted statements, the Cabinet Minister said, “I request all these leaders, all those whose names I have taken, that if you stand by your tweets, then come to Namol village and say exactly the same thing in front of the people. Come and say that Jagga Singh is stopping the sale of drugs and that the village and the panchayat are facilitating it. If you have the courage, come and say this.”
“The villagers will strongly reject such a narrative. So I request them to do responsible politics. This low-level politics is shameful and condemnable,” he said.
Aman Arora said political leaders should either substantiate their claims or acknowledge that they had misled people. “In the strongest possible words, I condemn this approach. Either these people should prove that their tweets are correct, or they should accept their mistake and apologise to Punjab for misleading people in the manner in which they are doing,” he said.
Turning to the government’s broader anti-drug strategy, Aman Arora said, “Now look at the situation in the villages. The government has decided that we will establish Village Defence Committees (VDC) in every village and every ward. We have launched the Yudh Nashean Virudh campaign to save Punjab from drugs. I am not saying that we have eliminated drugs completely. But where is the deficiency in our efforts? Which political party’s government constituted Village Defence Committees? Which political party’s government launched a war against drugs? Which political party conducted awareness campaigns?” he asked.
“Those who sold drugs are questioning us today. The government decided that Village Defence Committees would be formed because if anyone can work with the greatest responsibility in a village, it is the panchayat. The panchayat is the government of the people at the grassroots level,” Aman Arora said.
Explaining the structure of the VDCs, he said, “The sarpanch will be the chairman of the VDC. That sarpanch can belong to the Akali Dal, Congress, BJP, Aam Aadmi Party, the Left parties or can be an independent. There is no discrimination on the basis of political affiliation.”
Aman Arora said the scale of the challenge required political leaders to understand the responsibilities placed on village representatives. “Now look at the situation. There are 13,500 villages. Wherever such a situation arises, on one side there is someone allegedly involved in selling drugs and on the other side there is the panchayat. Political leaders immediately start tweeting. What should the sarpanch and panchayat do? Should they give information about drug sales to the police or not? Should they take action or not? I want to ask these people this question,” he added.
“The government has made them the chairman of the VDC by default, irrespective of which party they belong to. We tell them: you have to conduct thikri pehras in the village. You have to create awareness among people. If someone is selling or facilitating the sale of drugs, you have to submit a complaint to the police,” Aman Arora said.
He said this responsibility could expose elected village representatives to pressure from drug sellers. “When sarpanches submit complaints to the police, those involved in selling drugs will naturally become their enemies. Then someone consumes something or does something, makes a video and there are political leaders who immediately put that video on Twitter. Suddenly, the whole country is told that the government in Punjab itself is selling drugs. This is ridiculous. Ridiculous. These leaders should be ashamed,” Aman Arora said.
Aman Arora said the government, Aam Aadmi Party and police were clear about their objective. “Today, in very clear words, on behalf of the government, on behalf of the Aam Aadmi Party and as a part of the government, I want to say that our intention is absolutely clear. We want everyone to come together and eliminate drugs from Punjab,” affirmed Aman Arora.
“But what does this kind of low-level politics mean? I am not saying that everyone will think this way, but suppose someone starts thinking that there are cases against me, the police are pressurising me, the sarpanch is pressurising me. If I consume something and then all the Akali, Congress and BJP leaderships come behind me, I will become a hero and receive praise. Then what do we do? How will the government function? How will we eliminate drugs?” Aman Arora said.
Aman Arora once again appealed to all political parties to refrain from such politics. “Therefore, my appeal and request to everyone is to refrain from this low-level politics. And if you are truthful about what you have said, then all those who have tweeted should come to Namol village and say the same thing there. Come and say it in front of the people. Then you will see how the people respond to you. That will be a completely different sight,” he said.
“The fight against drugs is a collective responsibility. We must not allow political considerations to weaken the resolve of villages, panchayats, police and society to fight the drug menace. Punjab needs responsible politics and collective action, not political exploitation of sensitive incidents,” Aman Arora asserted.
Meanwhile, Cabinet Minister Harpal Singh Cheema stated, “Before turning a tragedy into a political spectacle, opposition leaders should have the courage to face the ground reality in Namol village. The person whom they are defending is himself alleged by the villagers to be a drug dealer, with around 9 FIRs reportedly registered against him at police stations in Cheema and Patiala. The entire village is united against drugs and standing together in the fight to make Namol drug-free. So the question for the opposition leaders is simple: Whose side are you on? The villagers standing united against the drug menace? Or an alleged drug dealer?”
Cabinet Minister Ravjot Singh stated, “The Namol village matter needs to be understood through facts, leaving politics aside. The villagers say that they have already passed a joint resolution to boycott those involved in selling drugs, are conducting Thikri Pehra (village night patrols), and are supporting the Mann government’s campaign against drugs. On the other hand, it is also important to present the facts regarding the cases registered against the person in whose support statements and videos are being released by the opposition. This is because nearly a dozen FIRs have reportedly been registered against this individual in cases related to drugs. The question is: Will the united voice of the entire village be heard, or will politics be done by focusing only on one side of the story? The video of the Namol residents’ press conference is also available. Listen to the ground reality first, and then present your views.”
Cabinet Minister Hardeep Singh Mundian said, “Instead of doing politics over a dead body, the opposition parties need to understand and listen to the ground reality. The residents of Namol village claim that the person whom the opposition is presenting as a ‘whistleblower’ has several FIRs registered against him and has been named in cases related to drugs. So the question to these opposition parties is straightforward: Whose side do you stand with — the claims of a drug trafficker and drug addict, or the entire village of Namol, which has united against drugs? According to the villagers, they passed a joint resolution, organised Thikri Pehra (village night patrols), and decided to stand with the government in its efforts to prevent the spread of drugs. Before making political statements, the ground reality and the side of the villagers should also be heard.”
