Jan-March 2006 - Institute of Sikh Studies

84ABSTRACTS OF SIKH STUDIES : JAN-MARCH 2006 / 537-38 NSwitness how a young Punjabi youth, when he has no means to buydrugs, when he has already disposed of his home articles to providefor the “nasha,” pours kerosene over himself and sets himself afire!When his poor old parents cannot stand his mental and physical agonyand request the doctor on duty “give him an injection which puts himout of his pain forever”.The 20-year-old taxi driver could be my son and despair grips mewhen he says, “It is not that bad in my case. I just take small doses,but if I don’t get it then I can’t drive”. I look at his thin, drug-abusedframe and his constantly shifting eyes, and wonder, where has theonce eulogised Punjabi “gabru” vanished?While sitting in another de-addiction clinic, the doctor, who hasbrought out countless books and magazines on drug abuse, educatesme. “Where the urbanites are concerned, parents don’t want toacknowledge that their children are into drugs. It is a social stigma andthey would rather open their pockets to aiding their children ratherthan curing them!”What apathy!He points to a young lady, “she has been married for two years,has one-year-old child and the husband is an addict. She has beenbringing him regularly for treatment. But it is not possible for allruralites to undergo this treatment. They cannot afford a privatedoctor’s fee and government hospitals are not equipped to handle deaddiction.”I look at Dr Vandana of Bathinda, who is normally beseigedwith drug-addicts numbering 40-70 in the peak season, who has madede-addicting Punjabis her mission and feel hope stirring inside me.Moreover, she charges them a very nominal fee so that they haveno hesitation in coming to her.“I can go to the extent of touching their feet and begging toleave drugs.” Dr Praveen Agarwal, who runs O.C.E.D — Organisationfor Children’s Education and Development — along with 40-oddmembers, says: “We have adopted 20-odd government schools in theMamdot sector and provide educational facilities and also run anawareness programme about drugs. Because we know that these verychildren whose parents have been labourers for many generations willbe used as drug carriers from across the border”.