THE ASIAN INDEPENDENT UK
Bal Ram Sampla
Geopolitics
A 46-year-old Dalit agricultural labourer from Toor Banzara village in Punjab’s Sangrur district, Gulzar carried a burden shared by thousands of parents across the state. A young son trapped in addiction. He watched helplessly as chitta (the infamous synthetic heroin) consumed his child’s youth and drained his family’s spirit.
When Punjab Finance Minister Harpal Singh Cheema visited his village, Gulzar did not remain silent. He stepped forward and asked a direct, devastating question: Why is drug available like salt in our village?
He was not an activist or a politician. He was a desperate father pleading for accountability. But instead of receiving answers, protection, or empathy, Gulzar returned home with a target on his back. Local powerbrokers, village Panchayat figures, and political enforcers allegedly descended on his house.
They intimidated him, harassed his family, and demanded that he issue a public apology for daring to confront authority.
The humiliation was immediate and unbearable. In a society where rural power dynamics and caste lines strictly dictate who is allowed to speak, Gulzar was crushed under the weight of retribution. Terrified, disgraced, and broken by the political machinery that was supposed to protect his village, he drank poison.
Gulzar Singh’s tragic end is not merely an isolated suicide; it is a stark indictment of systemic failure. His death lays bare the reality of a state struggling with an unchecked drug crisis, where speaking out against illegal narcotics can carry a far heavier cost than selling them.
Reference
1.https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/chandigarh/chitta-available-like-salt-in-a-punjab-village-thrust-into-the-limelight-grief-and-anger-10869630/?hl=en-
2.https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chandigarh/man-dies-by-suicide-after-pressure-to-apologise-for-questioning-punjab-minister-over-chitta-menace/articleshow/133910023.cms?hl=en-
3.https://www.etvbharat.com/en/state/punjab-man-who-raised-drug-menace-before-minister-dies-by-suicide-oppn-trains-guns-on-aap-govt-enn26090804713?hl=en-GB
