Remarks on drugs twisted out of context, says Surjit Dhiman

Chandigarh, August 1, 2017: Punjab Congress MLA Surjit Singh Dhiman has rejected media reports on his statement on the issue of drugs, and said his words had been twisted to give them an unnecessarily negative connotation.

In a statement issued here on Tuesday, Dhiman said while he had raised the issue of drugs at the state-level function held in Sunam (Sangrur) to mark the anniversary of Shaheed Udham Singh’s martyrdom, his remarks had been interpreted out of context.

Dhiman said he was concerned about the drugs menace in the state and had described it was a major problem that required collective action from all sections of the society, including other political parties, to wipe it off from Punjab’s soil.

The problem was so gigantic that it would be unreasonable to expect the government alone to resolve it, he said, adding that he had clearly stated in Suman yesterday that people needed to join hands with the state government to ensure that drugs are eliminated from every nook and corner in every street of Punjab.

It was unfortunate, said Dhiman, that the media had, in their haste to pick up a big news point, focused on a few words and chose to project them wrongly, making it appear that he was countering the state government’s claims on its anti-drugs war.

The fact of the matter was that the state government, through the STF and the police, had successfully controlled the drugs problem to a large extent. However, it was now the responsibility of the citizens of Punjab, from across the society, to come forward to ensure that the last traces of drugs are removed from the state. The government needed all eyes and ears to dig deeper into the problem and it was important, therefore, for one and all to join hands with it in its fight against drugs, he added.