Sunil Jakhar: Punjab can’t even hold a marathon, bring poll code now

An order stopping an anti-drug marathon in Abohar over “law and order” has given the BJP a new line of attack against the Bhagwant Mann government. Former Punjab BJP president Sunil Jakhar on Thursday wrote to the Punjab Governor, asking him to recommend that the Election Commission bring in the Model Code of Conduct in the state at once.

“Although I am opposed to this government and its policies, I agree with this admission of the bitter truth by the government for the first time,” Jakhar wrote in his letter to the Punjab Governor.

His demand runs into a hurdle. The Model Code of Conduct comes into force only when the Election Commission announces the poll schedule. Neither the Governor nor the state can bring it in early. Punjab’s Assembly elections are due early next year.

Family-run event

The marathon is organised by The Jakhar Trust, which is run by Jakhar’s family. Abohar MLA Sandeep Jakhar is his nephew. The run is part of the “Nashon se Door, Khelon ki Aur” anti-drug campaign that former IFFCO chairman Surinder Jakhar launched nearly two decades ago. Surinder Jakhar was Sunil Jakhar’s late elder brother.

It is a big draw in the border town. Last November’s sixth edition had over 10,000 runners in 5 km, 10 km and 21 km races, including children, women and senior citizens.

What the order says

The seventh edition was set for Sunday, November 1. On October 27, the Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM), Abohar, wrote to the trust in Punjabi. The SDM cited a report from the Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), Abohar, dated October 24, and said a no-objection certificate could not be issued for now because of the law and order situation in the city. The trust was asked to pick a later date. A copy went to the Fazilka Deputy Commissioner.

The order postpones the run rather than cancelling it. But its stated reason is what Jakhar has seized on.

‘No one is safe’

Jakhar, a former MP, wrote that “no one is safe” in Punjab. He alleged that people who speak out against drugs are being “silenced with bullets.” He said killings were happening openly from Amritsar to Tarn Taran, Khem Karan, Gurdaspur, Hargobindpur, Mansa, Abohar, Sangrur and Ludhiana.

He also alleged that police were taking away the bodies of youths who died of drugs from their families. People who protest against drugs, he claimed, either face police action or are driven to suicide.

He blamed all of this on the AAP’s strategy, quoting senior AAP leader Manish Sisodia’s remark that the party would use “saam, daam, dand, bhed, ladai, jhagda, jhooth, sach” to win elections. Under this approach, Jakhar alleged, “pliant officers” had been posted who now work as the government’s “collection agents”. He also claimed that gangsters were being inducted into the party or protected, and that the Chief Minister’s Office had become “a hub of corruption”.

Jakhar further alleged that drug and arms rackets were being run from jails, and that smugglers and murderers were getting parole and being helped to escape abroad. He claimed crores of rupees were being paid to bury sexual assault cases, with the accused also being helped to flee the country. In one such case involving ₹5 crore, he said, the Chief Minister’s own family has been named, yet the government has not ordered a probe despite High Court directions.

‘More time, more rights violations’

Jakhar said free and fair polls were no longer possible in a border state like Punjab under the present set-up. By election time, he warned, voters would be too scared to vote freely.

“Allowing this government more time would amount to permitting further violations of the fundamental and human rights of the people of the state,” he wrote.

He asked the Governor to recommend early enforcement of the poll code so that “honest officers” could be posted under the Election Commission’s watch. A copy of the SDM’s order was attached to the letter.