Chandigarh, September 9: Paramjit Singh Kainth, Vice President of the Bharatiya Janata Party Scheduled Caste Morcha, Punjab, termed the death of Gulzar Singh of village Turbanjara an extremely serious and disturbing incident and raised sharp questions over the functioning of the Bhagwant Mann Government and the administration.

He said, “If an ordinary labourer feels unsafe, humiliated or pressured after raising questions about drug sales in his village, it is a serious warning for both the rule of law and democracy in Punjab.”

Kainth said that the allegations made by Gulzar Singh’s family must be investigated impartially. If he was pressured to publicly apologise, then it must be investigated who exerted that pressure, why it was exerted, and what exactly happened in the period leading up to his death.

He said, “The Mann Government must clearly answer: what was the response to the question raised by Gulzar Singh? Is ‘Chitta’ being sold in his village or not? If it is not, the government should investigate and establish the truth. And if it is being sold, who is protecting those involved in selling drugs?”

Targeting the Bhagwant Mann Government, Kainth said there appears to be a significant gap between the government’s claims of eliminating drugs and the ground reality. He said, “The real success of the government’s anti-drug campaign will not be measured through advertisements and statements, but by breaking the drug supply chain and delivering justice to affected families.”

BJP leader Kainth said, “Democracy in Punjab does not mean that only those in power have the right to speak while poor labourers are expected only to listen. People have every right to ask questions. The government’s responsibility is not to intimidate those who ask questions, but to answer them.”