After son’s death, fighting drug abuse is their sole aim

GS Paul

Tribune News Service

Patti (Tarn Taran), July 19

The only aim of Mukhtiar Singh Patti and his wife Bhupinder Kaur is to fight against the menace of drug abuse. Hailing from Patti of Tarn Taran, they were vocal in opposing the menace vehemently throughout their lives but the death of their son two years ago made them take up the cudgels against addiction by launching a crusade — Kaffan Bol Peya (shroud spoke out).

Mukhtiar Singh is a lineman with Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL). Their 27-year-old son Manjit Singh died of heroin on March 26, 2016. “We did everything to save him but in vain. We don’t want anyone to die due to drugs,” says Bhupinder Kaur.

Mukhtiar marched with his son’s body in the streets of Patti to the SDM’s office and penned an appeal to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his son’s ‘kaffan’ (shroud) to save Punjab’s youth from drugs. “I had submitted the ‘kaffan’ with the then SDM to send it to the Prime Ministers office. It never reached its destination, I believe. Instead of indulging in any argument with the government officials, I decided to channelise my pain towards spreading a message in society. Taking my son’s death as a theme, I launched the campaign against drugs,” he says.

Wrapping a black cloth symbolising a ‘kaffan’, Mukhtiar has become a crusader against drug abuse. Holding the photograph of their son, the couple conduct door-to-door campaign routinely, spreading the ‘save Punjab’ message through their campaign — ‘Kaffan Bol Peya’. He has become popular as people call him ‘Kaffan Wala Banda’ (man of shroud).

“My job requires my visit to different areas and interact with people of Patti, Tarn Taran and Khemkaran. These areas are infamous for drug addicts because of having close proximity with Pakistan,” he says.

Mukhtiar also received a piece of information under the RTI by approaching the concerned DCs of 17 districts which testified that these districts had at least 4.94 lakh drug addicts. This was based on those addicts, who were admitted to rehabilitation centres. “The exact number is much high. People refrain from admitting that their children died of drugs. Political leaders and police officers amass huge wealth by helping out the drug traders. I wrote to the Chief Minister’s office in 2017 but got a reply stating ‘Punjab nu badnaam na karo’ (don’t defame Punjab). In April 2018, I wrote to the PM office, urging for removal of the overgrown grass and weeds near the Indo-Pak border fence,” he says.

“This time, I was fortunate enough to get a reply. I received a letter that the BSF had been conveyed to do the needful,” he adds.