Judiciary takes up fight against drugs

Slip a roll of success between your fingers, not a joint filled with heroin. In drug ravaged Gurdaspur, no one understands this better than District and Sessions Judge Rajinder Aggarwal. When the Punjab State Legal Services Authority decided to come out all guns blazing against the drug menace in Punjab by initiating a movement —- Punjab against Drugs —- Aggarwal took a conscientious decision to ensure Gurdaspur district was not left behind. Last week, he asked his subordinate judges, officials of the district administration and school children to participate in a walkathon against dope. He went a step ahead and spent a good two hours at the Gurdaspur Red Cross De-addiction Centre, Sri Hargobindpur road, where he met addicts, known in common parlance as ‘patients’. He wants people to know that peer pressure should be avoided because it tends to land you in the dark alleys of drugs. Besides, the district’s senior most judicial officer has planned some more ventures in an attempt to tell youngsters that dreams never come alive in a sniff or a puff! The ‘Punjab against Drugs’ movement will go on till October 31. During the walkathon, it was clear that Aggarwal’s message to children was that “you are bound for success, if you are not bound to drugs”. The jurist knows that every third household in this border district, where drugs are delivered at your doorstep through Pakistani drones, is on poppy husk, a form of drug which is the staple diet of rural folk. One thing is for sure, and this is the message that the judge wants to pass on to everybody: drugs do not let you cope, instead they tie your neck to a rope! The rule is that it is the duty of the state to wage a war against dope. By bringing in the judiciary in this fight, Aggarwal has made an exception. And as they say, it is always an exception that proves a rule. Carry on, your lordship!

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Young karate players do Gurdaspur proud

They are called the karate whiz kids of Gurdaspur. Akashdeep Singh (Under-10) and Agamjot Kaur (Under-12) won a gold and silver medal in an international karate championship held in Kuala Lumpur recently. The District Child Welfare Council (DCWC) runs a coaching centre at the Government Senior Secondary Girls School, Post Office Chowk, Gurdaspur. Both these children are trainees at the centre. Gurwant Singh, a national level karate player, is the coach. DCWC Chairman and Deputy Commissioner Himanshu Aggarwal and president Romesh Mahajan say more children should join the centre because “sport opens up new vistas”. Both these dignitaries impress upon children that “difficulties in life are intended to make us better, not bitter”.

(contributed By Ravi Dhaliwal)