Drug drama in Parliament : TOP DRAWER
The acrimonious exchanged between the BJP lawmaker Ravi Kishan and his Samajwadi Party counterpart Jaya Bachchan over the use or abuse of drugs in Bollywood lighted up the first week of the first parliamentary session convened post-Coronavirus pandemic. Both incidentally belong to the film industry and Bachchan’s Thali Main Chhed comment has stirred the hornet’s nest.
Jaya Bachchan’s less than a kind diatribe against Ravi Kishan’s well-intended comment should not come as a surprise to any. She is known for making controversial comments. She is now serving her fourth term as a member of Rajya Sabha, has been into politics for the past 16 years, but is yet to master the use of proper parliamentary language which is supposed to be laced with dignity even while criticising an opponent. That use of drugs in the Bollywood is rampant is no secret and Jaya Bachchan’s sermon to Ravi Kishan amounted to her suggesting that such issues should be brushed under the carpet and not discussed in the public. Does she mean that actor Rhea Chakraborty and her brother are currently under judicial custody on frivolous charges?
Charges against Rhea, actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s girlfriend until six days prior to Rajput’s alleged death by suicide, are beyond comprehension. One was expecting her arrest over charges of murder or her actions leading Rajput to end his life. The CBI is investigating the suicide/murder charges, the Enforcement Directorate is investigating the alleged siphoning off of Rajput’s money to the tune of Rs. 15 crore, but lo and behold, she was arrested for consuming and arranging drugs for Rajput!
One suspects that the CBI and the ED did not find enough evidence to arrest Rhea, but the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) got some evidence to put her behind the bars and keep the Rajput case boiling under instructions in view of the upcoming Bihar assembly elections. If that is the case, then it’s a sad commentary on the rulers that be of the country. Attempt to win an election by putting an as yet innocent girl behind bars cannot be justified in a civilised society. That Rajput, like so many others in the film industry, do drugs is clear like the daylight. Whether Rhea was consuming it or procuring it for the man she loved is debatable. Even if she did, is Rhea the only one in the industry to do drugs? If the present laws are implemented fair and square, half of the film industry would be behind the bars and the industry would collapse. In fact, India may turn into the world’s largest prison when youth from all over the country are arrested for doing drugs. One cannot shut one’s eyes to the reality that it’s the in-thing and fashionable among the Indian youth to do drugs in some form or the other, more so in the case of Bollywood where you cannot break into the close-knit circle unless you joined them in those drug parties. Youngsters with stardom in their eyes, fall prey to it.
Besides being archaic, the prevailing rules governing drugs consumption are contradictory and outdated. We in India take pride in our ancient civilisation, our ethos, heritage and culture. Let’s accept it that madira (alcohol), bhang (cannabis leaves), ganja (marijuana) and afim (opium) have been part of the Indian civilisation and have always been associated with Lord Shiva. Will the NCB dare crackdown against those sadhus and babas who smoke ganja everywhere including Varanasi and Kumbh and consume bhang openly?
Indeed, any form of intoxicants are bad for health and no government should be seen as promoting it. But making consumption illegal is unjustified. It is better left at people’s judgement - the same way pictorials are printed on cigarette packets with warnings. Governments have tried to control people’s habits unsuccessfully. Gujarat, the land of Mahatma Gandhi, is supposed to be a dry state. So is Bihar and some other states in the north east. Haryana have had a tryst with it but gave up when it failed to control its rampant smuggling that caused a big dent to the state’s revenues.
Are Gujarat and Bihar really dry states or the bootlegging flourishes under the patronage of the law enforcement agencies? Doesn’t the NCB exit in Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana and other states? If yes, does it mean that no banned substances are sold and consumed in these states and elsewhere in the country and the NCB, police, politicians, etc. are unaware about the existence of this trade?
It’s like gambling and prostitution. They exist. Only the revenue generated illegally, and it can run into thousands of crores of rupees each year, from narcotics business and gambling that should go to the government coffers in the form of taxes go into the pockets of the lawmakers and officials of the law enforcement agencies. It’s sad since the banned substances are sold and consumed but the government is denied of its rightful taxes which if made legal can help feed and educate the poor, ramp up healthcare facilities and improve infrastructure for the welfare of the masses. But no, the money thus generate must go into the pockets of the criminals and gangsters who share it with the guardians of the law, who are supposed to enforce the laws.
Punjab has been in the news recently for hooch tragedy. One keeps hearing such news coming from some or the other corners of the country regularly. Hooch is produced, sold and consumed with full knowledge of a state’s excise and police departments. Poor are forced to buy it as they cannot afford to purchase the heavily taxed and expensive desi sharab (country liquor) from authorised vends. Liquor is so exorbitantly taxed in Punjab that those who cannot afford it are literally forced by the government to buy country liquor, produced or protected often by politicians. Lowering taxes may save public lives, increase the overall revenue of the government, but deprive those greedy vested interest politicians poorer.
A large part of Africa is probably poorer and less developed than India. But has anyone heard of hooch tragedies in those countries? No, never. The reason being, the governments are realistic out there. Knowing that drinking is part of their culture and lifestyle, they promote safe drinking. A bottle of beer in these countries cost nearly as much as a bottle of water, while harder stuff like whisky, rum, etc. are taxed heavily. So there is no reason for anyone to produce and consume hooch. Promoting safe drinking saves public lives and at the same time, there is no loss of revenue to the governments.
Likewise, several western countries have made consumption of some substances legal, and it makes sense. Control is better than a blanket ban. For example, if consumption of cannabis is made legal and consumption of heroin punishable, will any youngster risk consuming heroin? Probably not, as long as he/she has a safer alternative legally available.
Not that as a society India is unaware of these facts. The only question is who will dare bell the cat in a country full of hypocrites? Narendra Modi government has done away with hundreds of irrelevant British-era laws. Probably it is time to accept the fact that a large majority of Indians do love to drink and smoke. Make it safe and legal, rather than put likes of Chakraborty siblings behind the bars.
The onus is on the likes of Jaya Bachchans and Ravi Kishanas to raise the issue in parliament and demand its legalisation instead of indulging in a frivolous war of words. But no, none will work towards it since we in India love to pretend that we are holier-than-cow, if you like it that way!