Bathinda: Union home minister Amit Shah’s proposed visit to the family of slain anti-drug activist Parminder Singh Jhota in Mansa on Oct 20 has triggered a political row.While Jhota’s father, Bhim Singh, has welcomed the visit, the volunteers’ committee that has been formed to seek justice in the case has questioned the BJP’s role in tackling Punjab’s drug menace. Incumbent AAP, too, has slammed the moveAAP Punjab media in charge Baltej Pannu asked Shah to explain what concrete steps the Centre had taken to stop drugs from entering the country through Gujarat’s Mundra port. “Amit Shah ji, Punjab welcomes you. But people want to know why you have suddenly started remembering the drug menace only since CM Bhagwant Singh Mann’s govt launched ‘Yudh Nashean Virudh’. What concrete steps have you taken to stop drugs entering the country through Mundra port?” Pannu said.The volunteers’ committee has said it will not allow Shah to address the gathering. Its members argue that drugs entered Punjab from Gujarat and other BJP-ruled states, questioning how the Union home minister could address an anti-drug protest. The stand has sparked differences among protesters. Some questioned why Shah should be opposed when leaders of other parties, including Punjab BJP president Kewal Singh Dhillon, have already addressed the gatheringSources said on Sunday that Shah was expected to visit Jhota’s family but had no plan to address the protest. Jhota’s father, Bhim Singh, welcomed the proposed visit, saying the family hoped it would help secure justice.He said he had already written to the Punjab govt about his son’s killing and the suicide of Gulzar Singh of Toor Banzara village. “If he visits us, we will seek a CBI probe and urge him to ensure justice,” Bhim Singh said. Protesters Inderjit Singh and Mohinder Singh said Shah’s expected visit on Dussehra had lifted their spirits and would strengthen their fight for justice and a CBI probe.
