Governor R.N. Ravi on Tuesday expressed his dissatisfaction with the “denial mode” in Tamil Nadu over the “rampant” issue of drug abuse and illicit liquor, which recently killed 59 persons in Kallakurichi district. He also wondered whether there was “connivance”, as denial cannot be without a purpose.
Launching a national awareness campaign on drug abuse and illicit trafficking at the Raj Bhavan, Mr. Ravi said “countless” parents had requested him to raise the issue of drug abuse in high schools and colleges. “They have requested me to do something as the issue was rampant. Unfortunately, we have been in denial mode. We have been saying that there is no drug here,” Mr. Ravi said, and added that whenever he made inquiries, he was informed that there was no menace of synthetic or semi-synthetic drugs in Tamil Nadu.
Referring to newspaper reports during the past six months and “bulk” seizures by Central agencies from “different parts of the State”, Mr. Ravi pointed out that parents flagged rampant drug abuse and yet law enforcement agencies were not aware of it. “This is very serious. We must not be in denial mode. Are the drugs coming from outside or are they being made here,” he asked.
“If one denies a problem, the problem would get even more complicated. If an advanced State like ours does not address this problem, then, I think, we are not being fair to our people, and the future is very insecure,” he added.
“Whenever deaths over illicit liquor are reported, there is a hue and cry and more than lakhs of litres of illicit arrack is seized. But, things soon go back to the way they were. This is not acceptable. Is there connivance? Because denial cannot be without a purpose. We cannot play with the lives of our people.”
In this “game”, Mr. Ravi said there were two sides — demand and supply. “If supply is not restricted or stopped, there will be demand. If you have drugs available, there will be people who buy it. The supply side has to be controlled by the enforcement. If we do not address the supply side of the problem, people will keep dying. Every time, something happens, we will make noise but things will settle down soon and the business will go back to usual,” he said.
The Governor also sought to know the details of those arrested in connection with illicit liquor.
“I don’t know what happened to those accused in Chengalpattu and Villupuram cases [that resulted in deaths last year]? How long they were in jail and whether the actual culprits were found or not?” Mr. Ravi said.
“What will happen to the present one [in connection with Kallakurichi hooch tragedy]? A lot of sound and drama happened in the wake of it. But soon things will go back to the previous state. No, this is not acceptable,” he added.
He said there have been “zero seizure” of drugs, which was highly worrisome, and went on to say, “On this front, we have to be one. There should not be any politics, there should not be any controversy, and there should not be any kind of difference. We have to fight the drug and illicit alcohol issue together.”
Referring to an investigation by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), Mr. Ravi said: “They have found that there are international drug cartels with nodes in Tamil Nadu, Karachi, Pakistan, and even Dubai, operating and getting heroin from Afghanistan. This is being done. It is a very serious issue.”
Referring to the NIA probe into the seizure of drugs onboard ships off the Kerala coast, Mr. Ravi said, “They also found AK-47s [Avtomat Kalashnikova]. If you sell this much drugs, you will get AK-47 free.”
Terming it “very dangerous”, he added, “We must not keep our eyes closed. The problem has to be tackled head on.”
The Governor said: “I urge the enforcement to do their part. Break the supply chain. Unless they do that, we will not succeed in our war against drug and illicit liquor.”
Published - June 26, 2024 01:02 am IST
