Punjab's drug debate keeps returning to the same vocabulary: seizures, arrests, deadlines and blame. Each government promises a decisive break. Each opposition explains why the incumbent has failed. Affected families, however, need something more durable: accessible treatment, protection from traffickers and support through recovery.
The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) belongs in this debate for two reasons. It governed Punjab with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for 10 years -- from 2007 to 2017. It also claims a Panthic identity rooted in service and collective responsibility.
The first requires an accounting of its government's record. The second raises a question that survives electoral defeat: how fully has it made the struggle against addiction its own?
From Smuggling Routes To Security Threats
Understanding that question requires historical context.
Long before heroin dominated headlines, Punjab's border supported an illicit economy. Gold, opium and other commodities crossed through networks sustained by local knowledge and personal relationships. These existed alongside legitimate ties of language, culture and kinship. Border communities must not be collectively identified with smuggling.
During the militancy years, cross-border smuggling routes were allegedly used to supply weapons and counterfeit Indian currency to militants. Narcotics trafficking also became linked to militant financing, with proceeds from drug sales providing funds in Indian currency.
The claim that narcotics replaced counterfeit currency needs specific evidence; describing them as overlapping funding channels is more accurate.
During the militancy years, established routes acquired another purpose. During the 1990s, India installed barbed-wire fencing along its international border with Pakistan to curb infiltration and smuggling.
Historical research documents how existing smuggling networks were used to move weapons, narcotics and militants across the border. Border fencing disrupted older trading patterns, but criminal networks adapted.
Addiction did not begin with militancy. But cross-border trafficking became entangled with security threats, and profitable criminal networks survived beyond the conflict.
Consignments arriving from Pakistan remain part of the problem. Their movement and sale inside Punjab also demand scrutiny of domestic distribution, financial channels and enforcement.
The Roots Of The Crisis: Unemployment And Entrenched Networks
Unemployment, insecure livelihoods and limited opportunities can deepen vulnerability, although unemployment alone does not cause addiction. Prevention must include credible routes to education, work and a more secure future, alongside treatment and regulation of addictive substances.
Equally important is whether enforcement reaches beyond couriers and street-level sellers to financiers, major distributors and anyone providing protection. Allegations of political or official complicity require independent investigation. Seizures interrupt consignments; lasting progress requires dismantling the networks that replenish them.
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A Decade of Shared Responsibility
The SAD-BJP government's record deserves scrutiny. A decade in office brought authority and an obligation to confront the problem. The BJP shares that political responsibility. It cannot treat the coalition's record as somebody else's history.
It would nevertheless be inaccurate to say that the government took no action. Enforcement operations and treatment initiatives existed. The harder questions concern their effectiveness, institutional oversight, the pursuit of powerful networks and the leadership's willingness to acknowledge suffering.
In 2016, senior coalition voices portrayed the drug issue as exaggerated by opponents seeking to malign Punjab. Protecting Punjab's reputation was understandable. The danger was allowing that defence to eclipse the experience of families seeking help.
Acknowledging addiction should have been understood as part of protecting Punjab.
Governments Changed, Challenge Remained
Drugs became a major issue before the coalition's 2017 defeat, although that verdict cannot be reduced to one cause. Congress returned to power carrying the then chief minister of Punjab, Captain Amarinder Singh's heavily publicised promise to eliminate the drug menace within four weeks of taking office. AAP subsequently offered another change of government.
The continuing crisis exposes the limits of successive assurances. The present government must answer for current enforcement, regulation and treatment. Previous governments must answer for their records.
Arrest totals and seizures alone cannot establish whether addiction is declining. More seizures may reflect stronger policing, greater supply or both. Continued access to treatment, fewer deaths and sustained recovery are essential measures of progress.
The Responsibility That Survives Defeat
For the Akali Dal, the question extends beyond government.
Losing office removed its executive authority. It did not remove its workers, village relationships or ability to organise community support. Its Panthic identity creates an expectation of responsibility that should remain active regardless of electoral fortunes.
That expectation does not make the party solely responsible for Punjab's crisis. It does invite scrutiny of whether its organisational reach has produced dependable support for affected families.
Current Outreach, And The Test Ahead
The Akali Dal has raised the drug issue at rallies and through constituency outreach. Harsimrat Kaur Badal's Maawan-Dheeyan campaign has highlighted women's experiences of addiction within their families. Her "Mai Bhago Maawan-Dheeyan Di Fauj" initiative seeks to mobilise women to report alleged drug traffickers and their patrons. Sukhbir Singh Badal's "Vibe Punjab Di" represents broader engagement with young people.
These efforts deserve recognition. Their lasting value will depend on whether engagement produces continuing assistance with treatment, rehabilitation and opportunities for youth. Political mobilisation provides a starting point; the Panthic claim creates an expectation of service beyond an election campaign.
What Followed The SGPC's Commitments?
Alongside the political question sits the institutional responsibility of the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee.
The SGPC is a separate religious body with its own mandate. Akali affiliation among members should not erase that distinction. Institutional independence, however, does not place public commitments beyond examination.
In 2018, the SGPC announced free treatment and langar at the de-addiction centre of Guru Ramdas Medical College and Hospital, alongside awareness work through gurdwaras and educational institutions. Its 2024 budget-session resolutions expressed concern about addiction. A rural outreach campaign announced in January 2026 encouraged young people to leave drugs and embrace Sikh values.
These commitments provide a basis for asking what endured.
How much funding was spent? How many villages received continuing support? How many people entered treatment and remained connected to care? Can families identify a dependable contact when someone relapses?
The answers would help distinguish short campaigns from lasting institutional work. Religious engagement can provide encouragement and belonging; its practical contribution should include connecting people to qualified treatment and continued support.
The Responsibility Beyond Office
The Akali Dal's recent campaigns offer an opportunity to rebuild trust. Their credibility will depend on what follows the rallies: continuing support for affected families, transparent commitments and the willingness to demand action against trafficking networks regardless of political affiliation.
The BJP shares responsibility for the coalition's decade in government, while subsequent governments must answer for their own records. The Akali Dal faces an additional test because of its claim to Panthic leadership and its longstanding roots in Punjab's villages: can it turn those relationships into dependable help for families struggling with addiction?
Losing power limited its administrative authority. Its community role remains. For affected families, the measure of leadership is whether help arrives and continues, whoever holds office.