Armed with rolling pins (belan), the ‘Belan Brigade’ has found a perfect recipe for drug and liquor-free elections in Punjab. It has added the ingredient of surveillance to stop political candidates from indulging in distribution of “free” liquor or drugs to woo voters during the elections.
And beware! This brigade will not think twice before using its weapon — belan — in case it finds someone distributing liquor and drugs during the elections. A brainchild of 42-year-old ludhiana-based architect Anita Sharma, the Belan Brigade’s main focus is curbing the “political parties’ malpractices to woo voters by providing nasha (intoxicants) on a daily basis to which people get addicted even after polls”.
“Recent studies have shown that 70 per cent of Punjab’s population are using drugs in one form or another, during elections, eight to ten per cent add up to this number, making things worse, which we want to check,” Anita Sharma told The Pioneer.
Alleging that political parties and politicians encourage use of nasha during the election, she said that some political parties and leaders even distributed people ‘parchis’ (slips), which they show in liquor shops and get free liquor.
The brigade has spread out its teams across Punjab, and so far, it has covered as many as 62 cities, including Chandigarh, in less than a month. “We have 63 teams comprising eight to ten people in each team. Besides, 50-60 NGOs are also working with us,” she said.
Running an NGO Navkiran Women Welfare Association, which she set up in 2003 to help the fair sex, Anita launched the ‘Belan Brigade’ in ludhiana on March 5. “The idea to form such a group arises out of the growing menace of drugs and liquor abuse in Punjab,” she added. Anita said that blocking the free flow of drugs and liquor would be the main focus of the brigade till April 30, the polling day in Punjab. But, later on, it would continue its efforts to check the prevalent social evils in the society.
Her brigade comprises housewives, professionals, working women and retired professors. "We are trying to rope in the women from slums, the labour class, farmers - who are the main target of these political parties considering their huge vote share - to be part of our campaign," said Anita.
But why is the name 'Belan Brigade'IJ "Belan is connected with a woman. It is a symbol of her strength…We would use this as a weapon to fight against the political parties indulging in illegal offerings during the elections," said Anita.
However, the brigade is not all-women group. Many male members have also been associated with it. "Our teams pay door-to-door visits to spread the message against liquor and drugs. Every team has one or two male members," said Anita.
Though the Brigade doesn't want political parties and the "politicians" to be part of its campaign, it is asking them to take pledge for not using these opiates during elections. "We had organised an event on Women's Day in ludhiana where all the candidates in the fray - SAD's Manpreet Singh Ayali, AAP's HS Phoolka, independent candidate Simarjeet Bains, and Congress' prospective candidate Manish Tewari - were asked to take the pledge. All, except Manish Tewari, came and took the pledge," she said.
Talking about the working and functioning of the brigade, Anita said: "We visit various areas, make the people aware against these evils and asked them not to accept political parties' illegal offerings. If we come to know about the distributions of liquor or drugs, we inform the police and file complaints. In some cases, we ourselves try to intervene." The Brigade has also sought a hotline telephone number from the Election Commission.