This past Christmas a toxic drink took some 35 lives in a Christian locality of Toba Tek Singh. Quite a few others are still undergoing treatment. As to who served the toxic drink there is some confusion, but the most popular version is that somebody 'bought' it from the 'maalkhana' of the local police station. Residents of the area where this tragedy took place allege that a sweeper at the Chuttiana police station had sold the liquor to one of the residents who in turn sold some of it and distributed the rest as a Christmas 'present'. Some 60 persons enjoyed the lethal moonshine. The government has instituted an inquiry into the circumstances as to who sold the confiscated liquor and why it took almost a whole day for the sick and dying to be taken to a hospital. The government is also said to have agreed to look into the affected community's demands that include a suitable compensation for the families of the deceased, a judicial inquiry into the tragedy and a firm legal action against the culprits.

What happened this past Christmas has happened before. In March, tainted liquor killed at least 24 members of Hindu community in Tando Mohammad Khan. In October, 11 died after they consumed toxic alcohol in Punjab. In 2014, some 40 were killed in Sindh by the moonshine. As a matter of routine, the minorities in Pakistan celebrate their holy days with great fervour, as some parts of them by consuming homebrewed liquor which is often tainted with deadly chemicals. And also as a matter of routine investigations are launched to determine the causes and reasons, but at the end nothing comes out of them. That should not be the case anymore. Both the local government authorities and community leaders must come up with a workable solution to this lingering problem. The Punjab government, in particular, must seriously investigate as to how the confiscated tainted liquor that was in its possession was allowed to be taken out and sold. The guilty should be identified and brought to the book. But no less critical is the role of the community leaders in keeping an eye on those who were bootlegging the toxic drink on the august occasion like Christmas or Holi. One must not lose sight of the fact that adulteration of eatables, spurious medicines and illegal sale of narcotics is rampant in the country. The authorities concerned are either too conniving or too helpless.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2017