In Punjab, the highway to 2027

On October 13, anti-drug crusader Parvinder Singh Jhota, 40, was shot dead in broad daylight in Punjab’s Mansa town. A fortnight later, his last rites had still not been held. A stretch of road in the town’s Tikoni area has become a protest ground from where giant hoardings declare the slain activist a martyr, urging people not to mourn his death but to protect his ideals and carry forward the fight against drugs. Punjab has been battling drug addiction for more than two decades.

A steady crowd, including the elderly and young people, women and men, continue to arrive at the pucca morcha (permanent sit-in protest) site, making their way past barricades and signboards. Traffic police have set up diversions, but the people’s resolve to stay for the long haul is clear.