AAP’s ‘War Against Drugs’ Turns to Vigilantism; Sikhs Rescue Girl in London

Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor Arvind Kejriwal and Panjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Singh Mann have launched the second phase of the anti-drug campaign Yudh Nasheya Virudh (War Against Drugs, YNV). YNV aims to strengthen the fight against drug abuse through local involvement and new technological measures. The campaign is set to focus on community-driven strategies and increased rehabilitation efforts. A key initiative in the second phase is the formation of Pind de Pehredaar (Village Guards Committees). Each village will assemble a ten-member committee tasked with leading anti-drug efforts locally, modelled after similar defense committees in border areas. These groups are intended to provide resources and coordination for prevention and reporting. To modernize the fight against drug abuse, the AAP government has launched a dedicated mobile application and a missed-call reporting number, allowing citizens to directly notify authorities of drug-related issues. The move shows the AAP government’s earlier policing-focused YNV Phase 1 from 1 Mar 2025, which is ongoing, has had limited success and the government now wants to involve locals in the campaign against drugs. Forming local committees to report drug abuse is vigilantism. With a history of vigilantism, AAP could be setting a dangerous precedent by misusing the law to potentially target and harass innocents. Meanwhile on 11 Jan, in London, around 200 Sikh men and women surrounded a council flat in Hounslow. They charged that a 34-year-old Afghan man was grooming a 16-year-old Sikh girl. The parents of the schoolgirl had approached a Gurdwara in Slough seeking help as they were worried about their daughter, who had left home to live with the man. Eventually, the police stepped in and the man was taken away in a police van and the girl went back to her family, who were part of the demonstration. Jaspal Singh of a social group Shere Panjab said, 'Why is it that Sikhs had to put a stop to this when police couldn’t? This is disgraceful. We are doing the police’s job. The Sikh community has been dealing with this for many years and we have had enough’ (earlier coverage).