It is commonly seen that people leave their country and settle abroad, and then reach heights that make their entire nation proud. However, in recent times, the actions of Punjabis who have come to Canada from Punjab have been such that not just Punjab but the entire country feels ashamed. Innocent Sikh youths from Punjab are lured to Canada, where they are forced into drug trafficking or pushed into sex rackets. Once these young people reach there, they have no choice but to follow the orders of such people, as they have invested their family’s entire savings to step onto foreign soil. Many of these families even take heavy loans to send their children abroad.
Recently, a Canadian truck driver, Amarjeet Singh Matharu, was arrested in Arizona for attempting to smuggle 250 kilograms of cocaine, with an estimated value of 32 million dollars (₹276.7 crore). The police found the drugs hidden in his truck, which was en route from California to Canada. This is not the first such case, and similar incidents continue to surface. Earlier, in October 2024, 29-year-old Sukhjinder Singh, a resident of the Peel region, was arrested by the St. Clair County Sheriff’s Office after police seized 370 pounds of cocaine from his semi-tractor trailer during a traffic stop in Port Huron.
If we look at it, a true Sikh would never be involved with drugs, as Guru Gobind Singh Ji founded the Khalsa Panth to strongly oppose social evils like addiction and to always work for the welfare of humanity. The horse that Guru Sahib once rode would even avoid stepping on land where tobacco was grown. However, incidents like these tarnish the image of the entire Sikh community. Sikh intellectual Harjeet Singh believes that the people of Punjab must seriously consider this issue and refrain from sending their children abroad. By doing so, not only will their families and society avoid disgrace, but it will also help curb the criminal tendencies of those who exploit the migration of Punjabis to engage in criminal activities in other states, bringing shame to Punjab. Therefore, to avoid this double blow, Punjabis must change their thinking.
