Chew on this: Three years after ban, the ‘Gutka Mafia’ is still active

Gutka and mainpuri prepared and sold openly in defiance of the law.

KARACHI: In 2011, the Sindh government imposed a ban on the manufacturing and sale of gutka and mainpuri across the province. Three years on, no steps have been taken to implement the ban, with betel nut shops openly flouting it and selling both, The Express Tribune learnt on Sunday.

“Gutka and mainpuri cause cancer and other mouth-related diseases,” said Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) official Dr Qaiser Sajjad. He added that these items were usually prepared from low-quality ingredients, such as betel nuts and colorants, which often carried fungal impurities and caused liver cancer.

“The most serious side-effect of prolonged use of gutka and mainpuri is the risk of cancer in the gums, mouth, throat, lungs, stomach, prostate and oesophagus,” said Sajjad.

He urged the Sindh government to ensure the effective implementation of the ban, and went on to say that PMA research indicated that these items, harmful to human health, were being sold openly under the auspices of corrupt police officials across the province.

The ban was imposed under Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure by the Sindh home department in November 2011, prohibiting the preparation, manufacture and sale of gutka and mainpuri in Sindh, immediately and until further notice.

Police officers up to the rank of assistant sub-inspectors were authorised to register complaints in writing against violators of the ban under Section 188 of the Pakistan Penal Code.

Karachi commissioner Shoaib Ahmed Siddiqui said that he too was aware of this menace in society. According to him, the deputy commissioner of District Central arrested 200 people involved in the preparation and selling of gutka and mainpuri in a crackdown against the ‘Gutka Mafia’ last week.

“I have also told all district administrations to restart the crackdown and conduct raids against betel nut shops, so that we can halt the spread of cancer,” said Siddiqui.

“Both these items are a serious problem in the entire South Asian region,” he further said. “Society itself must struggle to get rid of this poison.”

Published in The Express Tribune, September 1^st, 2014.