Selling mouth cancer for Rs3
When the ban, recommended by health authorities because chewing gutka regularly is a major cause of mouth and throat cancer, was first put in place, the police did stir. A few raids were carried out against sellers, kiosk owners were issued warnings - but then gradually things settled down.
You can still buy a wide variety of gutka from a wider variety of shops. Some of the more creative gutka brands include Bombay, one-2-one, 2100, JM, doctor and Pan Parag, and almost all are priced between Rs3 to Rs8.
According to a survey by The Express Tribune, many gutka suppliers in Sukkur are wholesalers. They almost always have a general store and dealing in gutka is just a lucrative side-business for them. Several of the wholesalers in the market at Nishter Road are involved. A hundred sachets of Pan Parag are sold at Rs260. The rate applies for all retailers and concessions are hard to come by. Many of the buyers come from the outskirts of Sukkur and nearby cities and towns.
A shopkeeper, who had come from Pannu Aqil, was purchasing general store items such as soaps, toothpastes, shampoos and deodorants along with a large quantity of Pan Parag. He said that he runs a general store in Pannu Aqil, where he also sells gutka. A lot of people consume gutka in the rural areas, he informed, adding that he earns more than 100 per cent profit on its sale.
Other than the wholesalers and general stores, several pan shops in Sukkur also sell gutka.
Consumers vary in ages and backgrounds but it is ironic that policemen are always chewing on betel leaves while they patrol the streets. Rickshaw drivers, labourers, teenaged boys, and in some cases working women, are habitual users. With the increase in demand, there is also a reported increase in smuggling of gutka from India.
Perhaps the worst of the consumers are the young boys who dismiss any caution on the harmful effects of gutka. A group of minors, between nine to 11 years old, were buying gutka from a pan shop at Jinnah Chowk. When asked why they were buying it, one of them replied that gutka energises them. “We feel lighter, almost like we’re flying,” an enthusiastic boy added.
Warnings about the dangers of gutka only elicited an ‘Aray uncle kuch nahi hota’ from them and the little group walked off, laughing.
A few domestic maids who are addicted to gutka explained that it helps them relax while at the same time it gives them energy, which they need for their hard work.
Dr Lutufullah Dharejo, the in-charge at a food laboratory in Rohri, told The Express Tribune that gutka does not contain anything edible. Its ingredients consist of betel nut, calcium lime, tobacco and katha. Gutka discolours teeth and its prolonged use causes permanent damage to teeth, Dr Dharejo explained. It also damages the digestive and nervous system. A combination of betel nut and tobacco could cause throat infections, which in the long run can turn into throat cancer.
DPO Sukkur confirmed that gutka was being bought and sold all over the city. He also admitted that the police were quite lax when it came to implementing the ban. “It is due to their slackness that the sale of gutka has gone up so much,” he said. However, he promised to direct the officials to take ‘strict action’ against shopkeepers involved.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 21st, 2010.
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