Actor Sanjay Dutt at Chandigarh University on Monday. (Express photo: Jasbir Malhi) Actor Sanjay Dutt at Chandigarh University on Monday. (Express photo: Jasbir Malhi)

“I was a drug addict too,” said actor Sanjay Dutt during the launch of “Drug free India” campaign at Chandigarh University on Monday. The event which is dubbed as the “biggest fight against drugs in India” was also attended by Art of Living founder Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Punjab Governor V P Singh Badnore, pop singer Badshah, comedian Kapil Sharma and Punjabi Singer Gurdas Mann.

“It was an early morning and I was feeling hungry then I asked our servant for some food. He replied that I was sleeping for two days. I went to washroom and in the mirror I saw my face and it was horrifying like that of a dead person,” Dutt said adding how his father sent him to the US from de-addiction treatment for two years.

“After coming back to India, I took a pledge to help our youth in making a drug-free society,” he said. At the event, which was live streamed in about 12,000 colleges and universities across the country, Badshah said Punjabi youth are known for their valour and bravery but now more than half of the youth had fallen prey to drugs.

“I was a student at Punjab Engineering College (PEC) and I had a friend who was a better rapper than me but he was a drug addict. I asked him why you are doing this to your life. He told me that it makes him more creative, but today here I am before you and he is no more,” said Badshah, adding that he has never been a drug addict and has pledged not to let others use drugs.

Ravi Shankar also addressed thousands of students during the event. He said, “Every youth has a creative element in him and it is necessary to identify the individual creative skills and hone these instead of indulging in drugs.” He also said that rallies will be held in different cities across the country on March 10 to fight against drugs.

During the hour-long event, students took a pledge, ‘’Na karoonga na karne doonga (We will never do drugs ourselves, nor allow others to do so).’’

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address students across many colleges and universities of the country on Tuesday. Nearly 1 crore students will take the pledge to uproot drug addiction from the society. Many Bollywood actors, including Aamir Khan, Sonakshi Sinha, and Varun Dhawan, have extended their support to the campaign.

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