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225. Evidence of ABDUL RASHID KHAN, Secretary, Municipal Board, Koil,
Aligarh.
1. From my own knowledge and experience;
also practised medicines, and so did rather, brother,
and grandfather.
2. Bhang is not cultivated in Aligarh, but it is
naturally grown in gardens during the rains.
Charas is imported by Kabulis as well as ganja
from up-country.
3. I have stated that it is spontaneously grown
in some of the gardens in Aligarh and also in some
parts of the Shahjehanpore district.
4. Both ganja and charas are obtained from
hemp plant. It is stated that in the up-country*
hemp plant is grown, and when dews fall over the
plants ashes obtained from burning dried branches
of the different trees are sprinkled or thrown over
the plants, whereby dew sticks itself in the leaves
of the plants and the Kabulis pass through the
plants wearing leather garments in the morning
and the said sticked dews is transferred or restrict-
ed in the said garments, and that when they come
out of the field, the sticked stuff is scratched from
the garments in question and collected for consump-
tion or exportation. Any stocked quantity of the
stuff saved in the leaves is scratched therefrom and
after that the leaves themselves are taken off and
used as third class charas. Thus there are 3 classes
of the charas in question.
As regards ganja it is the leaves of the flowers
of the hemp plant. In the Aligarh district the
population name the said materials as bhang, ganja
and charas.
5. In the culturable area of land during the
rains.
6. Dense.
7. (a) No.
(b) No.
(c) No.
(d) No.
It is grown itself. It is used as medicine. Dur-
ing the rains it is grown in small quantity in the
corners of the garden and it is dense.
14. No.
19. Ganja and charas are used in smoking.
20. It is smoked generally by the Hindu fakirs
as well as by the persons resorting to their huts
located specially in the baghs or gardens in the
neighbourhood of the town of Aligarh. The
persons resorting are generally of low caste of
Hindus.
21. The persons presently smoking the said
stuffs are not aware of the classes. They smoke
as they obtain from shops opened in the bazars.
22. Foreign charas is used which is imported
from up-country.
23. No.
24. In Aligarh about 20 per cent. of the ban-
nias, Brahmans, Kayasths, and other low castes of
people such as kahars and kolis, etc., drink bhang.
25. It is on increase.
29. In Aligarh the habitual drunkards consume
or drink bhang with black pepper, and there are
few who mix zira or cummin seed and sonf or
aniseed, because the pepper, the sonf and zira
purges the costiveness of the stomach and intes-
tines resulting from the consumption of bhang.
As bhang is diuretic it is used for running or
gonorrhea disease. Its ingredients are tea, sonf or
aniseed, sandal (white), and cinnamon or darchini.
These ingredients are boiled with water and after
straining the water bhang is infused in it and after
passing a night it is strained and mixing syrup of
bazuri or refrigerated seed in it, it is used or drunk
by persons for above diseases.
Bhang is also applied to swelling of testicles.
It is ground with a little opium, cotton seed, red
earth and vinegar. It is also used with leaf of
castor tree to the said swelling. It is also burnt
and its smoke is applied to the swelling and pain
resulted by the pile disease in the private part of
the body.
30. As far as I know I have seen these stuffs
are generally used in company. It is used by male
sex generally.
31. Persons resorting to the drunkards' assembly
are generally in habit of using these drugs. There
are very few persons who join the assembly and do
not use the drugs in question.
32. According to the Muhammadan religion
bhang use is strictly prohibited, and it is an order
that if a drop thereof happened to fall over any
part of the body that part be scratched or cut with
a sharp knife. With regard to the use of bhang
among Hindus it is commonly allowed. During
the festivals of Holi and Dewali, it is commonly
used by all castes among Hindus in the shape of
sweetmeat which is made by halwais or sweetmeat-
sellers and sold generally in the markets. Its use
in this way does not seem injurious anyhow.
33. Hindus following or worshipping their sacred
Mahadeo are strictly obliged to drink the bhang,
because it is said that it is expressed somewhere in
their sacred religious books that their acred
Mahadeoji when he betrothed Parbatiji had taken
a cup of the drug, that is, bhang.
35. The prohibition would of course put to some
inconvenience to the habitual consumers till they
learn to replace it with some other kind of drug,
such as opium. The prohibition can be enforced
without any political danger. The prohibition
should not be made at once, but it should be
arranged to issue orders to the sellers to raise
high price rates of the drugs and to sell to pur-
chasers less quantity and not as much as he
would like to buy. Thus from time to time orders
be issued to that effect whereby consumers will be
restrained to pay and will undoubtedly leave their
habits.
In my opinion the best way to save the popula-
tion from the dangers resulted by use of bhang,
charas, ganja and opium would be to prohibit or
stop the selling of the said drugs altogether from
India.
A list of the habitual consumers of the drugs in
question be ordered to be prepared at each locality
in the inhabited areas and kept up with the leading
well-to-do inhabitants or zamindars and in the
Government dispensaries as well as with the native
doctors, the hakims and the influential officers or
officials in the Governmment employ.
Medicines, that remove effects of the drugs and
prevent dangers of diseases resulting from leaving
the habits of consuming the drugs in question, be
prepared and kept with the said influential bodies
with directions to distribute it to the consumers
vol. v.
Village Awazni in Peshawar.
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