there was a fierce protest against use of tobacco on World No Tobacco Day on Tuesday, against film stars Akshay Kumar, Ajay Devgan and Shahrukh Khan in Bhopal on Tuesday. The doctor, along with cancer victims, blackened faces of the three film stars’ poster in Piplani area. Not only this, effigies of all three were also burnt. Doctors and cancer victims were angry over these stars as they were advertising tobacco products. Dr Prashant Tripathi, who was leading the protest, told ‘The Hitavada’ that about 72 per cent of the population in the country is youth. In last two years, about 69,000 people have died of oral cancer in Madhya Pradesh. About 2.25 lakh people are undergoing treatment for oral cancer. Oral cancer is mainly caused by eating paan-supari and gutkha. Responsible film-stars advertise dangerous things like tobacco.

 

“The whole youth follow them, whatever these stars do, the youth also imitate the same,” the doctor said. Due to this, the trend of people chewing tobacco has increased. Prashant added that there are substances in tobacco that cause dreadful and deadly diseases like cancer. India has the highest number of deaths in the world. According to WHO, most of the deaths in Madhya Pradesh are due to cancer in India. Within a radius of about 200 meters from Bhopal, 22 out of every 100 people are chewing tobacco. During this demonstration, famous personalities of Hindi cinema world were also opposed, whom people of this country consider their idol and admire as their hero.

 

The same people become a part of misleading propaganda about the use of this deadly product just for commercial gain. Efforts are being made to promote their use. The doctor also said that due to dry environment of Madhya Pradesh, especially Bhopal, outbreak of oral cancer is spreading more. Gutkha and Supadi (betel-nut) are more prevalent in these areas. Poor quality supadi and gutka contain deadly ingredients. Due to this oral cancer is spreading rapidly in Madhya Pradesh.