Despite the ban on the manufacture, sale and consumption of gutka in Karachi by the City District Government Karachi (CDGK), there are nearly 500 paan shops in the village of Ibrahim Hyderi, out of which 200 sell gutka. The addictive paste is usually supplied to the entire city from here. Even though it is banned in the city, manufacturers usually buy raw materials for gutka from Karachi openly.
Gutka is also easily available everywhere in the city — Landhi, Korangi crossing to Qayumabad, Nazimabad, New Karachi, Akhtar Colony and Saddar are just some of the areas where it is available. Besides Karachi, it is also available all over the province, especially in Thatta and Badin districts. In fact, the demand for gutka is so high that some of the cabins are selling anywhere between 160kg to 200kg of gutka daily.
A mixture of betel nuts, choona (limestone), katha, tobacco, ispaghol that is sometimes tinged with opium, gutka is a highly addictive mixture popular among the lower income groups of the city.
Haroon Rajai, a gutka addict, said that all his family members which includes his four-year-old son as well as an octogenarian are addicted to gutka. Another gutka consumer, Gulam Hussain told The News that “when I don’t get gutka, my mind does not work. I feel lethargic.” He added that he consumes five to six packets of gutka every day, thus spending Rs25 to Rs30 daily. Some of the addicts consume up to 12 packets daily. According to one gutka consumer, “the consumers have gone broke buying it, while the sellers have made millions.”
There are several types of gutka. However, the locally known substance choru is considered the most dangerous of all. “It gets you hooked onto the substance,” said one consumer, adding that “if you don’t get charas (marijuana) it is fine, but if you don’t get choru, and you don’t have the money to buy it, you will beg for it.”
Anwar, a manufacturer, who claims that he does not add choru to his brand of gutka, said that “we keep betel nut wet for the whole night. Then, we mix choona and katha in it the next day.” Anwar is also a consumer. Whenever the quantity of choona is more than what is normal, it causes a burning sensation in the mouth. Anwar said that it is actually tobacco that causes addiction. “Shopkeepers use tobacco as dressing on gutka which leads to addiction,” he said.
The tobacco that is used for the dressing is named Zaunr, chota Raja Jani, bara Raja Jani, 800 tobacco, Shahzadi, Dilnasheen, and Chandan.
Interestingly enough, gutka is not openly manufactured anymore. It is mostly manufactured in houses as the so-called ban has made it illegal to produce gutka.
One manufacturer, on condition of anonymity, told The News that they pay nearly Rs2,000 per month as bribe to the police so that they can sell gutka freely. He added that “whenever there is a ban or there are chances of a raid, the manufacturers are immediately alerted by the police.” He also that he does not use any drugs while making the substance. Moreover, he added that at the same time, other police stations take bhatta (protection money) from both consumers as well as the sellers. If they are unable to pay, they are arrested. Anwar, however, said that he does not pay protection money to the police anymore. “When I had my cabin I paid them, but now I don’t. Once they took me also,” he added.
Unfortunately, It is not just the consumption of gutka that is dangerous. Manufacturing it is equally harmful to human health. The labour involved in the production wears plastic gloves while mixing the choona and katha – given the corrosive nature of both these things and its adverse affect on skin — with betel nuts for protection.
Sadly, the degree of the addiction in general consumers is such that most of them carry stocks of gutka with them while traveling, as one consumer said: “I keep it with me in case it is not available where I’m visiting. I cannot live without choru.”