After petroleum and arms, the drug trade is considered to be one of the largest businesses in the world. The main proponents of drug addiction are heroin, opium, cocaine, marijuana etc.
Drug addiction, commonly called as substance use disorder (SUD) is a psychological disorder that directly affects a person’s neuro-biology and leads to the inability to control the use of any legal or illegal drug. According to National Institutes of Health (NIH), addiction is defined as a long term, relapsing disorder characterized by compulsive drug seeking, continued use despite detrimental consequences, and long lasting changes in the brain. Over the years the drug abuse pattern has touched new horizons which have become an alarming situation in the valley.
Young age group has taken on to alternative cheaper means of drug abuse that includes nail polish, whitener, shoe polish etc. In just three years, Kashmir has witnessed 1500% increase in drug abuse. Most of the drugs coming from Pakistan are sold in Kashmir while a portion is being transported to other states such as Punjab. The people of Kashmir are led to dig their own graves while the finance generated by Pakistan is used to employ these very youth into anti national activities ranging from stone pelting to Fedayeen attacks. The Kashmir issue for Pakistan was never about integrating Kashmir to develop the area and live in harmony. It was always for diplomatic gains less humanity.
After repeated embarrassment from India in the past conflicts, proxy war by Pakistan has now taken the lowest of standards; to incapacitate the innocent youth of their dreams/ aspirations and join terrorism with a facade of religion and Jihad. Ideas of the failures of government, unemployment and poverty and Hindu-Muslim polarity are fed into the minds of the youth to generate distrust for the nation. Traffickers are better accustomed to the terrain of this region; hence, they easily escape the radar of security forces. Second, the corridor is near terrorist affected areas who exploit it for expanding their revenues and arms smuggling.
This is a dire situation for Kashmir since the human resource in this area which is our nation’s asset is dwindling. Hence, growing drug abuse, especially by the youth, will render our demographic dividend useless. Fourth, the moral fabric of the Kashmiri society is the most affected one due to drug abuse. Families are destroyed yet they are threatened by the mafia to seek support from the Government bodies, which includes security forces. The instability created by Pakistan is a breeding area to feed anti India sentiments into these young populations.
Awareness programmed must be laid out all across Kashmir by the NGOs and Government agencies. Indian Army, due to its efficiency in dealing with Information Warfare, can be tasked to do the same. Rehabilitation and de-addiction centers must be opened for the public so that the parents and family members can help their wards resume their normal life.
This is the sole responsibility of the State Government. Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985 must be more robust than ever. It will help the executive bodies to seize illicit drugs and peddlers. Also Public Safety Act should be tightened up in drug affected areas. Search operations on traffic check-posts and suspected houses should be carried out aggressively by the local police and security forces to apprehend the traffickers.
This will also place fear among peddlers and traffickers to operate in the area.
