✒️:. Umar Farooq
Kashmir, once a paradise of breathtaking valleys and flowing rivers, now stands beneath a heavy sky filled with sorrow. The land once celebrated for its beauty and poetry is drowning in a wave far deadlier than the conflict that scarred it for decades.
The enemy today does not wear the face of politics or war. It comes wrapped in paper, hidden in syringes, and courses through the veins of its youth. It is addiction, a cruel and relentless force that has chained a generation to darkness and despair. It has left behind broken homes, silenced laughter, and prayers that echo unanswered through the mist-filled valleys.
According to data from the Indian Parliament and the Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (IMHANS) Srinagar, more than 1.35 million people across Jammu and Kashmir are battling drug addiction, a sharp rise from 350,000 only a few years ago. Nearly 90 percent are addicted to heroin. Among them are thousands of minors, children barely in their teens, already trapped in a nightmare that offers no mercy.
Every day, more than 52,000 young Kashmiris inject themselves with deadly substances. The poison flows not just through their bodies but through the hearts of their families and communities. One look into the eyes of a mother in a rehabilitation ward tells a story no statistic can capture. This tragedy is measured not in numbers but in tears.
The story of a 24-year-old woman from Srinagar, whose name is withheld for privacy, speaks for many. Once a dreamer who longed to become a flight attendant, she now sits trembling on a hospital bed, her hands scarred by heroin injections. Her mother wipes her tears between prayers as doctors warn of infections that could soon take her life. She is not an exception but a reflection. Thousands across Kashmir fade away each day, consumed by an addiction that began as escape and ended as captivity.
Unemployment, mental stress, and decades of violence have left deep wounds in Kashmir’s youth. When dreams dry up, heroin fills the void. IMHANS reports treating nearly 150 new drug addiction cases every day, most involving heroin. Many of these patients are between 17 and 33 years old, the very age that should bloom with hope and ambition. The syringe has replaced the textbook, the alley has replaced the classroom, and addiction has swallowed what should have been the dawn of a generation. It is a war without gunfire but with casualties greater than any battle.
Kashmir’s geographical proximity to the Golden Crescent, the region covering Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iran, has made it a transit route and now a consumption hub for narcotics. Smugglers exploit Kashmir’s vulnerable youth, turning despair into profit. An average addict spends about Rs 88,000 a month to sustain the habit, pushing many into crime, theft, and debt. Families sell their last possessions for treatment or give up in silence.
Hospitals overflow. Doctors warn of a public health emergency. Yet the most painful truth lies in the betrayal that sustains this crisis. Many families whisper that some among the police have shielded drug traffickers. While many officers risk their lives to clean the streets, corruption among a few has allowed this poison to spread unchecked. Dealers are arrested only to walk free soon after. Bribes change hands. The result is despair so deep that people now see the system not as a protector but as an accomplice.
In some districts, honest police officers have launched serious crackdowns, bringing a glimmer of hope. But these efforts are small compared to the scale of the crisis. People do not ask for pity. They ask for accountability. They do not seek applause for raids. They demand transparency, compassion, and consistent action. The poison in Kashmir’s veins will not stop until corruption is cut from its roots.
Faith remains the last refuge. Islam, the moral and spiritual foundation of the valley, forbids intoxicants as destructive to both body and soul. The Qur’an declares:
“O you who believe! Intoxicants, gambling, idols, and divining arrows are an abomination of Satan’s handiwork. So avoid them that you may be successful.” (Surah Al-Maidah 5:90)
These are not mere words of warning but a call to life. Addiction is not just a physical illness; it is spiritual decay. Yet Islam also teaches mercy. The Prophet’s teachings remind us that those trapped in addiction deserve help, not judgment. Addiction is an illness before it is a crime. It must be treated with empathy, not condemnation.
The path forward begins with awareness and collective action. Rehabilitation centers must become sanctuaries of healing, not neglected institutions. Parents must speak openly. Neighbors must care. Schools must educate before drugs reach young hands. The government must invest in mental health, counseling, and job creation. When society provides no purpose, poison finds a place. Hope is the antidote Kashmir needs most.
The mothers of Kashmir, those silent warriors of faith, continue to wait at their windows, praying their sons return home clean and alive. Their faith is unbroken, their tears endless. Many have buried children younger than twenty, yet they still pray for every addict still fighting.
Every tear shed in these mountains is a plea for mercy—from God, from society, from those in power. It is a call for justice that will not fade with time. Beneath the despair breathes the possibility of redemption. Healing will begin when compassion replaces silence, and truth replaces denial.
The Qur’an reminds us: “Do not throw yourselves into destruction with your own hands.” (2:195) The message is clear. Survival lies in solidarity, not silence.
Kashmir can rise again. Not by erasing pain but by confronting it with honesty and empathy. This land of poets, saints, and warriors must not become a graveyard for its children. It deserves to live again, to see its rivers run clear with promise instead of pain, to see its youth rise to purpose and faith.
The fight against addiction is not a war of punishment. It is a war of healing. Every life saved, every soul recovered, is a victory greater than gold. The time for silence has ended. The time for awakening has come.
Kashmir must stand. Kashmir must heal. Kashmir must rise.
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