Pakistan-sponsored Narco-Terror & soaring Heroin addiction cases cause of worry in J&K

A 42-year-old man from Jammu and Kashmir's Poonch has finally overcome his drug addiction after many years of struggle. The two years of heroin addiction shattered his life and his family. After spending 17 days in ‘Police Rehabilitation Service Centre’ in Eidgah area of Srinagar, he now hopes to rebuild his life. 

"I started with consuming alcohol. In 2007, I lost my wife. After her demise, I started consuming alcohol for a few years. One day I went to attend a party in Jammu. I was introduced to heroin there by my friends. They convinced me that the substance would help me to overcome the level of stress I was going through. First they gave me the substance free of cost but after a few months, I started paying to the drug peddlers. Half a gram of heroine would cost me Rs 1500 and I used to take that twice a day. Eventually, I became addicted. I ruined my life and the lives of my young kids, the 42-year-old recalled.

"I was earning good being a government employee; however, my earnings got impacted as I used spend it all buying heroin," he said.

According to the doctors, nearly 80% of drug users in the valley are addicted to heroin. Good number of all these patients suffer from critical illnesses like Hepatitis B or C.

Various methods like injecting the substance, snorting or inhaling are being adopted. Heroine is not only the costliest drug, it not only devastates the abuser but his family too,” said Director, Youth Development and Rehabilitation Centre Srinagar, Dr Muzzafar Khan.

“India doesn’t produce heroin. Heroine is produced in Afghanistan from where it goes to Pakistan. From Pakistan it’s illegally sent to us with the aim to destroy our future generation, many of them are taking treatment from my drug de-addiction centre,” Dr Khan revealed. "Four-five patients walk into the development and rehabilitation centre every day and the drug usage is rampant among youngsters between 17-25 age group, he added.

Women in addiction

The menace of drug abuse has not left the women of Kashmir untouched. There is a sizable chunk of the female population that is suffering from drug addiction. However, due to social stigma, women don't openly visit the de-addiction centres.

Cross-border Narco-Terrorism 

Additional Director General of Police, (Kashmir Zone) Vijay Kumar while talking to Republic TV said, “Pakistan-sponsored terrorism is at an all time low in Kashmir valley. A good number of Pakistani terrorists and local terrorist have been killed during anti-terror operations. Over ground workers (OGW) who provide support to terror organisations have been booked. In a way, body blow has been given to those who want to destabilise situation in the Valley,”

“Now, when arms and terror infiltration is becoming difficult, Pakistan is using the weapon of narcotics to finance terrorism and degenerate the youth of Jammu and Kashmir. However we have an eye on everything. We have a ‘zero tolerance’ policy and the seizures of a large number of drugs till date is indicative of the effectiveness of the policy. Our teams are working hard to eliminate Pakistan-sponsored terror modules in the Valley,” said ADGP Kumar.

Deputy Inspector General of Police (Central Kashmir) Sujit Kumar Singh said, “We are conducting regular crackdowns. Seizures of trucks full of quintals of narcotics that were driven into our territory under the garb of transporting dry fruits or fruits etc are the proof of the narco-terror game Pakistan is playing. Pakistani trucks that carried narcotics into our country are still in our possession.”

“Pakistan is trying hard to fund the terrorists. However, Jammu & Kashmir Police along with other agencies have choked their finances by either seizing or freezing the assets of their stooges,” he added.

JKP’s initiative: ‘Youth Development and Rehabilitation Centre in Srinagar’

The centre provides help to hundreds of abusers who have been treated in these centres. The staff help them to give up dreadful consumption and to lead a normal life. The centre has Psychiatrist (1) counsellors (6) social workers (2), Medical officers (2) Yoga teacher (1) and other infrastructure to treat drug addicted patients.