In order to target youths and channelling finance for Pakistan-backed terror activities, Islamabad is using narco-terrorism as a new weapon in its proxy war against India in the Kashmir valley. Ayjaz Wani, writing in Observer Research Foundation (ORF) reported that Kashmir has witnessed an alarming rise in narco-terrorism and the apathy shown by religious leaders has only added to the problem due to their silence over the issue.
Kashmir Valley has seen a 2,000 per cent rise in heroin abuse in the last five years. Pakistan has now resorted to infiltrating large amounts of narcotics in Kashmir with the help of drones.
Jammu and Kashmir police chief Dilbag Singh dubbed the narco-terrorism from Pakistan as “the biggest challenge”. For the last 30 years, Pakistan has succeeded in breaking down the traditional methods of informal control system by introducing contesting religious ideologies such as Jamat-i-Islami, Salafism, and Tableeg.
These contesting ideologies have silenced the sane voices within society, making traditional social mores and identities irrelevant. Subsequently, people’s affiliation with these ideologies has divided society at the community level, fuelling increased deviant behaviour among the youth.
This unchecked deviant behaviour has been primarily responsible for the widespread rise in radicalism, extremism, and now drug abuse, said Wani. Rather than seriously discussing drug abuse and the role of Pakistan during such religious gatherings, the mullahs and religious leaders have stuck to their own teachings rather than the Quranic teachings and prophetic sayings against drug abuse.
The mullahs affiliated with these contesting ideologies deliver sermons on Fridays and festive days in mosques.
While they remain deeply invoked to their doctrines and their discourses are taken very seriously, they have never spoken against drug abuse within the society.
