Srinagar, Feb 26: As part of its commitment to make people aware about the menace of drug-abuse, South Asia Center for Peace and Peoples Empowerment (SACPPE) in collaboration with local masjid and mohalla committees of Chattabal in Srinagar on Sunday organized a day-long event, here.
The event was attended by a large number of people, including heads of mohalla committees, masjid committees and youth, who vowed that they would put every effort in their area to eradicate the menace of drugs.
Speaking on the occasion, Majid Ahmad President Intizamiya Committee Jamia Masjid Ahlee-Hadees, Zampa Kadal, Chattabal said that they will form teams of volunteers who will keep an eye on the activities of drug peddlers in the area.
“If any person is found involved in supplying or promoting drugs in the society, he will be thrown out of the area and his property will be seized. Drugs cause harm to the person himself, to his family and children, and to his society and nation,” he said.
Rehan Ahmad Shah, a businessman from the area said heroin has ruined thousands of people and their families in the Valley in recent years. “If not curbed soon, heroin could ruin the lives of Kashmiri youth. Unfortunately, religious leaders whose discourses are taken very seriously, seldom speak against drug abuse within the society,” he said.
“Religious leaders must seriously discuss drug abuse during religious gatherings and teach people what Quran and Prophet (SAW) say against drug abuse. The religious leaders at mohalla and village level should work with community elders, civil society members, and the administration to overcome the challenge of drug abuse implanted on Kashmiri youth by the forces inimical to peace in Kashmir,” he urged.
Dr Mubashir Jan, Assistant Transport Commissioner, who was chief guest on the occasion, said it is the right time for the society to introspect and take a serious note of drug menace which has polluted the society.
While urging the people to follow the teachings of Islam to take the society out of this menace, he said religion’s contribution to prevent people from falling victim to substance abuse and helping them recover from it is huge.
“Moral education in educational institutions, engaging youth in sports and other activities can keep them away from drugs. Society as a whole has to join hands to put an end to the epidemic of drugs,” Jan added.
While quoting a recent study done by the Government Medical College’s Psychiatry department, he said Kashmir has surpassed Punjab in drug abuse cases and is currently at the number two position among the top drug abuser states in the country.
“Drugs are easily available across the Valley and once people get addicted to these substances, they go to any extent to get them. The abusers in the valley have also become the dealers of these drugs which is an alarming situation,” he added.
Manzoor Ahmad Lala, a shopkeeper said that methods used by the administration to implement transformation need to become evolved to check the menace of drug addiction.
“The harm drugs cause to society is evident in the huge destruction of wealth, which affects the man’s interests and leads to the failure to fulfill duties and loss of public trusts, whether that has to do with the interests of the state, institutions or individuals. Drugs destroy moral values,” he said.
Others who spoke on the occasion included Mir Waseem Ahmad , Mushtaq Ahmad Mir, Shabir Ahmad Lone and Riyaz Ahmad Dar.
SACPPE is a government registered, non-profit and apolitical organisation which is working for the cause of all round development of the society and promotion of education, research and learning.
