Jammu and Kashmir Deputy Chief Minister Surinder Choudhary has termed drug abuse as the biggest issue facing the Union Territory, stating that it is “killing our race.” He urged J&K Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha to direct the police to take stronger action against drug trafficking.
Surinder Choudhary stressed the need to raise awareness against drug abuse and called on the Director General of Police (DGP) ro take the lead, “Banning liquor is fine, but the biggest issue for J&K is drugs… It is killing our race. It (drugs) has started to reach our homes. I want to request LG (Manoj Sinha) to tighten police and Director General (DG) to raise awareness on this in public forums…”
“It is a disease. Once, there was not a trace of drugs in Jammu and Kashmir…It should be stopped,” he told reporters.
On the restoration of J&K’s statehood, he said, “In our first Cabinet meeting, we fulfilled the promise made by Omar Abdullah’s government… Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister (Amit Shah) have assured that J&K’s land and employment will not be given to outsiders, and it will be declared a special state…”
Meanwhile, Jammu and Kashmir National Conference (JKNC) MLA Ahsan Pardesi has introduced a Private Member Bill in the J&K Assembly seeking to ban the sale and consumption of liquor in Kashmir and other Muslim-majority regions of the Union Territory.
He had told media, “A few days back, I submitted a Private Member Bill in the Assembly, regarding the prohibition of sale and consumption of liquor in Kashmir. It is a common demand that liquor should be banned in Kashmir. Islam doesn’t allow this. If liquor can be banned in a state like Bihar, then why can’t it be done in Kashmir, which is a Muslim-majority region?” (ANI)
