Tag: kashmir youth

Globalised Content

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With the internet offering people the superhighway of information and knowledge, youth living in the pre-digital periphery are getting virtually cosmopolitan by watching their choice of global content, reports Babra Wani
Boys Over Flowers, the Korean sensation that is basically a romantic comedy involving a poor girl and four brats
In 2014, Saba’s cousin showed her a Korean drama Boys Over Flowers. She enjoyed it to the last second of the episode. Owing to no access to the internet back home, she could watch the series. She lacked a laptop and a smartphone. Time passed normally, but Saba could not forget that episode.
“Somewhere in the back of my mind, I was hooked on that drama,” Saba said, almost a decade later. “I wanted to watch every episode of it.”
When Covid19 confined people to the four walls of their homes, Saba suddenly became a time-surplus person, who now was fortunate enough to have high-speed internet and a personal laptop too.
Having nothing better to do, she logged in to her laptop and started streaming the Korean drama online.
“The content is very addictive”, said Saba as she recalled herself binge-watching the entire series, episode after episode. Currently pursuing her master’s at the University of Kashmir, Saba recalled how she used to recharge add-ons internet packs for extra data to watch dramas. Watching the series that is credited for creating the Korean Wavein Asia triggered an insatiable desire in Saba to keep exploring and watching other Korean dramas and web series. “In a period of a few months, I have completed more than a hundred Korean dramas, movies, and web series.”
Globalised Content
For decades, the only source of entertainment in Kashmir used to be the state-run Doordrashan. Generations grew up consuming the hilarious content of Nazir Joshs and Shaadi Lal Kouls. They have a fervent following in the senior generation to this date.

As the decades progressed, the Joshs and Kouls were slowly replaced by the Western star casts. Millennials began dictating the production and consumption of content. Even if the language barrier was there, subtitles provided an easy route to understanding different linguistic realms. Characters like The Professor from the popular Spanish series, The Money Heist and Player 456 from The Squid Game found global acceptance. They became symbols of globalization.
Shadi Lal Koul (L) on the sets of a TV serial. Koul, a popular Kashmiri actor, died July 2020 after fighting a serious disease for a long time.
Rakshanda Altaf, an agriculture student, is also an avid fan of Korean content. Off late, she is enchanted with Japanese and Chinese dramas.
“I actually began watching Korean dramas during Covid19 lockdown and then I shifted to Japanese and Chinese content,” she said, “I love how their dramas and the content is concise and you know maximum a series will last is for some 50 episodes, unlike Indian dramas which are spread across generations.”
For Mahek, a student at the University of Kashmir, the introduction to the world of K-dramas was through her peers. In 2017, when she was in school, she started watching Cinderella and the Four Knights – a drama with four handsome leads. She said her friends found themselves attracted to the series.
Downloading the series in her pen drive from her friend’s laptop, marked the new normality. An avid consumer of Indian soap operas, Mahek changed. The Korean content lacked a match with what she was consuming earlier. “I gave up on watching Indian serials.” For Mahek, it was the storyline, the content and the cast of the series which attracted her interest. Slowly, she started watching Chinese and Thai content as well.
The Hallyu Craze
Not only that, Mahek also began downloading Korean language learning apps to learn the language and tried making Korean friends as well. “I have downloaded tons of apps to learn more about Korean culture. I know a few words as well, like oppa, which means older brother, or Saranghae. which means I love you. Every K-drama watcher will be familiar with these words,” Mahek said. For her and many other Hallyu fans the Korean culture, language and everything related to Korea looks intriguing and exciting.
For the unversed, Hallyu is a popular China-origin term used for the Korean wave, when in the 1990s people outside Korea first learned about Korean content. Then slowly it was in 2012 when Psy’s (a Korean singer) Gangnam Style became a worldwide hit and then with the emergence of BTS, which holds the title of the world’s biggest boy band and Blackpink, an all-girls group, the Korean entertainment industry became a worldwide phenomenon.
Not Just Korean
The profile of consumers of such content ranges from teenagers to adults in their late twenties and early thirties. Hafsoah Ahmed, who is currently pursuing her doctorate degree, started off by watching the famous American series, Friends. From there, she digressed towards anime.
“It was the quality and the quantity of the content that first attracted me towards the series. The acting, the direction, the presentation, everything is A1 in the international series,” Ahmed said. “I like how the information and the content of the message of the series are put across. How it is presented and addressed.”
Hafsoah thinks she is an introvert and not so “outdoorsy” so she just spent all her time watching these international series.
Dramas like Friends, The Big Bang Theory, Gray’s Anatomy became quite popular among Kashmir youth at the beginning of the year 2020. However, it was not just in 2020 back in 2019 as well when the internet was shut down in Kashmir, people especially youth relied on foreign series and movies to keep themselves entertained.
The Ertugrul Era
In 2020, the Turkish series Ertugrul became a massive hit among Kashmiris across all age groups. It is a period drama detailing the struggle of Turkish herdsmen to have their own state against the interests of the crusaders, Mongols and Seljuks. At one point in time, this series was the sole big factor behind the mass sale of hard drives and storage devices.
A scene from Diriliz Urtugrul, the popular Turkish period drama showing the main charceters – Urtugrul, Haleema and Hayme Hatun
Soon, the Ertugrul’sKayiTribe-inspired skull caps were flooding the market. The fame of Ertugrul also resulted in an increase in the viewership of some other Turkish dramas and series. Kurulus Osman, a spin-off of the Ertugual series also saw an overwhelming response from the Kashmiri audiences. People still continue to watch the Ertugrul series. A Kayi tribe theme-based restaurant was also opened in one of the areas in Srinagar’s Shehr-e-Khas.
Perhaps the Turk entertainment sector barely knew the potential for their content in Urdu and Hindi speaking belt in South Asia. With Ertugrulcreating new milestones, now every Turkish drama has a must Urdu edition.
Pakistani Drama Fans
In Kashmir, Pakistani dramas always had a bigger audience. While the millennials comprise the majority of the audience for Korean, Chinese and other dramas, Pakistani dramas owing to the use of the Urdu language have a bigger demographic as their consumers. Pakistani dramas enjoy a lot of fondness and popularity amongst the population of Kashmir. For many people, watching family soap operas is one way of helping kids pick up Urdu speaking.
Shabnam, a woman in her mid-forties began watching Pakistani dramas and series in 2016 when her daughter got access to the internet and a mobile phone for the first time. “My daughter showed me a Pakistani movie and then we began watching a drama and then we saw another drama and then another and that is how we began consuming Pakistani series,” she said.
Earlier it used to be the state-owned TV in Islamabad to telecast the dramas. Now there are scores of channels and a lot of internet space that is consuming Pakistan content, especially the drama.
The popularity of Pakistani suits and clothing among Kashmiri women can be attributed to Pakistani shows. Several Kashmiris also pick Pakistani names of their favourite characters for their children.
The Psychology Behind
Why do Kashmiri people prefer watching foreign web or TV series over domestic serials? Wasim Kakroo, Consultant Clinical Psychologist at the Centre for Mental Health Services at Rambagh Srinagar said it has its own psychology.
“Foreign content can offer a sense of novelty and excitement that may be lacking in domestic serials. When young people are exposed to new and different cultures, they may feel a sense of intrigue and curiosity that motivates them to explore further. This desire for novelty and exploration is a fundamental human trait, and it can be particularly pronounced during adolescence when young people are seeking to establish their identity and place in the world,” Kakroo said
“Foreign content may provide a sense of escapism from their stresses. Since Kashmiri youth feel frustrated by the political turmoil and unemployment, they feel overwhelmed or stressed. Watching characters who live in different countries, speak different languages, and have different customs can transport viewers to a different world, allowing them to temporarily forget about their own problems.”
The OTT Factor
The rise of over-the-top (OTT) and streaming platforms like Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hotstar, Asiaflix, Viki Rakuten, and MX Player also made it completely easy for the distribution of worldwide content in Kashmir. Its popularity is an outcome of the high-speed internet. India has access to the cheapest internet prices in the world. This is a huge enabler.
An Allied Market Research report suggests the OTT industry was valued at US $ 97.43 billion in 2017 and is expected to reach US $ 332.52 billion by 2025.
The OTT platforms have a huge basket from SciFi to romantic comedies (romcom) to action to horror to period dramas. They are democratic as they cater to different needs of people and consumers regardless of gender, age, ethnicity and nationality.
The emergence of OTT has resulted in cultural exchange as audiences become more and more interested in foreign cultures. “Consuming content from across the world is not only passing time but also exposing one to different cultures and places around the world,” Hafsoah said. “The cultural exchanges and the globalization of media has also resulted in cultural homogenization and heterogenization.”
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( With inputs from : kashmirlife.net )

April 6, 2023
No Teachers, No Classwork: A Crisis in A Peripheral College Explained

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by Tawseef Bashir Mir
SRINAGAR: Students of Government Women’s Degree College, Sopore are facing an acute shortage of teachers, a crisis which has brought their academic progress to a standstill.
Government Degree College for Women Sopore
Out of the required 33 positions that the college requires, only 11 permanent faculty members are present. The college has not renewed contracts for or hired new contractual lecturers to make up for the staffing needs.
The College’s Arts faculty has less than one-fourth of the required teaching staff.
Despite several years of pleas from students and college administration alike, the issue is long impending.
The students had also staged a protest in the college premises on Monday last complaining about understaffing, mostly in the arts faculty of the college. The students took to social media to state their concerns regarding their studies having to suffer due to a lack of faculty.
“The matter has been taken up with the Director of Colleges and the Principal Secretary as well,” Principal GWDC, Sopore, Bashir Ahmad Parray said, confirming the lack of adequate staff. They have verbally assured swift action in the matter. We are awaiting further progress.”
However, the students from the college alleged oversight of their concerns from the administration. “We have not studied even a single word since February 15 due to a lack of staff. Our careers are getting ruined,” a student from BA History, second semester said. “Certain departments are being handled by single personnel. The arts faculty is the one which is suffering the most due to this shortage of teachers.”

“The college has only one English teacher who teaches both the faculties (Arts and Science) throughout all semesters. There is no teacher for history, economics, political science, and such major subjects. We used to have contractual lecturers but the administration hasn’t even hired them for the current session,” the student added.
“We talked to our Principal but he said there wasn’t much he could do about the matter as it is out of his hands to hire the staff. He is trying though,” another student, enrolled in BSc second semester, said. “We wanted to use social media to voice our concerns but nothing came out of it as well.”
Director of Colleges, Yasmeen Ashai also admitted the problem. “An advertisement has been issued regarding the hiring of contractual staff. We have sent a number of contractual teachers to the said college to teach minor subjects and the application evaluation process for the posts of major subjects is underway,” Ms Ashai said. “Due to the applications being in bulk, the hiring process is taking time but the process is already underway.”
However, students insist that no teaching faculty has been hired for the current session. “As per our knowledge, the last permanent teacher hired was way back in 2016. Contractual staff is a come-and-go trend but even they haven’t been hired for the current session,” a group of students said.
Besides, the students also voiced their concerns regarding transport and college infrastructural issues. “Our College is situated at an off-road location. We have to travel from far-flung areas and then walk long distances from the bus stand to reach the college,” one student said. “The two buses provided by the government aren’t functional. There are no drivers.”
The college buildings and other infrastructure are in a near-dilapidated state, the students alleged. “We have repeatedly taken up this matter with the principal but to no regard. Maybe the issue lies in this being a college for women,” one student commented.
DC Baramulla Dr Syed Sehrish Asgar had taken note of the matter regarding the college being understaffed and in a notice, directed the Principal Government Women’s Degree College Sopore to resolve the matter immediately. She had also ordered the principal to communicate the progress to her office. It was not immediately known if the college management has responded to the order or sought her help in addressing the issues.
Established in 2005, the college operated from the premises of Government Boys Degree College, Sopore till 2010, when it got its own building. Currently, it has around 1100 students on its rolls.
(Tawseef Bashir Mir is an intern.)

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#Teachers #Classwork #Crisis #Peripheral #College #Explained
( With inputs from : kashmirlife.net )

March 19, 2023
What Is ChatGPT And Why Is Everybody Talking About It?

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by Mujtaba Hussain
SRINAGAR: What is ChatGPT? A buzzword that is everywhere in the virtual world of social media giants and is being discussed everywhere from schools, colleges, corporates, multinationals, and news organizations. Is it really going to create an inflexion in jobs?
Artificial Intelligence, Deep Learning, Machine Learning, Robotics
ChatGPT is a sophisticated Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) tool that gives intelligent solutions upon giving a simple prompt. It became the fastest-growing consumer application by amassing 100 million active users within two months of its launch, surpassing TikTok (9 months) and Instagram (2.5 years).
In its own narration, ChatGPT is a text-based conversational Artificial Intelligence (AI) model designed to generate natural language text that is relevant and appropriate in response to a given prompt, making it a powerful tool for conversational AI systems. It is based on the Generative Pretrained Transformer (GPT) language model, i.e, it has been trained on a large data set of text from the internet to generate human-like responses to various types of questions.
ChatGPT is a Large Language Model (LLM) based AI platform integrated with the messaging platform. It can generate text with a simple query. It is developed by the San-Francisco based Start-up called “OpenAI”. Founded in 2015, the company is financially backed by hard-hitting entrepreneurs of Silicon Valley like Sam Altman, Elon Musk, Peter Thiel, and Reid Hoffman along with Venture Capital (VC) firms like Khosla Ventures, Tiger Global, Andreessen Horowitz, and Microsoft.
ChatGPT has been fine-tuned on vast amounts of data and can produce comprehensive output much like human beings. It can also answer follow-up questions. From remedies to any disease to poetry in the John Keats style, to legal briefs, to bugs in a computer code, to simple scripts, it can generate almost anything you could ask for.
ChatGPT triggered a new race in the development of Artificial Intelligence. Many Tech giants are betting billions to create their own chatbots. Google announced its own AI Chabot called Bardu, powered by Google’s Language Model for Dialogue Applications (LaMDA). Famously known China’s Google Baidu is also launching its AI Chabot called Ernie Bot the next month.
ChatGPT is like other Generative AI tools trained algorithmically to collect and generate new data that resembles human-generated content, including code, images, text, and simulations.

The fourth Industrial Revolution is bound to create a fundamental change in the way we live, work, and relate to one another. Artificial Intelligence enabled technology has been at the forefront of this revolution. AI is simply defined as simulating the intelligent behaviour in machines and computers. AI is more than the behemoth creatures shown in Science fiction movies. It is like normally written software with exceptional capabilities like the human brain. Advanced AI programmes can learn new things by themselves when catered to large data sets and will execute the actions accordingly.
Although discussions about advanced Artificial intelligence tools have been going around for a decade or more, ChatGPT became the curtain raiser to AI for the world to understand it better. According to Statista, investment in AI reached 94 billion dollars from 2015-2021 and is expected to exceed the mark of US 135 billion dollars in 2023.
ChatGPT is still in its infancy stage, and the endgame of AI-based chatbots is difficult to predict, but tech prodigies all over the world believe that it will create a disruption in Big Tech, industries, and the future of work.

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#ChatGPT #Talking
( With inputs from : kashmirlife.net )

February 12, 2023
Unfair Job Fairs

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Jammu and Kashmir has one of the highest unemployment ratios in India. To overcome joblessness, the government initiated job fairs and invited a lot of companies to hire the unemployed. In 23 fairs, 9743 unemployed youth offered their services to 205 participating companies but only 623 got jobs, reports Fahd Khan
Jobless: A huge crowd of boys and girl job-seekers in a job fair in Srinagar’s mini-indoor stadium in late 2022. KL Image: Hilal Shah
Amid an all-time high unemployment rate and joblessness, Jammu and Kashmir government’s much-hyped job fairs have provided jobs to around six per cent of the participants in 2022 in Kashmir. Lack of technical and communication skills was termed to be the key deficits preventing them from getting hired.
The observation of skill deficit raises doubts about the working of the skilling system, which is apparently a top governance priority.
Background
The Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) had highlighted the skyrocketing of the unemployment crisis in the past few years. Till mid-January 2023, it stood at 14.8 per cent, which is the sixth highest in the country. Though the survey outcomes had its own factors including Covid19, it generated a lot of debate over the state of joblessness.
Jammu and Kashmir’s Department of District Employment and Counselling Centres in collaboration with some non-governmental organizations hosted a number of job fairs across Kashmir’s 10 districts. It brought potential human resources face-to-face with potential employers from the private sector.
Officials who arranged these events revealed a total of 9743 unemployed youth participated in 23 job fairs that were organized across 10 Kashmir districts in 2022. Of them, only 623 were provided with on-spot placements. Officials said a total of 205 local and national companies participated in these recruitment rallies.
Srinagar hosted two major events and 2900 youth participated along with 67 local and national companies. Eventually, 25 candidates got on-spot placements, officials said.

In the Pulwama district, one job fair was held that attracted the participation of 213 candidates. At the end of it, nobody got a job order.
In Budgam, two fairs were organised in which 381 youth participated, of whom only 20 got placements. A total of 13 local and national companies participated in the event.
In Ganderbal, only one event was organised in which nine youths out of 900 got on-spot placements. Eleven companies participated in the event.
Anantnag hosted two fairs in which 28 youths got placed among 1211 who participated.
In the adjoining Kulgam district, nine job fairs – the highest among all the districts – were conducted in only 474 got placements among the 3117 youth who had participated. A total of 31 local and national companies participated in the event.
In the Shopian district, two job fairs got 13 people recruited among the 450 youth who had participated.
In Baramulla and Bandipore districts, two job fairs each were organised in which 52 youth from the former district got placed out of 325 total participants while just two received placements in the latter district out of a total of 246 participants.
No job fairs, however, was organised in Kupwara.
As many as 211 youths were recommended for skilling and as many as 3928 on-spot registrations were made on the state employment portal.
Rozgar Mela’s
Apart from these Job Fairs that the Department of District Development and Counselling organised, many similar Job Fairs were organized by non-governmental organizations in view of the surge in the unemployment rate.
In one of such event that the Goodwill Non-governmental organization hosted at Indore Stadium Srinagar, more than 20 MNC’s including local companies participated.
Thousands of youths across Kashmir had thronged the venue to get themselves enrolled in the mega recruitment drives that were being organized both by the government and the NGOs. Some of the companies that participated in the event included SBI Life, HDFC, Jio Care, Tata Motors, Peaks Auto, Kashmir Motors, Himalayan Motors, Shuhul Motors, Ashoka Leyland, LIC, Wishfin, KY Motors, Exide NEO and Fair Deal Motors. Many people even got recruited by US-based companies and are working from home right now.
Problems
Government claims notwithstanding, all these job-linked events provided jobs to only six per cent of the total participants. Many youths who had participated in these fairs alleged that despite aspirants possessing higher qualifications and skills, they were not recruited as the companies didn’t have enough vacancies. As per the participating youth, the low salary was also one of the reasons for them not taking up jobs for which they had to move out of Jammu and Kashmir.
Skill proved to be a major setback for the participating youth not getting jobs in the mega recruitment drives. Many youths claimed that despite coming from far-flung areas with the hope of getting jobs, they were offered loans by participating insurance and banking companies.
In a video on social media, a girl who had participated in an event is heard saying: “With a master’s degree and four diplomas, I had very little hope of getting a job in this event. What more qualifications should I possess to get a job? Even we can’t start our own business as banks provide loans against property only or they charge huge interest rates. Even some companies seek experience for jobs. How come an unemployed youth is experienced when he is never provided with a job? Even we don’t have such an exposure here in Kashmir, where we are trained at the grassroots level to start our own businesses”.
“Many of the jobs being provided in these events are routine basic jobs, “one insider said, talking in anonymity. “Jobs being offered are an insurance agent or marketing persons which one can easily get without participating in these events. There were many schemes like this earlier as well.”
The average salaries fixed during the job fairs were Rs 10000. Whether those who got jobs are satisfied and continuing it is the question to be asked.
Officials Speak
“Most of the companies recruit candidates based on their skills only but the majority of the people who had participated couldn’t meet the required criteria set by these companies,” a senior official in the Directorate of Employment said: “To keep up the pace in today’s world and to get hired by companies, one should possess both communication and technical skills which our youth mostly lack.”
The officer said they were shocked to see that in one of the recruitment drives at the University of Kashmir, only one could make it up to the interview. “The reason being the communication barrier,” an official at the District Employment and Counselling Centre said.
“We mostly deal with the sale and services of automobiles, most of the students were either overqualified or under-qualified for the Jobs we were providing,” one of the recruiting executives in a local automobile concern, who participated in these fairs, said. “For sales, we particularly needed people having good communication skills and those having experience in the service sector. We too aren’t a big company and have already been under a financial crunch since Covid19 and another crisis. Still, we hired around four to five students and they are currently working in our company under probation. Skill was the main reason that we couldn’t provide jobs to the people”.
Developments
It is pertinent to mention that the government has included numerous skill-based courses like IT, management, and tourism at the college level in the past few years, which seems to have a questionable outcome. The government is also imparting job-oriented skill-based courses through polytechnics, hotel management institutes and NIELIT.
“To impart skills to our youth many candidates who had participated in these job fairs were registered for the skill courses being organised by the Tata Consultancy Services (TCS),” an officer at the Directorate of Employment said.
There are many government schemes aimed at up-skilling youth. Himayat was a major flagship scheme under this category under which the youth were trained and later deployed in the market. NIELIT also provided many IT-related courses.
Another scheme was launched by the government in Public Private Partnership mode. It was aimed at improving the quality of the vocational training in the Country and making it demand-driven, so as to ensure better employability of the pass-outs. It covered 32 ITIs in Jammu and Kashmir. Other courses that were launched for the general public also included Sewing, Henna Art, cookery etc.
It seems as if the candidates are yet to be adequately trained or are lacking the actual skill that the employers require.

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#Unfair #Job #Fairs
( With inputs from : kashmirlife.net )

January 26, 2023
Why The Society Must Get Up To Fight Drug Addiction?

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by Bilal Gani
Civil society groups need to be mobilised to stop drug trafficking at the local level. Parents should monitor the activities of their children and protect them from getting addicted to drugs and falling into the clutches of drug addicts.
Drug addiction is a hot topic in Jammu and Kashmir because there is an alarming increase in drug addiction cases. The recent extremely upsetting report by the Government Medical College’s Psychiatry department has revealed that 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. With the Northeast topping the drug abuse list, Kashmir is not far behind. Jammu and Kashmir is on the powder keg of drug addiction.
Addiction is a neuropsychological disorder characterised by a persistent and intense urge to engage in certain behaviours, one of which is the usage of a drug, despite substantial harm and other negative consequences. Drug addiction, also called substance use disorder, is a disease that affects a person’s brain and behaviour and leads to an inability to control the use of a legal or illegal drug or medicine. Substances such as alcohol, marijuana and nicotine are considered drugs. When you are addicted, you may continue using the drug despite the harm it causes.
Drug addiction can start with the experimental use of a recreational drug in social situations, and, for some people, drug use becomes more frequent. For others, particularly with opioids, drug addiction begins when they take prescribed medicines or receive them from others who have prescriptions.
Globally, some 35 million people are estimated to suffer from drug use disorders who require medical treatment, according to the latest World Drug Report, released by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). The most widely used drug globally continues to be cannabis, with an estimated 188 million people having used the drug in 2017.
As per the study conducted by Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences Kashmir (IMHANS-K) titled Prevalence and Pattern of Substance Use in 10 districts of Kashmir: A 2022 survey, Jammu and Kashmir has surpassed the number of drug abuse cases in Punjab.

Thousands of youth in Kashmir are slipping into the dark alleys of drug addiction as the valley has been flooded with a huge quantity of heroin usage. The Jammu and Kashmir administration had said as per a consumption survey there are at least six lakh residents affected by drug related issues in the region.
Over 33 thousand syringes are used to inject heroin by drug abusers in the Kashmir on a daily basis. Heroin is among the most common drugs used by these abusers. The study shows 90 percent of drug abusers are using heroin while the rest are using cocaine, brown sugar, and marijuana. The survey has also revealed that most of the drug abusers are in the age group of 17-33 years. Unemployed youth are the main consumers of these drugs. And the number of drug abusers in the valley has crossed 67000, while 33000 are injected heroin using syringes. Drug use has become an easy escape from the fluctuating situations of life.
Among the most potential causes attributed to the skyrocketing drug abuse in Kashmir are, an unusual increase in psychiatric disorders, the uncertainty of the conflict, unemployment among the youth and non-availability of recreational activities.
The youth see it as an escape from the uncertainty and trauma of living in a conflict region. But it has unnecessarily taken a heavy toll on youth who are the future of the society.
Kashmir is in the grip of an epidemic and the biggest victims of this epidemic are youth. Over the last few years, there has been an extraordinary increase in crimes in Kashmir. It is said that the main reason for these crimes is the increasing use of drugs among the youth. Drug use has become a scourge, which is giving rise to many social evils. The growing trend of drugs in the Valley should be of concern to the society.
Couple held for drug peddling in Hazratbal on September 30, 2022 by Jammu and Kashmir Police.
Diagnosing drug addiction (substance use disorder) requires a thorough evaluation and often includes an assessment by a psychiatrist, a psychologist, or a licensed alcohol and drug counsellor. Although there’s no cure for drug addiction, treatment options can help you overcome an addiction and stay drug-free.
The eradication of drug addiction needs a multi-pronged approach. There is an urgent need for legal, social and religious measures to prevent drug addiction. Although the government has taken strict measures to eradicate the scourge of drugs, several serious measures are needed to eradicate this epidemic. The laws that are in force for the prevention of drug abuse should be implemented in a better way and these laws should be enforced and made stricter. The cultivation, sale and misuse of cannabis and opium should be completely banned. It is necessary to have cooperation between the administration and the people. Only then can our society get rid of this evil.
Bilal Gani
There is an urgent need for measures not only by the government but also by society to end this scourge. Civil society groups need to be mobilised to stop drug trafficking at the local level. Parents should monitor the activities of their children and protect them from getting addicted to drugs and falling into the clutches of drug addicts. Although there has been a lot of awareness among people about the harmful effects of drugs, this awareness needs to be spread to those areas and people who are unaware of it.
Another aspect of drug abuse prevention is the rehabilitation of victims of this scourge. But recovery must be consistent and victim-focused. The rehabilitation centres should take proper care of the psychological and emotional needs of the victims so that they can fully recover and move towards a prosperous future. These rehabilitation measures include preventive education and awareness building, capacity building, skill development, vocational training and livelihood support for ex-drug addicts, among other relevant measures to stop this epidemic before it is too late.
(The author is pursuing his PhD from the Central University Kashmir in politics and international relations. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of Kashmir Life.)

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#Society #Fight #Drug #Addiction
( With inputs from : kashmirlife.net )

January 21, 2023