The recent reports about the growing menace of drugaddiction in Kashmir are horrible. It really snatches my sleep as a consciousKashmiri to see my birthplace witnessing such a terrible condition. I havespent most of my life outside Kashmir, but I have never been out of touch withmy motherland as I love it and care for it. As a doctor who has been dealingwith patients all his life, I find no pain worse than the pain of restlessness.But we can cure that restlessness through moral, ethical and religious education.We must impart such training to our children so that they don’t fall into thetrap in the later state of their life.
We have a role to play at individual and at collectivelevel. As teachers, as parents, as social activists, as media persons and asdoctors as well – we can’t afford to neglect our duties towards our people andour society. Now that the problem is here, we have to find a cure to it. Wehave diagnosed the infection, let’s now try to treat it. The treatment is notonly medical, the treatment is spiritual too. Why as parents we don’t becomefriends of our children so that they don’t feel a sense of absence? Why ourmaterial ambitions take us away from our social life? Why don’t find time toattend to our family as responsible caretakers? Unless we find reasonableanswers to these questions we are not going to come out of the mess we are in.
Right now I feel deeply pained and disturbed as whicheverpart of the world I am in, my heart and soul is in Kashmir. I care for mychildren, for my fellow beings, for my friends, relatives and neighbours. Whyshould our mother Kasheer get a bad name in the rest of the world. We have beenknown for all good reasons. We are warm, generous, peace-loving andcare-giving, but this menace of drug addiction has spoiled our image.
Nip the evil in the bud. See those who are selling it,peddling it and luring these young boys and girls. Boys for boys, even somereports suggest that girls too are involved and that is the most horrendouspart of the story. We have to learn to be responsible as the situation isreally very alarming. As doctor I don’t have a prescription that will cure thedisease overnight. It’s a long-drawn process of cure which all of us have totake in hand. I am a strong believer in the power of hope. Even if thecondition is not that good, but I hope that due to our joint efforts, thesituation will change. Let’s pray and hope that we are out of this agony.Sooner the better.