A Generation in Freefall

New data shows a silent surge in addiction and fatal crashes among Kashmir's youth amid record unemployment.

- Suwaid Sajad

It doesn’t start with a shrill anymore. It starts with silence.

A boy rides his bike too fast down a lane in downtown Srinagar. A girl takes a pill she says helps her sleep. A student skips another class, eyes red, shoulders heavy.

You don’t hear these things on the news. But this is how a generation dies.

Kashmiri youth are not just struggling. They’re slipping. And we are looking the other way.

For decades, we've talked about conflict. About cross-border tensions, internet bans, lockdowns. But while we've watched the headlines, something else crept in. Something quieter and crueler: a sense of hopelessness.

Ask yourself: what happens to a young person who grows up under situational stress? Who never knows if everything will be okay next week? Who watches their father wait for a job that never came? What happens when your dreams seem smaller than your pain?

Many in Kashmir say, they run.

Sometimes they run on bikes, engines roaring through narrow streets, chasing a feeling they can’t name. Speed becomes a language, a release. The louder the throttle, the quieter their thoughts.