A Valley in Crisis: Breaking the Chains of Addiction

Once called Rish Wair—the Garden of Saints—Kashmir was known for its fragrance of spirituality, brotherhood, and peace.

- MIDHAT MUZAMIL

Today, that sacred fragrance is being poisoned by a bitter truth we can no longer afford to ignore: the rising plague of drug addiction.

In every mohalla, behind school walls, in quiet corners of homes, something deeply tragic is unfolding. Our youth—the very heartbeat of Kashmir—are slipping through the cracks, many falling prey to addiction. What was once a whisper has become a cry, and now, a scream echoing across the valley. We must listen.

Drugs were once created to heal. But when misused, they become instruments of destruction. Today, substances that once belonged in pharmacies are found on street corners, in schoolbags, even hidden beneath the prayer mats of our homes. What's more devastating is that these drugs are often not smuggled from distant lands—they are handed over, knowingly or unknowingly, by people within.

Addiction has no religion, no class, no geography. It has found its way into the very soul of our society, and it’s our youth—especially teenagers—who are its easiest targets.

Why are so many young people turning to drugs? The answer lies not just in availability but in emotional emptiness. Today's generation is more connected than ever, yet lonelier than ever before. A thousand social media friends can never replace a ten-minute heart-to-heart with a mother, a father, a friend.

Loneliness becomes a dangerous companion—quiet at first, then overwhelming. Drugs seem to offer a momentary escape. But what starts as a “relief” soon becomes a chain wrapped around the mind and soul.