Kashmir is facing the new monster of drugs, Geelani joins the fight

After Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, Syed Ali Geelani today became the second senior separatist leader to join a growing campaign against rising drug addiction in the Valley.

In a statement, which his group described as a “stimulating message”, the separatist leader said Kashmir was facing “a new and unique monster of drugs, running deep in society and threatening its existence”.

“Health experts and institutions reveal horrifying data that no sane person wants to believe. After 2015, there is addition of more than 6,000 addicts every year, which indicates a good number of teenage girls, enough to demolish any social fabric to rubble without anybody knowing it,” Geelani added.

He said those involved in “this menace have a strong and active network, able to creep to the deepest core of society”. “The drug menace seems to be the last nail in the coffin and before this evil destroys the basics of our culture, identity, faith and social network, it needs to be dealt with a strong hand,” he added.

Hailing the recent efforts of clerics, Geelani said this epidemic had to be addressed at domestic, village, mohalla, district and state levels.

“Parents have a huge responsibility to keep an eye on the activities, behavioral changes, extracurricular and outdoor assignments of their children,” the separatist leader added.