WE THE PEOPLE
Rate of juvenile crime on steady rise, no let-up in their criminal misconduct
Hence conscientious citizens urge religious scholars, lawyers and Police to launch joint drive against such social evils
By: Zedan Khan
Srinagar: Once an abode of piety and tranquility, Kashmir valley used to be a symbol of morality and thus crime rate used to be almost zero, but with eruption of militancy a new crop of criminals has emerged on the Valley's social canvas. The conscientious people attribute it to Western style of living, weaning away from Islamic teachings and above all sale of blue films in open markets. Alas! Our youth have fallen prey to such unhealthy invasion with Religious scholars and Custodians of Law behaving as mute spectators.
We must not forget that youths of today are the citizens of tomorrow and as such they should be capable of shouldering present and future responsibilities with high sense of dedication and devotion. They need to be properly educated and moulded into such a frame of mind so that they play their role well and not get swayed away by materialistic temptations.
Be it drug addiction, moral turpitude or revolt against elders, all these put together have wrought havoc and tarnished our traditional values. The social scientists too attribute it to lack of religious and moral education while economists call it the fallout of economic disparities. Whatever the cause, one thing is clear that narcotics and other evils have taken strong roots at the global level and such phenomena has to be co-related with the situation prevailing in Kashmir Valley today.
The Golden Crescent an area involving Pakistan, Afghanistan and Eastern Iran is one of the world's most narcotic producing regions. Burma was the world's biggest growing area of opium producing over 2300 tones annually, accounting for 60 per cent of the world's supply. Afghanistan was the second largest producer and even now this country ranks second in this respect with more than 400 tones production per year followed by Laos which produces reportedly 275 tones. The heroin goes to Western Europe via land, sea and air routes to the Middle East, Africa, India and other regions of the former Soviet Union.
According to one estimate, Pakistan is believed to have over a million heroin addicts. Iran has about 2 million and India more than 1.5 million such addicts. Poppy growing is one of the few ways of raising a living and drug smuggling networks, which enjoy the patronage of foreign governments, support farmers. Co-relating global phenomena with our land, it is pertinent to say that it stands plagued by this disease in a big way. But we must not forget that Kashmir Valley has been a symbol of high moral values since times immemorial. It is the land of Sheikh Noor-ud-Din Noorani (RA), Lal Ded and scores of Rishies and Munies, who preached nothing but human values. All such values have been witnessing erosion, particularly over the last three decades. Our youth seem to have failed to resist materialistic and satanic temptations and the result is obvious today. Most of them have turned drug addicts and fallen prey to other social evils. Now even teenaged girls are noticed to be eloping with non-locals as some of them nabbed by police either from the airport or bus stands at Srinagar. Who is responsible for all such ills? Are they solely responsible or their parents or the society as a whole?
“ Islam being a scientific religion has much to offer, irrespective of age and sex. The parents have been sending their children to English Medium Schools where no religious lessons are imparted to the wards. Besides such wards have lot of amenities available in their houses and are totally unaware of the problems, which their elders used to face when they were in teens. Most of the houses are having modern gadgets and most sophisticated means of communication, which have contributed largely towards degradation of moral values today. When parents and their children watch movies of obscene nature under the same roof, the result can be well imagined than described. Moreover, free sale of narcotics and other drugs have spoiled the youth beyond imagination, remarked a group of keen Watchers of Kashmir situation.
Therefore, it is high time that Religious Scholars, Imams of Mosques, Lawyers and Police personnel put their heads together and wage a war against social evils that have pushed our society to the brink of a precipice. The prevailing scenario is quite grim and needs joint strategy to educate our youth so that they become good citizens tomorrow!
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