Corruption in Kashmir

People in Jammu and Kashmir are among the worst sufferers of corruption in accessing public services, a think-tank has revealed in its survey.

The Centre for Media Studies (CMS) in its annual corruption study – CMS India Corruption Study 2017- has placed Jammu and Kashmir along with Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh as most corrupt among 20 surveyed states.

The study reveals that “Karnataka (77%) followed by Andhra Pradesh (74%), Tamil Nadu (68%), Maharashtra (57%), J&K (44%) and Punjab (42%) emerged as more corrupt states among 20 surveyed states as far as ‘experienced corruption in public services’ is concerned.”

The report states that JK was also among most corrupt states in 2005. “In 2005, the more corrupt states were Bihar (74%), J&K (69%), Odisha (60%), Rajasthan (59%) and Tamil Nadu (59%).”

Further the study says that more than 33 percent respondents stated that state government is not ‘committed at all’ towards reducing corruption in public services.

“Perceptions about corruption are much higher in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Delhi, J&K, Karnataka, and Odisha,” it states.

Key reasons for paying bribe in a public service are similar in most of the states. These reasons for corrupt practices could be broadly categorized as procedural; documentation related; payment evasion and dependency on service providers, the study points out.

“In most of the states, the more often paid bribe amount ranges between Rs 100-500. However as low as INR 10/- and as high as INR 50000/- were also paid by a household in a year for availing one or the other public services.”

Out of 20 states covered in CMS-ICS 2017, the three lesser corrupt states implied by households ‘experiencing corruption in public services’ are Himachal Pradesh (3%) followed by Kerala (4%) and Chhattisgarh (13%). In 2005, the three lesser corrupt states were Kerala (35%), Maharashtra (39%) and Gujarat (43%).

This eleventh round of annual CMS- India Corruption Study covers both rural and urban locations of 20 states. The data collection was conducted in October-November 2016 and an additional telephonic sub-sample survey to capture perception of households visited earlier on effect of demonetization on level of corruption in public services was conducted in January 2017.

Male & Female Ratio | Drug Addiction In Kashmir | Issues and Challenges

65 to 70% of students in Kashmir experimenting with drugs

70,000 drug addicts in Kashmir, including 22000 addicts are females

Overall percentage of women doing drugs is 31%

26% female students in drug trap 

Over 70% addicts in the age group of 18-35 years

Over 2 00,000 people in Kashmir on opiates

2 hospitals received 69,434 patients between April and December 2015

Srinagar: Drug abuse, a phenomenon widespread among the boys of Kashmir, is now showing a trend whereby teenage girls and women are increasingly turning into substance users and addicts.

According to United Nations International Drug Control Programme survey in 2008 showed that there were more than 70,000 drug addicts in Kashmir, including 4000 women addicts.

The survey also revealed that 65 to 70 percent of the student community in Kashmir is taking drugs and 26 percent of female students have also fallen in this trap. More than 70 percent of addicts fall in the age group of 18-35 years.

Leading Psychiatrist Dr. Mushtaq Margoob in his study, ‘The Menace of Drug Abuse In kashmir’ found that more than 2, 00000 people in Kashmir which has a population of four million people were on opiates. 

As per the latest data available with Government Psychiatry Disease Hospital, Rainawari and Psychiatry Department of Shri Maharaja Hari Singh (SMHS) Hospital has received 69,434 patients between April and December 2015. 

SMHS received 38,297 and Rainawari hospital received 31,137. Out of the total patients, 899 were found drug addicts.

 In a recent case four women drug addicts were admitted to Psychiatry Disease hospital, Rainawari where doctors say drug abuse among women is growing in Kashmir. Psychiatrists at the hospital say they have been receiving cases of women drug addicts for the past few years.

Dr. Zaid Wani, Associate Professor at Psychiatry Disease hospital said, “Women tend to fall easily to drugs because of easy availability in the market. Like most of the women addicts they use glue, fevicol, polish, thinners, cannabis and opiates. Some of them use sleeping pills and other sedative drugs.”

“We have cases wherein girls have been taking drugs from past 10-15 years period. In one of the cases, young women from the old city had been taking drugs for past nine years. She was taking drugs to relieve stress and was used to take many psychoactive drugs.”

“Drug addiction among young women is primarily due to peer pressure and stress. However, the social stigma attached to drug addiction is keeping most of women patients away from psychiatrists. Most of the female drug addicts are iatrogenic which means addiction through medical examination or treatment. Psychiatrists attribute the rise in iatrogenic drug abuse in Kashmir to prescription of psychoactive drugs by medical practitioners,” he added more.

Young women and college girls are abusing substances especially toluene, a common thinner, which was testified by officials at the De-addiction centre Batmaloo run by police control room Srinagar. The abuse of toluene is getting very common in Kashmir as it readily available and the chemical is found in paints, petrol, varnishes, lacquers, adhesives, glues and shoe polish.

“At this particular centre we don’t admit women addicts but we do offer consultation. Sometimes we offer consultation through phone or online. Due to social stigma women don’t turn up at the centre for treatment as of now we received more than 400 calls of women addicts from last five years. Some of them fear and don’t call back,”said Dr. Manzoor Ahmad Khan.

“We once received a call from a girl who said she along with 18 of her female friends wanted to quit drugs. But we never heard from them after that,” he added further. 

Yasir Ahmad, a social worker at the centre said, “There was time when Kashmir had one addict from each district but now there are more than one in a single family. The state health department doesn’t gather or maintain information on the status of drug addiction in Kashmir.”

“The direct impact of addiction is social disintegration. It splits families, friends and subsequently society. It is common that addicts live in isolation that is where parental monitoring can help out addicts in longer run,” said A.G. Madhosh Psychologist and former professor at the University of Kashmir.

“Additionally youth on drugs may physically live within a family, but emotionally they are somewhere else. They do not care about what happens to their near and dear ones and are insensitive towards the society. It is seen both with male as well as female addicts,” he said.

Case Study

Fazeela (name Changed) a 24 year old girl got used to drugs when she was 17 years old. She began with ‘glue sniffing’ for fun during her school days and moved to sedatives like pain killers and sleeping pills. At first I began to take 2 to 3 pills at one time then gradually I began to take  7- 10 pills. For few months my parents didn’t observe the changes in me and suddenly on one night my mother got up during the night and heard me doing something. She knocked the door and I gobbled the pills quickly. When she entered the room, she cried and my father came into the room. I was not in my senses but I heard my mother crying and my father looking in shock. Till next morning I had no idea what might have happened. 

My father without telling me anything took me to rehabilitation centre, khanyar and a doctor came up to me in an isolated room and began talking to me. He asked question like what is your hobby, where you want to go for tour, which dish you like, what are your favourite subjects and many more. At that time I hate to talk but after going to the rehab centre for months together, slightly I began to open up. I have been visiting this centre for almost 8 months of now and I am thankful to the doctors as well as to my parents that they have helped me to overcome the menace of drug addiction.

I got in this trap unknowingly. But now I have understood the value of life that Allah has given and value of my family. As a person I will try to bring those girls who are trapped in drug abuse. For this we need awareness and moral lessons. The police action on drug pedlars and availability of sedatives in markets needs to be checked. There must be a proper supervision. Otherwise this is impossible to stop down.

Drug Addiction Rate in Kashmir

Drug abuse is the patterned and chronic use of a drug in which the person consumes the drug in amounts or by ways which are very hazardous and harmful for him and others. According to WHO “substance abuse is persistent or sporadic drug use inconsistent with or unrelated to acceptable medical practice” The present paper is theoretical in nature and aims at high lightening the Issues
and challenges faced by youth involved in drug addiction in the Kashmir valley of Jammu and Kashmir. According to a report published by United Nation, Drug Control Programme (UNDCP) around 70 thousand people are drug addicts alone in the Kashmir division among them approximately 31% are women. The youth is particularly involved in drug addiction as reported by Government Psychiatric
Hospital Srinagar around 90% drug abusers belong to the age group of 17-35. The states circumstances from last two decades were considered by most people have contributed to various kinds of social and political issues including drug addiction. The lot number of youth has turned to drugs who have directly or indirectly affected by the turmoil in the state, but this is not the only reason behind this
epidemic because there are other reasons as well, as reported by different studies that have been conducted in the state. Unemployment, relationship problems are naming a few. There are different measures taken by state government to eliminate this curb, including the J&K Police Department running a number of drug De-Addiction centres in the Kashmir valley.

Keywords

Drug abuse; Drug addiction; Kashmiri youth

Introduction

Individuals begin to use drugs with varied choices. Some people use drugs to relieve some medical condition but continue to use them after the medical condition is over. Some people who feel depressed begin to use the drug to self-medicate and get addicted to it. Sometimes a traumatized event or a relationship issue lead a person to drugs. Some other people use the drug to escape from the pressures of life or to experience the pleasure of drugs or to compliance with the peer group compatibility to have a different view of the world around them. This voluntary initiation into the world of addictive drugs has strongly influenced society’s view of drug abuse and drug addiction and their treatment.

There is no fine line to draw a distinction between Drug abuse and Drug Addiction or when does drug abuse become drug addiction. Drug abuse and Drug can be thought of as point along a continuum. Abnormal and inappropriate use of mind altering drugs when prescribed or over the counter is Drug Abuse but when it becomes Drug addiction is not much clear because different people reach drug addiction at different stages. The on-going scientific investigation is aimed at knowing the factors that contribute to this transitive period of drug abuse and drug addiction. Drug Addiction, on the other hand, is defined as the continued compulsive use of use of drugs in spite of their adverse health, social and emotional consequences. Once a person becomes addicted to drugs he loses his control over drug use and often become isolated from family and friends. They may also face difficulty at work and sometimes lead them to commit crimes and involve with Criminal Justice system. For a drug addicted person, persistent use of drugs is the primary focus in life and once the drug stops the person will have cravings, person’s intense and strong desire for the drugs. Our physiological mechanism generates these cravings to maintain a state of equilibrium that relies now on these drugs. These cravings have a physiological mechanism as they stimulate the area of the brain (amygdala) that controls the emotional memory in addicted persons as shown by PET scans done on an addicted person. A drug addict can experience a state of craving at any stage of drug addiction or abuse.

A drug to which a person becomes addict does not merely impair the person’s cognitive skills and behaviour but also permanently damage certain abilities depending on the amount of a dose. Experts believe that certain changes due to the addictions disappear shortly after drug use while certain anomalies remain permanent. One of the first changes in the brain that may occur in response to repeated drug abuse is tolerance. Tolerance develops when a person requires a higher amount of drug to reach that leave of pleasure or a state of alteration of consciousness that he achieved previously through lower doses of drugs.

In addition to this impairment of brain, Drug addiction also makes people vulnerable to other health risks. For example, inhalant abusers are at higher risk of Heart problems like disruption of heart rhythms. Often Drug Addicts consume and inject drugs in a group for better experience also put them at higher risk of contracting HIV virus due to contaminated needles used in a group. Also, there are higher incidences of Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C among Drug addicts than the general population.

Drug Abuse spoils a number of human lives and also destroys the golden periods of life. As on 2012, 183000 drug related deaths have been reported and that figure corresponds to a mortality rate of 40.0 deaths per million among the population aged 15- 64. In 2012 it was appraised that between 162 million and 364 million people about 3.5% and 7.5% of world population aged between 15-64 have used an illicit drug belonging to cannabis, opioid, cocaine or amphetamine type stimulant group at least once in a previous year (World Drug Report 2014 [1]). According to this Report, only one among six problem abusers has access to treatment related facilities or received de-addiction or detoxification services.

The overall global scenario is that people generally consider cannabis most little illicit harmful drug, there has been a considerable increase in a number of cannabis users seeking treatment for cannabis use disorders in last ten years particularly in Americas and Europe. As for as the question of injecting drug use are concerned United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) [1], the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), the World.

Bank and the World Health Organization (WHO), providing the recent data available that people injecting drugs is 12.7 million 0.27% of the population aged between 16-64. The problem of injecting drugs is predominantly prevalent in Eastern and South Eastern Europe where the rate is as high as 4.6 times higher as the global average. The sharing of injecting needles makes these people vulnerable to HIV and Hepatitis C. It is estimated that 13.1% of the abusers who inject drugs are diagnosed HIV positive.

Drug Addiction in Kashmir

Kashmir has been through the two decades of turmoil that resulted in an increase of psychiatric illness and psychosocial disturbances. A number of psychiatric problems have emerged like Depression, OCD, PTSD, Drug Addiction, etc. As long as the problem of drug addiction in Kashmir is concerned it has observed that this conflict ridden region has a tremendous rise in substance abusers over the past decade. United Nations Drug Control Programme (UNDCP) reported that around 70000 people are drug addicts in the Kashmir valley alone among which 4000 are females. Several studies conducted in the valley revealed that youth particularly between the age group of 17-30 involved in this menace of drug addiction. Government Psychiatric Hospitalonly mental health hospital in the valley in one of its report stated that most numbers of drug addiction cases belong to a very young generation. The director of Drug De-addiction center Srinagar Dr. Khan [2] stated that “the trend of drug abuse is on the rise among school children as we have registered many such cases, where students of Class IX to XII are involved with drugs”. A renowned psychiatrist in Kashmir Dr. Maqgoob and Dutta [3] in one their book has reported that around 2.11 lakh drug addicts are in Kashmir valley. The common Substance used by Drug Addicts in Kashmir are Cannabis, Brown Sugar, Heroine, SP tablets, Anxit, Alprax, Inhalants like Fevicol, SR solution, Thinner, Shoe Polish, Paint varnish and dirty socks are used as substances. The alarming rate of this menace in Kashmir leads the academicians and experts to comment that “We have lost one generation to bullets and we may lose another generation to drugs”.

Margoob and Dutta [3] in one of their study conducted in the year 1993 stated that most drug addicts were males and mainly their substance of addiction is Cannabis.

Naqshbandi [4] in his paper “drug addiction and youth of Kashmir” interviewed 270 young Kashmiri people between the age group of 16-30 in different districts of Kashmir. His findings revealed that Conflict and unemployment were the mains reasons of drug addiction among the youth. Several studies had shown that 80% of drug addicts get this addiction before the age of 30 years. Another study conducted with related to awareness of drug addiction among college students in Kashmir valley shows that majority of students believe that people started to take drugs in the age group of 20-30 [5]. The study further revealed that smoking often acts as a door way to drugs or at least a starting point. This study conducted by Bhat et al. [6,7] further revealed that above 90% don’t have any awareness regarding the drug De addiction process and only 8% know about the drug de addiction center in Srinagar, Kashmir.

In another important study conducted by Mushtaq et al. [8] reported that about 90% drug abusers are poly abusers. The poly abuser is one who takes two or more drugs at a given period of time, for example, a person who is taking cannabis also taking alcohol or Heroine or any other drug. They also reported that the period of initiation of the drug is between the ages of 11- 20. Peer Pressure has been summated as the main reason of drug addiction with 78% drug addicts revealed that they have turned to drugs due to peer pressure while relief from negative or seeking pleasure is also reported as a cause of drug addiction.

To curb this menace and diminish this horrific picture of substance abuse [9]. The J&K Police have taken an initiative by conducted awareness programs in three districts of Kashmir Srinagar, Baramulla and Anantnag. These awareness programs lead the J&K Police to establish drug de addiction center at Police Control Room Srinagar [10]. According to the reports of Drug de addiction and rehabilitation center Srinagar, the total numbers of patients seen in the OPD from February 2008 to December 2016 is 15294 and were diagnosed with ICD 10 [11]. Among the 15294 patients 472, were diagnosed as alcohol abusers, 1359 as Opioidabusers7860 as cannabis abusers, 352 cocaine abusers, 1080 as benzodiazepines users, 460 volatile abusers and 3741 were poly drug abusers. The drug de addiction center [12] is managed by a Clinical psychologist, Psychiatrists, de addiction Social workers, Counsellors, medical officers, and yoga trainer. The center admits a person for detoxification and rehabilitation only after his motivation and proper medical check-up. Usually, a patient is admitted for the period of 3 or 4 weeks. According to center’s IPD report, a total number of 1332 patients has been rehabilitated among which 90 were alcohol abusers, 235 opioid abusers, 275 cannabis abusers, 222 benzodiazepines abusers, 25 cocaine abusers, 165 volatile substance abusers and 330 patients were multiple abusers.

The daily routine at the center for patients includes group sessions on weekends, morning sessions, recreational activities like singing, dancing, etc., evening sessions and detailed review of medical, psychological and social interventions. In the late evening, the medical round is conducted followed by supervised medication and the day ends with dinner. Two more drug de addiction center was also working under the Police supervision on the same pattern in other two districts of Kashmir Valley viz. Drug De-addiction and rehabilitation center Baramulla and Anantnag.

In addition to this J&K Police has also made efforts to stop the trafficking of drugs within the valley. With regarding this J&K Police has seized 2574 kg of Cannabis and its derivatives11, 000 bottles and 17,000 tablets of psychotropic prescription drugs were seized in 2013 and in 2014, a total of 282 persons were arrested by J&K police under Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substance Act, 1985.

Discussion

This griming picture of drug abuse in the Kashmir valley [13,14] has put a lot of challenges for the people of the valley in general and for Government agencies, Non-Governmental Organisations in particular. The biggest challenge is the illegal trafficking and sale of drugs within the valley to which police and general have an important role to play. Some recent reports suggest that there is a large number of Opioid cultivation going on in Kashmir that makes it more readily available for consumption and others psychotropic medicines are also easily accessible. With full public support and cooperation, Police can work more efficiently towards this menace. The other challenge is the limited facilities available for rehabilitation of drug addicts. More drug de addiction centres are needed to rehabilitate the victims. Lack of awareness about both Drug Addiction and the process of detoxification and rehabilitation is also a challenge. Government Agencies, Educational institutes NGO’s and other social work institutes need to educate people especially young generation about this problem. The awareness on the part of Parents and caretakers is also an issue to tackle so that they can detect this problem as early as possible and they can provide immediate help to the person. A large amount of the literature suggests that enhancing a victim’s social support and inculcate in him or her some positive behaviours can help him get rid of this menace. Drug Addicts often feel isolated and sense of alienation, so providing them certain kind of social and moral support help them and make them more empowered to get over this problem.

References

1. United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (2014) World Drug Report.
2. Khan M (2011) Drug addiction in Kashmir. Physicians Academy.
3. Maqgoob MA, Dutta K (1993) Drug abuse in Kashmir - experience from a psychiatric diseases hospital. Indian J Psychiatry 35: 163.
4. Naqshbandi MM (2012) Drug addiction and youth of Kashmir. Int NGO J 7: 84-90.
5. Bhat BA, Manish K, Mushtaq S (2013) Smoking patterns among people in Jammu region of Jammu and Kashmir State. IIOAB. 4: 36-39.
6. Bhat BA, Bhat AR, Wani MA, Nusrat A (2016) Drug addiction awareness among university students of Kashmir valley, communicated.
7. Bhat B, Rahi S, Sidiq M (2017) Awareness of drug addiction among college students of Kashmir valley. Int J Med Sci Pharma Res 1: 1-14.
8. Mushtaq AM, Majid H, Zaid Y, Yasir Z, Irfan I, et al. (2004) Changing socio-demographic and clinical profile of substance use disorder patients in Kashmir Valley. JK Pract 11: 14-16.
9. Nadeem A, Rubeena B, Agarwal V, Piyush K (2009) Substance abuse in India. Pravara Med Rev.
10. Farhat S, Hussain SS, Rather YH, Hussain S (2015) Socio-demographic profile and pattern of opioid abuse among patients presenting to a de-addiction center in tertiary care hospital Srinagar. J Basic Clin Pharm 6: 94-97.
11. Mushtaq AM, Majid AB, Dhuha M, Murtaza I, Abbas Z, et al. (2004) Thin layer chromatography (TLC) in the detection of current nature of drug abuse in Kashmir. JK Pract 11: 257-260.
12. Rather HY, Bashir Y, Sheikh AA, Marya A, Zahgeer AY (2013) Socio-demographic and clinical profile of substance abusers attending a regional drug de-addiction centre in chronic conflict area: Kashmir, India. Malays J Med Sci 20: 31-38.
13. Pirzada MA (2013) The delusion of pleasure: Understanding the pathology of drug abuse in Kashmir valley. Int J Pharm Sci Invention 2: 1-10.
14. Wani I, Singh B (2017) Mental health and cannabis abusers of Kashmir valley. J Psychol Psychother 7: 2.

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U.S. fires 'one-time shot' at Syria after chlorine attack

The United States and its allies fired more than 100 missiles at Syria on Friday in a “one-time shot” the Pentagon said followed evidence that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad was responsible for a chemical weapons attack using at least chlorine gas.

U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis testifies to the House Armed Services Committee on "The National Defense Strategy and the Nuclear Posture Review" on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., February 6, 2018. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts/Files

U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and Marine General Joseph Dunford said three main chemical weapons facilities were targeted at 9 p.m. EST (1 a.m. GMT) by missiles from both the sea and aircraft, which triggered Syrian air defenses.

The Pentagon could not confirm how many missiles hit their targets but said no other attacks were planned.

Mattis and Dunford acknowledged the strike was designed to degrade Syria’s chemical weapons capability without killing civilians or the many foreign fighters in Syria’s multi-sided civil war, particularly those from Russia.

“We specifically identified these targets to mitigate the risk of Russian forces being involved,” Dunford told reporters, adding the U.S. military advised Russia of airspace that would be used in the strike but did not “pre-notify them.”

Mattis acknowledged that the United States waged the attacks only with conclusive evidence that chlorine gas was used in the April 7 attack in Syria.

Allegations of Assad’s chlorine use are frequent in Syria’s conflict, raising questions about whether Washington had effectively lowered the threshold for military intervention.

Last year, the United States only waged strikes in Syria after determining that more deadly sarin gas was used. Some U.S. media had said Washington was confident Assad had also used sarin on April 7.

Mattis, however, suggested the evidence of sarin was so far inconclusive.

“We are very confident that chlorine was used. We are not ruling out sarin right now,” Mattis said.

The Pentagon said one of the targets was a scientific research center located in the greater Damascus area, which it described as a Syrian center for the research, development, production and testing of chemical and biological weaponry.

The second target was a chemical weapons storage facility west of the city of Homs.

“We assess that this was the primary location of Syrian sarin and precursor production equipment,” Dunford said.

The third target, which was also near Homs, contained both a chemical weapons equipment storage facility and a command post.

U.S. officials said there was no indication so far that Syrian air defenses struck attacking Western aircraft or ships.

They characterized this year’s strikes as more significant than the one waged last year, saying double the number of weapons were used this time.

“We were very precise and proportionate,” Mattis said. “But at the same time, it was a heavy strike.”

Last year, 59 Tomahawk cruise missiles fired from the guided missile destroyers USS Porter and the USS Ross struck Syria’s Shayrat air base.

The targets of that strike included Syrian aircraft, aircraft shelters, petroleum and logistical storage facilities, ammunition supply bunkers, air defence systems and radar.
At the time, the Pentagon claimed that a fifth of Syria’s operational aircraft were either damaged or destroyed.

Although Syria’s military had moved aircraft and other military assets in the days preceding Friday’s strike, Dunford said he did not believe it had moved chemical weapons materials.