Religious centres and educational institutions are assuming a new role in Kashmir by doubling up as counselling and testing centres to curb the fast-spreading menace of drugs. These rare interventions come as the Valley is battling a drug addiction crisis; over 10 lakh people were officially designated drug addicts by the Jammu and Kashmir administration this year.
Otherwise restricted for the clergy, the pulpit at Magam Imambara in north Kashmir’s Baramulla, where Shia Muslims organise large religious congregations, recently saw Muzaffar Khan, a clinical psychologist who heads the Drug De-Addiction and Rehabilitation Centre in Srinagar, reach out to people to join the fight against drugs.
Dr. Khan addressed a congregation of men and women on the growing menace of drugs and sought the cooperation of parents, especially women, in curbing it. Popular Shia cleric Aga Syed Hadi stayed silent till Dr. Khan completed his awareness-cum-counselling speech.
