Col J P Singh, Retd
Illegal cultivation of poppy has been on the rise in the valley despite persistent efforts by the State Excise Dept to prevent it. Poppy can be grown in Kashmir by obtaining a license from Narcotic Control Board because its seeds are commonly used in bakery products. Otherwise there is ban on Poppy cultivation under ‘Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substance Act (NDPS) 1985’. What is worrying is that un-licensed/illegal cultivation is on the rise and in the news. “Poppy cultivation flourishes under shadow of unrest in S Kashmir” was a front page news of Daily Excelsior on 23 May 2017 reporting that vast tracts of land in South Kashmir were blooming with red and white poppy flowers despite Excise Dept’s crop destruction drive. What is of concern is not the poppy seeds but the remnants of the plant which are used in making drugs such as Opium, Cocaine and Fukki which sell like hot cake in Delhi, Punjab and Rajasthan. Opium is extracted from white jelly like liquid drawn out of seed-pods (Doda), by giving it blade slits. It is used in preparing Heroin and Cocaine whereas the leaves, stem and roots are used as raw material for other drugs. Poppy produce is more profitable commodity than any other crop and hence illegal poppy cultivation goes on unabated leading to Drug Trafficking & Narco-Terrorism which is a cause of concern, aptly highlighted in the media.
Growing unrest in the valley having diverted the focus of law enforcement agencies from routine policing to security related challenges is enabling illegal cultivation. It is happening unabated because of inability of policemen and Excise officials to enter areas infested with insurgency supported with stone pelting. Police, which is supposed to provide protection to Excise officials on all their poppy destruction drives is denying such help. Growing resentment among locals against police personnel and various killings of policemen by militants has kept the police away from destruction drive. Pulwama police had expressed reluctance to help Excise Dept due to rise in stone pelting and directions from top. Taking full advantage of weak police leadership, protection from separatists and fragile security situation, many people have started growing poppy as cash crop. Combination of necessity and opportunity has led to massive poppy cultivation.
Cultivation of illegal Poppy is maximum in districts of Pulwama, Anantnag, and Budgam where slain H M militants Burhan Wani and his successor Sabzar Bhat operated effectively. Police officials have no excuse now to let the Poppy cultivation go on in these districts. Vast areas of forest land have also been occupied and cleared by the locals as safe sanctuaries for poppy cultivation at many places in the valley. In the face of rising unrest, militancy, police inaction, tendency to defy and inability/unwillingness of Excise Dept to exercise its authority, Afghanistan like, massive production of opium in the valley is staring at the face. The funds generated will flow for the sustenance of militancy in the valley.
Drug addiction is a thrill and an attractive recreational stimulant to fall prey to. Drugs act as pleasure stimulant but are harmful. They have very harmful effects on the mind. Opium is known to be an acceptable natural stimulant commonly used during various rituals and ceremonies in Northern India. Hence narcotic ban, preventing addiction and drug trafficking is difficult in our country where people are poor are lured by the peddlers for a pleasure stimulant. After the consumption of drugs, anti-social behavior manifests in the consumer which can divert him / her towards undesirable conduct and can be exploited to lure him / her into criminal or immoral activities. One sees small groups of youngsters in parks, road side corners and lanes smoking or consuming drugs to the utter surprise of onlookers. It devolves on the civil society to check this evil from spreading. Most consumed drugs include opium, heroin, alcohol, cannabis, cocaine and various other substitutes best known to the consumers and traders alone. They must be easily available in the market. It is for the police forces to check its sale. When one becomes addict, he may be taken to rehabilitation centers which charge about 8 to 10 thousand rupees a month which is difficult for a middle class families to pay for the treatment. Govt hospitals don’t have any means or facilities to treat drug addicts. They admit the addicts in general wards where they continue getting drugs through existing conduits. Hence the menace thrives.
Opium Poppy is relatively easy to grow. Its takes two months for full growth. Farmers generally grow it along with other crops. It is ideal crop in the areas where there are no roads because of its longer shelf life. Moreover buyers come to them. Out of all the other crops, poppy earns the maximum. Seeds are the main product of Poppy plant. They cost as much as Rs. 500 to 600 a kg, a fraction of the overall sale, whereas the big money comes from the by-product which is dried gum from seed pods, dried stems, roots and seed-pods. These are grinded into a fine powder which is known as Fukki. Fukki is in big demand in Punjab selling at Rs 2000 a kg. No other crop gets that much. Moreover its transportation is easy because it goes to Punjab and Delhi in the apple fruit trucks.
No militancy can sustain without uninterrupted flow of funds. It is well known fact that opium trade is the easiest way to raise cash. This cash is used to buy arms, ammunition, explosives and Jihadies. Apart from funding militancy and stone pelting, drugs are the best non-lethal weapon and effective stimulant for miscreants to create unrest. Drug them and push them to pelt stones, attack security forces, get them killed and make human rights issue out of it, is being done in the valley. Contrarian to it, CIA used drugs as an unethical weapon to undermine the fighting potential and morale of Soviet Forces in Afghanistan. Drugs were made easily available, infact supplied freely to Soviet occupation forces. It was one of the best strategic move to force them out of Afghanistan. Officers and men scared of dreaded Taliban attacks resorted to drug addiction to get over the death phobia. It worked perfectly as planned by CIA forcing Soviet Union to repatriate many of their drug addict units prematurely and completely withdraw later duly defeated. When our army suspended its ‘cordon and search’ operation in the valley in the past, my worry was their drug addiction. Luckily that didn’t happen.
By not under-estimating the threat that poppy cultivation poses, the state govt must crack upon the drug mafia ruthlessly lest we also face a Punjab type drug addiction in our youth whose future stands partially marred by separatists agenda.
In some of his ‘Man ki Baat’, Premier Modi has assured that he will take appropriate action to root out drug menace. But in reality, to do so is difficult and to get out of its addiction is more difficult. Those who remember popular Bollywood star Sanjay Dutt’s romanticism with drugs & crimes, detention, de-addiction and conviction, would recollect how difficult it is to get out of the menace once trapped. It is alleged that 70% youth in Punjab is drug addict and we can imagine their plight & pity their families. That is why drug abuse grabbed the attention and media headline over the release of Bollywood movie ‘Udta Punjab’ which brought the crippling drug menace in focus. Capt Amarinder Singh is perceived to have won the election and formed govt making drug abuse in Punjab the main issue in electioneering. The issue is not restricted to Punjab alone, the entire country is engulfed by the disease. It is a major social issue in other parts of India, most importantly in the states mired in insurgency and terrorism. The fact that India is in the close vicinity of Golden Crescent (Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan), (J&K is closet to Pakistan), as well as Golden Triangle (Myanmar, Laos and Thailand), makes, infact has made, it breeding ground for drug trafficking and narco-terrorism. Let J&K politicians not wait for the next election to make drugs an election issue. By then it may be too late.
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