K B Jandial

In the living memory of Jammu and Kashmir, no social campaign has captured the public imagination as intensely as the Nasha Mukt Jammu Kashmir Abhiyaan. Launched on April 11, 2026, by Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha from Jammu, this intensive 100-day anti-drug campaign has shattered traditional political, regional, and religious divides. What could have easily been a standard, file-driven bureaucratic directive has instead evolved into an unprecedented, self-motivated Jan Andolan-a monumental people’s movement.
Across a diverse landscape historically fragmented by social and political fault lines, this campaign stands out as a triumph of collective public duty (Jan Bhagidari). The speed and scale of mass mobilization witnessed over recent weeks point toward a fundamental structural shift. Civil society and the state apparatus are now working in sync to protect the region’s youth from an existential threat.

Straight talk

Impact of Direct Outreach
A defining factor behind this rapid community mobilization is the strategic inclusion of non-political NGOs and civil society groups. In a deliberate departure from standard administrative procedure, the Lieutenant Governor established direct, collaborative partnerships with citizens by writing DO letters directly to the heads of NGOs, societies and local institutions.
This direct outreach represents a historic administrative milestone. For the first time, a constitutional head of an Indian State or Union Territory has bypassed traditional administrative layers to engage personally with citizens on such a massive scale. The recipients of these DO letters-myself included-were deeply moved to receive personal letters from the highest constitutional authority of Jammu & Kashmir, a document many may preserve as a treasure. This direct acknowledgment instantly kindled a powerful sense of responsibility and a strong urge to respond positively for a social cause.
Utilizing his political acumen, the Lieutenant Governor executed a masterstroke by treating civil society groups as vital pillars of social preservation and national security rather than peripheral participants. By explicitly positioning the crisis of drug addiction not just as a medical or local law-and-order issue, but also as an aggressive extension of cross-border proxy warfare-specifically cross-border narco-terrorism-the administration successfully gave local communities a powerful sense of purpose. It united them in a collective, urgent mission to protect the region’s youth from exploitation by hostile elements.
Trans-Religious Community Awakening
What began as a personal appeal by the Lieutenant Governor has rapidly transformed into a profound social awakening across this sensitive border region. Recognizing that drug addiction threatens the basic socio-economic fabric of the entire Union Territory, citizens from all walks of life have mobilized. Strikingly, the campaign has kept political parties outside the core operational gambit of the Abhiyan, ensuring the movement remains untainted by partisan politics. Instead, it brought religious institutions-including temples, mosques, Gurdwaras, and churches-directly into the fold.
Simultaneously, the primary focus of the campaign has been directed toward school and college students, who are the primary targets and victims of substance abuse. Recognizing youth as dynamic agents of change, educational institutions eagerly grabbed the opportunity to stem the structural rot.
At the rural grassroots level, Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) and local village committees have been designated as frontline leaders tasked with spearheading the “Drug-Free Village” campaign across Jammu and Kashmir. The administration envisioned these local elected representatives as the vital structural link needed to transform the Nasha Mukt J&K Abhiyaan into a self-sustaining Jan Adolan that should continue beyond 100 days.
The unique strength of this campaign lies in its rare ability to bring opposing social factions together under a single objective: saving the youth. Mega Padyatras, led by the Lieutenant Governor himself across districts, have recently brought tens of thousands of people into the streets across major districts including Baramulla, Srinagar, Udhampur, Kathua, Samba, and Pulwama. In Pulwama district alone, once a militancy hub, over 11,000 highly localized community events were organized within a short span, with political workers from different ideologies, traders, farmers, and students marching shoulder-to-shoulder, dissolving regional and religious lines.
National Security Imperative
The deep social mobilization of the Nasha Mukt Abhiyaan is backed by an uncompromising, highly aggressive national security apparatus. The government treats drug trafficking not merely as a localized criminal enterprise or an isolated social evil, but as a highly structured, dual-purpose military operation launched from across the border.
Having failed to achieve its strategic objectives through conventional military tactics or direct infiltration by armed terrorists, Pakistan’s ISI and its cross-border syndicates have pivoted to a dangerous asymmetric, hybrid warfare strategy. This operation serves two deadly strategic purposes: generating vast amounts of untraceable liquidity to directly fund local militancy, and systematically incapacitating the youth demography to permanently damage the region’s long-term economic productivity and social stability.
To effectively bypass traditional physical countermeasures, the cross-border syndicates have turned to unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and commercial quadcopters. Flying under the cover of pitch darkness or heavy seasonal fog, these GPS-guided drones transport high-purity payloads of heroin directly across the International Border, dropping them into agricultural fields in the outer plains of RS Pura and Bishnah sectors. Local handlers utilize encrypted smartphone applications to receive precise drop coordinates, picking up the contraband within minutes of the drone’s departure to ensure rapid distribution among the identified peddlers.
CGPWA Targets Rajeev Nagar
A stellar, highly practical example of this civil society mobilization occurred on May 13, 2026, when the Central Government Pensioners’ Welfare Association (CGPWA), Jammu, staged a highly successful supportive awareness and counselling campaign. The venue chosen for this critical intervention was Rajeev Nagar (Narwal)-an area long flagged as one of the deeply entrenched hotspots for drug peddlers and illicit cartels in Jammu.
Organized at the local Middle School managed by Smt Ruby Sharma-led Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam Welfare Sarvodaya Society (VKWS) in Rajeev Nagar, the 2-hour long program saw an active, involved gathering of over 250 participants. This diverse audience included students, parents, neighbourhood residents, pensioners, and members of the society, all standing together to publicly reclaim their neighbourhood from the grip of local drug cartels.
The camp carried immense moral authority and unmatched administrative experience, featuring a leadership panel of top-tier retired civil servants who deeply understand both the subtle social dynamics involved in drug abuse and the complex security dimensions. They included two former DGPs, Kuldeep Khoda and Dr Ashok Bhan, and one former Chief Secretary, B R Sharma.
The Rajeev Nagar program targeted the precise psychological mechanics of localized peddling networks through practical, actionable sessions. Expert counsellor Divya Jamwal, alongside prominent Advocate Rameshwar Singh Jamwal, conducted exhaustive awareness sessions for parents. They provided clear guidance on how to spot early behavioural deviations, physical changes, and health warning signs in children, such as sudden isolation, unexplained financial demands, and physical lethargy.
The event integrated live, emotionally moving recovery stories from two fully rehabilitated local students who had successfully broken free from severe addiction. By highlighting these stories of successful rehabilitation right inside a notorious peddling hotspot, the drug cartels’ strength to maintain their control over vulnerable neighbourhoods was successfully targeted.
The depth of public emotion was fully captured when a local resident, Pudina Ram, took to the dais to make an emotional plea directly to the former top civil servants and police chiefs to use their institutional strength and help permanently cleanse the locality of this menace, assuring full cooperation of residents who are desperate to rid their area of its painful reputational scar.
Powerful Network of NGOs
Besides CGPWA, several other NGOs are silently working tirelessly to eradicate this ‘social cancer’. Team Jammu, a highly influential youth-based organization led by Zorawar Singh, stands out as one of the oldest and most consistent anti-drug volunteer bodies in J&K working for over a decade to save the younger generation.
The NGOs engaged in this field in Jammu include: Samvedna Society Jammu, which has built a partnership with Jammu district administration; Diva International Foundation, Samba, which has teamed up with the DC, Samba to roll out intensive 100-day campaign; Indian Human Rights Council, J&K UT Chapter, which has co-anchored multiple outreach programs in the border districts of the Jammu division; Sewa Bharti, Jammu Division, a nationalist socio-cultural organization that has deployed local volunteers to clear wild poppy and cannabis crops and clean up flagged drug hotspots across rural Jammu, Kathua, and Samba districts; Sankalp Hub / Mission Shakti, Jammu Regional Cells, featuring institutionalized women’s empowerment groups mobilizing mothers, sisters, and female sarpanches across Udhampur, Doda, and Samba districts. J&K Samaj Kalyan Kendra
The campaign’s operational execution is anchored by two highly targeted frameworks launched under the 100-day intensive push: the Community Immunisation Programme and the Family Fortress Initiative. Both strategies shift the focus from reactive law enforcement to proactive, community-wide prevention.
The Community Immunisation initiative approaches high-risk geographic areas similar to a public health immunization drive. Within the first 30 days of the campaign, over 160 distinct drug consumption hotspots have been identified in rural areas and systematically cleared. Once a localized area or ward is stabilized, representatives from the PRIs conduct regular community audits to officially maintain its “Drug-Free Village”.
The Family Fortress Initiative recognizes that the family unit serves as the ultimate shield against substance abuse. It has institutionalized weekly family dialogues across schools, colleges, and places of worship. This has worked effectively in Shopian district, where over 500 schools simultaneously hosted Mega PTMs dedicated exclusively to the Family Fortress framework. Parents participated in psychologist-led sessions detailing the early behavioural indicators of substance use. This framework encourages parents to utilize resources like the Tele-MANAS helpline to seek clinical assistance early, without fearing social ostracization.
While the LG’s Nasha Mukt Abhiyan has energized non-political civil societies which joined the Jan Andolan against drugs, the police and the administration too have adopted a “guns blazing” operations to dismantle the domestic economic lifelines of cross-border syndicates. According to the available data, 766 FIRs have been registered, 856 persons arrested, and 677 kgs of narcotics seized during 38 days of the drive. Furthermore, 117 properties linked to narcotics valued at over ?52 crore were attached. Alongside these actions, over 300 driving licences and more than 150 pharmacy licences have been recommended for suspension or action, several illegal structures built on public land by drug cartels were demolished, and commercial properties serving as fronts for laundering narco-funds were sealed. This financial strategy targets the logistical machinery of terror networks, choking off the cash flows required to procure weaponry or pay local operatives.
Through this seamless, powerful combination of law enforcement, clear administrative willpower, and grassroots civil mobilization, the Nasha Mukt Abhiyan has successfully shifted the paradigm. Dozens of FIRs are being registered daily against top-tier smugglers, and extensive networks are being dismantled, including the use of bulldozers. By turning this Abhiyan into an enthusiastic Jan Andolan, Jammu & Kashmir has sent an unmistakable message across the border: its people are completely unified, actively mobilized, and entirely resolved to protect their youth, reclaim their neighbourhoods, and secure a peaceful, prosperous future.
(Feedbook: kbjandial@gmail.com)

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