Balochistan Point Voice of Nation
By: Munaj Gul Muhammad
Sometimes, in some parts of Balochistan, wherever you look, you only see the young runaways indulged in drugs.
The Kech District is one such place__Situated in southern Balochistan, the District is predominantly populated by Baloch with different castes and creeds. And in the erstwhile, the region is completely cut off from the rest of Balochistan’s development. It hides the ugly secrets to possessing drugs in each part of it. And the dreams of the youngsters are crushed out owing to drugs, in particular; and other pros and cons in general.
To my recent visit in Tump during the corona outbreak, I was completely bewildered to witness the situations in it. As the region has produced many political leaders, it is still riddled with dilemmas which to-date remain unaddressed.
Kech is among the many places in Balochistan where children seem to have been circumvented. The runaway children are tangled with drugs, but no one cares! In the tehsil, the sale of drugs is often very a dime a dozen these days which is the reason for extinguishing the dreams of hundreds of thousands of people.
Hafeez, one of the locals of Kolahoo village, is involved in drugs. He wishes to get rid of it, “I have been having drugs since the very beginning of my childhood with many other friends. But by now, drug has its roots in my vein. It has been an uphill challenge for me to get better. To me, I might not get rid of drug as long as the sale of drugs is stopped.” He bewails.
Hafeez’s family has a large number of cattle. They have come to Kolahoo from Dasht, following the drought in Dasht village back in 2016. They have settled here since then. They are a family of fifteen.
According to him, they belong to a very poor family. None of them has ever received schooling because the family was reeling in poverty. Getting education has never been a dream for them. Like the rest of the family members, Hafeez has been passing his days and nights in the forests and mountains by grazing the herd.
Not only Hafeez is involved in this inimical activity of drugs, but also many other masses of the village. As most of drug addicts are doing some illicit exertions.
Frankly mentioning, I have been flabbergasted by the acts of the citizens as most of them are engaged in destroying the dreams of the youths via providing them drugs and other inimical medicines. This culture of drugs is becoming a fashion. However, the druggies are depreciated as the society does not accept them, but yet drug culture is becoming very common day in and day out in the region.
Student-cum-freelancer Zeeshan Nasir says, “The tehsil of Tump, particularly, Kolahoo village is on the grip of drug addiction. The village is replete with examples where people have been ruined by following the path of one or the other of them. People say that a few doses of drugs sometime act as a medicine and take away the worries of life but to me, the disadvantages outnumber its benefits.”
Nasir believes that a few of doses are only crushing the bright futures of the youngsters of the area. Some die because of drugs and others by poverty. Although, the masses have never been eased form the deep-rooted dilemmas, whether it be, drug culture among youths, neglected education sector, broken dreams of the youths coupled with other pros and cons. In the region roads are totally broken.
Sami Ullah, an LLB student says that he met a lot of drug addicts and they mentioned poverty the main reason behind their addiction, but he thinks the otherwise, ” If the poverty was the main reason and were too poor to feed their families then, how would they manage to get drugs.”
He believes, it is just an excuse they made. They could feed their families in a stable way using the same money they wasted in drugs.
” The legislation on drugs abuse is the only source to prevent spreading the drug culture in Balochistan. But, unfortunately, the state is failed to achieve the objectives of drug regulation laws. As the 18th amendment emerged in Pakistan’s constitution and empowered the provincial health Authorities to develop the laws on drugs”, Says Adil (an LLb student at school of law, university of Turbat), “The provincial health Authority succeeded with the Act of (DRAP) Drugs Regulatory Authority of Pakistan, Act 2012). It didn’t complete its objectives further. It noted a less quantum punishments despite its prohibition followed by the bill of 2016 which was presented in the National Assembly for the purpose of increasing the less quantum of the punishment which made the DRAP Act of 2012 ineffective.”
As the drugs culture hampers the reading environment of youths in the region and adds multiple woes for the betterment of the society.
” The abuse of drug is one of the major issues of Balochistan. It, too, is a task which should be owned by the state”, Says Ahmed shabir ( a resident of Kech). He believes that it is a very hard step to take someone out from any kind of addiction, but each individual’s struggle against drug addicts through social campaigning and giving awareness adds a lot to the stoppage of drug abuse. ” To me, the very first step to taking the drug addicts out from this hazardous addiction is motivation. A motivated man can do anything. The second thing is to show the beauty of life to the addicted persons and compel them to change the habit, and should start thinking about their future as it is like a curse when you hear among your family members someone is addicted to drugs.We witness different things such as, drug dealers in every street, addicted person in market places and on roads, and ignorance of administration and law, say Shabir.
It is not too late to act for a menace which has its roots in every cell of our society. A generation’s future is at stake.
The writer is a freelancer based in Turbat. He tweets @MunajGul and he can be reached at munaj1baloch@gmail.com
Published in The Balochistan Point on April 29, 2020
