Srinagar, Indian-Advanced Kashmir -Fia’s* fried fingers selected on loose threads of her tired dark-brown sweater. She is sitting on the edge of her bed at the rehabilitation ward of Shri Maharaja Hari Singh (SMHS) Hospital in the main city of Kashmir, the main city of Kashmir.
As a pale and stainy clothes gently hangs on her thin box and with down-cast eyes, she says: “I was dreaming of flying high on the mountain, touching the blue sky as a flight attendant. Now I’m stuck in a terrible dream, high on drugs, fighting for my life. “”
The 24 -year -old Afia is one of thousands of people in the confused region where the growing part of drug addiction is leading to the lives of young people.
According to a study of the Psychology Department of Government Medical College in Srinagar, it has been found that Kashmir has overtaken the Northwest Indian State Punjab, fighting for a decade of drug crisis in the cases of drug use.
On August 223, the Indian Parliament reports that out of the 5 million people of Kashmir, there were about 1.3535 million drug users, which has increased from 000 350,3 users last year in a survey conducted by the Mental Health and Neuroscience (Emahans) Institute in Srinagar’s Government Medical College.
Emahans survey also found that 90 percent of the drug users in Kashmir are between 17 and 33.
In 2023, SMHS, more than 41,000 drugs related to AFIIA at the hospital were present-on average one person in 12 minutes, 75 percent more than a figure in 2021.
The increase in the case of Kashmir’s drugs was mainly covered by the so -called “Golden Christen”, Pakistan, Afghanistan and Iran, where the opium is widely taken. Experts are also called Acute unemployment – Lost in this region caused the drive Partial autonomy In १ In, the Covid -1 C C C C C C C C C is (the disease) of the partner increases the disease and frustration of all parties, turning the Kashmiri youth towards the abuse of foods.
As a result, Dr. Yasir says, instead of Psychiatry in -charge of Psychiatry, hospitals and treatment centers in this region have been strained. He said that the treatment of addiction to addiction has been established in Kashmir since 1, but for serious addiction patients like AFIS, only a few hospitals have patients facilities at the hospital.
‘It was harmless felt felt
“You will go through this,” Afia’s mother, Rabia*, her daughter is whispering, and Afia’s face keeps the moist hair aside from the front. She has just taken a bath. Afia’s father is sitting in a chair in a corner in a corner, quietly watching them.
Afia is just listening to the words that promises her mother, and some fresh air on her hands, feet and stomach, injection with her blood vessels, causing her blood vessels to remove the blue blankets provided by her hands, frequently provided the blue blanket provided by the hospital to stick to the black wounds. Doctors warned that she could transmit to her parents and servants, as the wounds are now in the distance with the gap, the blood and thick, yellow.
More than six years ago, Afia was a bright high school student who dreamed of becoming a flight attendant. After passing her 12th class with an effective 85 percent marks, she responded to the job advertisement posted by a leading private Indian airline.
Afia Al Jaizira tells, “This is not true on this bed. “I used to drive my car. I was a stylish woman known for my beautiful handwriting, intellect and strong communication skills. My quick memory raised me. I could easily remember the details, never lost something. I was independent and confident.
“But now I have been sleeping here like the dead fish here, as if my siblings have kept it. Although they cannot ignore the smells around me. “”
She says she was selected for an airline job and sent to New Delhi for training. “I stayed there for a couple of months. It seemed like a new start, a chance to fly, the opportunity to escape. “”
But when her growing dreams came to the field on August 1, the Indian government removed the special situation of Kashmir and imposed a security lockdown for months to protest against the shocking movement.
Thousands of people, including the top politicians, were arrested and imprisoned. The Internet and other fundamental rights were also suspended, as New Delhi for the first time in the decade, the region was directly under control.
“The situation returning home was serious. There is no communication with my family, no phone, there is no way to know if they are safe. I could no longer live in New Delhi. I took a week’s leave and went home, “Afia said.
With the help of other Kashmiris, she had left the capital, she did not know that she had ended the flight attendant before her journey began.
“When the situation improved (in Kashmir), the roads opened and I was able to think about going back to New Delhi, five months passed. In those days, I lost my dream job and I lost myself with it, “she says when her eyes are good.
“I applied for a job at other airlines but nothing happened. With every rejection, I started to lose hope. Then Kovid hit and the job was very rare. Over time, I lost the interest of working completely – my mind was no longer in it. I didn’t feel like doing anything. “”
Afia says that her disappointment was disappointed in every passing month. She started spending more time with her friends by getting comfort in her company.
She said, “In the beginning we just talked about our struggles. “Then it started with Small Temptations, with Little Puffs of Cannabis to Deal With the Tension. It felt harmless. Then someone offered me foil (heroin). I didn’t think twice. It seemed pleasant. “”
“The only thing that gives me peace is drugs – all the other things seemed to be burning inside me.”
‘Brutal appetite’
But the escape is short -lived, she says and takes possession of the dependence in the cycle of dependence.
“The dream quickly changed into a dream. The enthusiasm was reduced and the place changed in a cruel starvation, “she says she described the desperate solutions and risks to find drugs.
“Once I traveled 40 km (25 miles) from Srinagar to Shopian district from Srinagar to South Kashmir to meet the drug dealers. My friend was running out of stock and someone gave me his number. I called him directly to arrange the supply. He was a big seller and the only way to get what we need at that time.
“When I got there, he introduced my identity as ‘Tichu’ (local abusive word for injection). He was the first man to introduce me to injection drugs. He injected in my stomach with injection in the car, “she says. “The crowd was intense – it seemed to be heaven, but only for a moment.”
At that moment of happiness, her quick genius began to add a deeper addiction.
“Heroine’s grip is cruel. It’s not just a drug, it becomes your life, “says Afia. “To make sure we have enough for the next day, I will stay overnight by coordinating with friends. It was exhausting, but the bottom was stronger than all other types of pain. “”
Heroine is the most commonly used drug in the region, which costs thousands of rupees per month.
Instead of the emhance, the heroin is spread far and wide, and we are looking at the number of patients affected by it.
Professors say that they have increased the abuse of substances in women and has given credit for mental health conflict and unemployment.
“Before Before, we rarely saw the cases of heroin. Most people use marijuana or other soft medicines. But the heroin spreads like a virus, men, women, even to pregnant women reach everyone, “he tells Al Jaizira. “Now, we see 300 to 400 patients daily, both new cases and follow -up and most of the heroin addiction.”
But why heroin?
Instead, “because of his fast and intense pleasant effects”, “Many people felt more quick and enjoyable than Morphin”.
“It is easy to use, it is high strength and despite the extreme addiction, it was a misunderstanding that it was more secure or more sophisticated than the other drugs added to its appeal only.”
‘Wired to find the last shot’
For addictions like Afia, who have been admitted to rehabilitation five times so far, the battle against Heroine is a daily and climb.
She said, “Every time I leave the hospital, my body pulls me back on the road,” she says. “It’s like my brain is wired to find the brain of the brain.”
The purpose of recovering Afia remains uncertain. At the time of rehabilitation, she frequently left the hospital to find herin, or asked other patients walking around her daily hospital.
“There is a way to contact each other under drug addicts,” her mother tells Rabia Al Jazira. “I once saw her talking to a man in English and I realized that she was asking her for drugs.”
Rabia said she once found drugs hidden behind the flush in the women’s toilet. She said, “I found the stab and it was flushed, but she (Afia) managed to get (Heroine) again,” she says. “She knows how to work in the system to get what she wants.”
One of the hostesses in the SHMS rehab revealed that patients often bribed security guards. “They pay them or take them even when they are taking medication,” the nurse requested not to print the name because she is not allowed to talk to the media. The female ward is near the hospital entrance – this makes it easier for patients to get out of the attention, she says.
“This is a heart attack because we try to help, but some patients find ways to leave.”
“She (Afiya) fled a night and returned the next day and spent a few hours with the male male patients who helped her get herron,” said a security guard, who did not want to declare her identity for fear of losing a job.
But Afia is abusive. “These drugs do not bring peace from the same shot of heroin,” she tells Al Jazir, shaking her hands and digging her nails on the hospital’s bed.
Addiction has intensified the physical toll on her body. Open wounds on her feet, arms and oz of blood. When the plastic surgeon at SMHS Dr. When Mukhtar first examined her, he said he was shocked.
“She was unable to walk because of deep wounds on her private area and a large scars on her lap. She caused serious health problems with damaged nerves and infected injuries. Her liver, kidneys and hearts were also affected. She struggled with memory loss, anxiety and painful retreat and left her in a serious state, “he says.
Afia’s parents say that bringing her to the rehabilitation of SMHS was a desperate trick. Rabia says, “To protect her and family reputation, we told our relatives that she had stomach problems and cracks from accidents.”
She further said, “Here no one is married to an addictive person with drug addiction. “Our neighbors and relatives are already in doubt. They saw her scars, her volatile appearance and frequent hospital visits. “”
Afia’s father says he often hides his face in public, “unable to bear shame”.
Health experts say that finding treatment for drug addiction is a challenge for Kashmiri women because social stigma and cultural prohibited women keep in shadows.
“Women’s rehabilitation is often secretly done because the families do not want to know anyone and everyone in Kashmir knows everyone,” said a clinical psychologist who runs a clinic in Srinagar. Zoya Mir told Al Jazir.
“Many rich families send their daughters to other states for treatment, while others either suffer in peace or the treatment is late until it is late,” she says. “These women need compassion, not justice. Only then can they be healed. “”
*Names have been changed to protect identity.