Sorry state of affairs

It is matter of grave concern that crimes against women in Jammu and Kashmir are increasing at a dangerous pace. An official report has revealed a grim picture.The year that passed (2018) was the most trying. The year recorded nearly 1000 cases of crimes (mainly rape) against women. Reports suggest that the actual number is more than the double as many victims have not reported to the police due to social stigma attached to such incidents. The figures show that after every 24 hours a woman was raped in the state. It is a serious reflection on the moral and social conduct of the people of the state. It is not going overboard to say that Jammu and Kashmir is at the brink of moral annihilation. What is even more concerning is that some of these heinous crimes were communally motivated. The rape and murder of 8-year old Muslim girl at Kathua in Jammu is a point in case.Though the case is under judicial scrutiny but some of the shades of the case exposed by the investigators are horrific and heart-wrenching. The communal slant of the case became public when thousands of Hindus led by BJP and Congress leaders held street demonstrations in support of the criminals involved in the rape and murder of the hapless girl. Even the lawyers sided with the alleged perpetrators of the crimes.

They tried to stop police from filing chargesheet in the court. A latest case wherein a minor Muslim girl was repeatedly raped has surfaced in Ramban district of Jammu. A 13-year-old Muslim girl from Ramban district of Jammu region was, allegedly, repeatedly raped for several months by a man from the same area. The incident came to the fore after the girl became unwell a few days ago. Victim’s family, who live in Varnal Sarbagni area of the district, rushed her to the hospital where doctors told them she has been raped multiple times. The victim narrated the incident before the magistrate that she was raped for the last three months. Following which the police arrested the accused Sanju Singh of Varnal area of Ramban. Property dispute, personal enmity, drug addiction, sexual lust and several other reasons also contribute to the alarming trend. In September last year, a nine-year old girl was raped and murdered in Baramullah shocked the entire valley. She was raped and murdered by her step-brother and his friends at the behest of her stepmother who was jealous of her husband’s second wife. Moral waywardness is regarded as the main reason for such social crimes.

Drug-addiction is deemed as the most motivating factor for one to indulge in immoral acts. The menace of drugs is catching up the young Kashmir dangerously.Be it a way to fight personal crisis, means to wipe the mental scars or just a sign of being cool, a section of youth in Kashmir have fallen into the net of drugs. Charas, brown sugar, cocaine, cannabis, psychotropic drugs et al are the new weapons of mass destruction for the youth. Around forty per cent of our youth, a majority of them students, have become habitual drug addicts. What is more disturbing is that drug peddlers have found their way in the most sensitive areas of our society.

They have by now entrenched themselves into spaces of educational institutions as well. Some lower rung employees of educational institutions are reported to be in involved in trafficking of drugs in colleges and schools. It is sad to note that the state administration is acting as mute spectator to the deteriorating moral and social standards of the society. Police, which has the primary responsibility to curb such crimes, is found, in many ways, partner to the crimes. It is the responsibility of the state’s religious and political leadership as well to aware people of the harmful effects of such social evils.