The warning sounded by Grand Mufti of Jammu and Kashmir Mufti Nasir-ul-Islam should serve as a moment of collective introspection for Kashmir. His appeal to religious leadership and society to wake up to growing social and economic concerns comes at a time when families are confronting unemployment, financial insecurity, drug abuse and a visible erosion of social cohesion. His words, “If we won’t wake up now, then only Allah knows what will happen to Kashmir,” may sound stark, but the questions behind them deserve serious public discussion rather than political or religious dismissal. The suggestion to create microloan facilities for economically weaker people is particularly important. Poverty cannot always be addressed through charity, announcements or temporary assistance.
A person struggling to feed a family needs an opportunity to earn with dignity. Small, accessible and transparent credit facilities can help young people, women and needy families establish petty businesses, handicrafts, agriculture-related activities, services and other livelihood opportunities. But such schemes must not become another bureaucratic exercise. Kashmir has seen enough programmes announced with great enthusiasm and forgotten quietly after the publicity disappears. Microfinance must reach the genuinely needy, carry reasonable terms and be monitored transparently. Otherwise, a mechanism designed to liberate the poor can become another source of indebtedness.
The Grand Mufti’s concern over drug abuse is equally serious. Kashmir’s battle against narcotics cannot be fought by police action alone. Arrests, seizures and property attachments may be necessary against traffickers, but addiction is also a social and public-health challenge. Young people trapped in substance abuse need rehabilitation, counselling, family support and a realistic path back into education and employment. At the same time, any discussion about the involvement of Kashmiri girls and women in drug abuse or other alleged immoral activities must be handled with extraordinary responsibility. Society must protect vulnerable women rather than stigmatise them. Broad allegations can cause immense damage to families and individuals if they are not supported by facts. Moral panic is not a substitute for social reform.
The larger question is: where are the institutions that should have detected these problems before they reached alarming proportions? Religious organisations have a role, but so do schools, colleges, families, civil society, health institutions, law-enforcement agencies and the administration. The responsibility cannot be transferred to one section of society.
The participation of Ulema from Jammu, Poonch, Rajouri, Kargil and Doda in the MMU gathering is therefore significant. Kashmir’s social challenges do not respect district boundaries, sectarian differences or geographical divisions. A coordinated response involving religious scholars, educators, doctors, counsellors, youth organisations and government institutions could prove far more effective than isolated sermons or occasional campaigns. The crisis also demands that society examine the conditions in which its young people are growing up.
When unemployment persists, productive opportunities remain limited, families struggle financially and young minds are increasingly exposed to harmful influences through digital platforms; merely telling them what not to do will not be enough. They need alternatives, education, employment, sports, skills, culture, counselling and a sense of purpose. Kashmir has historically possessed powerful community institutions and a strong tradition of social solidarity.
The challenge now is to convert that social capital into practical action. The Grand Mufti has sounded the alarm. The question is whether Kashmir will listen before the problems become too deeply embedded to reverse. A society does not collapse suddenly. It begins to weaken when warning signs are repeatedly noticed, discussed and then forgotten. Kashmir cannot afford that luxury anymore.
