Kashmiris’ homes bulldozed, properties seized under anti-drug pretext, admits IIOJK minister
Srinagar: In Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir (IIOJK), a minister in the Omar Abdullah-led government has expressed serious concerns over the demolition of homes and seizure of properties of Kashmiris under the garb of fighting the drug menace.
According to Kashmir Media Service, IIOJK Health and Education Minister Sakina Itoo also said in a media interview that while drug abuse was more prevalent in the Hindu-majority Jammu region, coercive actions have been disproportionately focused on the Muslim-majority Kashmir Valley.
“I will tell you as Health Minister — there are more drug addicts in Jammu. But in Kashmir, you are demolishing homes and seizing properties. Why?” she questioned.
Her remarks come amid an ongoing crackdown by the New Delhi-imposed IIOJK administration, led by Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, on so-called drug peddlers, which has seen properties of families being bulldozed and seized. Itoo warned that such punitive measures are legally and morally questionable and emphasized that the authorities’ priority should be to protect youth from drugs, not punish families.
It is worth noting that the New Delhi-imposed administration in IIOJK, under Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha, has intensified state surveillance and repression of Kashmiris under the pretext of an anti-drug campaign. Observers say the drive targets Kashmiri youth, linking political dissent to criminality. The Modi government is employing controversial laws, including the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, alongside modern tracking systems, turning the occupied territory into an open prison. Experts say forced detentions under these laws are a deliberate strategy to suppress the freedom movement and criminalize the younger generation.
Kashmir watchers further assert that India is framing drug use as a security threat to defame the Kashmiris’ struggle for right to self-determination and label the freedom movement illegal.
