Srinagar, Apr 26: Jammu and Kashmir Cabinet Minister Satish Sharma on Sunday described narcotics as a weapon of anti-national forces to destroy the country’s youth and called for a zero-tolerance crackdown, asserting that drug addicts and traffickers were “traitors”.
Speaking on the sidelines of the ‘Sundays on Cycle’ event on the banks of Dal Lake, the Sports Minister said seventy-one per cent of India’s population is below 35 years of age. They cannot destroy the country in any other way. Therefore, they are using drugs to do their job.
The minister, who holds the Food, Civil Supplies, Transport and Youth Services portfolios, warned that action would be taken against anyone found involved in substance abuse, irrespective of their position.
“They are traitors who are addicted to drugs. No matter who they are — a politician, a policeman or anyone else. I will break the rules if someone is addicted,” he said.
Minister Sharma welcomed the ‘Nasha Mukta Bharat’ campaign and said the administration, including Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, the Lieutenant Governor, and the Director General of Police, should have launched it earlier.
He appealed to parents not to feel ashamed if their child was addicted and called upon NGOs like Art of Living and Radha Swami to help set up de-addiction centres.
“The children who have made mistakes, it is not their fault. We have to bring them on the right path. We will slap our children on the enemy’s face,” the minister said.
Earlier, Minister Sharma thanked Union Minister Mansukh Mandaviya for appointing CM Omar Abdullah as the ‘Fit India’ ambassador. He also invited tourists to visit Jammu and Kashmir, describing it as the most beautiful place in the world. (KNS)
