Women of Kashmir and Drug Addiction

Recently, the Inter Press Service reported on the female drug addicts of Kashmir. Very little help is available for these women. Torn between international politics and local customs, women in Kashmir have become the victims of badly administered policy. As a result, their social standing, psychological welfare, and general health have greatly suffered as have their communities.

Many Westerners think of Kashmir as somewhere near Pakistan and Afghanistan where a bunch of terrorists may hide as they force their
women into hijabs. Although this image has been imposed onto Kashmiri women, their ancestry shows a different face -- and, for me, a very personal one.

My paternal grandmother was from Kashmir, but she didn’t grown up there. Along with the rest of my family, my great grandparents on both sides emigrated to Kenya mainly through forced British displacement when labor was needed for imperialist colonies. However, my great grandmother brought her customs with her and relatives of mine always reminisce of Kashmir being the Switzerland of Northern India. The women of Kashmir had equal rights with men and over 100 years ago they also had equal decree to land rights. This was sophistication heaven, so women like my grandmother were connoisseurs of perfume, with the Kashmiris adopting Persian methods of pressing roses for face oil and perfume. Different types of brewed teas were standard in most households. Many people, literate and illiterate, recited poetry in mixed gender settings. There has always been an influence of types of medicinal drug use. My grandmother talked about seeing men smoke hookas as a relaxing ritual. Herbs such as opiates were also used medicinally, and she talked about squeezing poppy seeds for the milk, which would then be boiled and used as a remedy to ease aching joints. When did ritual turn into the hardcore drug use found throughout Kashmir today?