Baramulla, May 12: For decades, the streets of north Kashmir’s Baramulla district have borne witness to protests of a different kind. Shutdowns. Strikes. Processions with political flags. Tuesday was none of that.
In what is being described as a first-of-its-kind public rally against the drug menace, tens of thousands of citizens — students, farmers, women, elderly, and families from Sikh, Muslim and Kashmiri Pandit communities — poured into the Showkat Ali Stadium and the surrounding National Highway. Their single slogan Drug-free Kashmir. Drug-free Baramulla.
The rally marked the centrepiece of Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha’s ongoing 100-day initiative to make Jammu & Kashmir free of substance abuse.
“It was not less than a festival,” said a senior civil administration official present at the venue. “From lanes to bylanes, the rush was like a tsunami. And there was no political colour to it.”
‘I walked 10 kilometres. I couldn’t wait’
For Mehwish, a college student from Kunzar, the journey to the stadium was not simple. Her vehicle was caught in a massive traffic jam kilometres from the venue. She got out and walked — 10 kilometres on foot — to reach on time.
“How could I have waited?” she told Kashmir Convener outside the main gate of the stadium. “I didn’t sleep the whole night. I was so excited to listen to our Lieutenant Governor. For me, happiness is that my whole family came here.”
Her classmate, Ayesha Nazir, 19 said “In our college, we have seen two friends drop out because of addiction. Today, for the first time, we felt there is someone listening to us. That is why we walked. That is why we are here.
A group of degree college students from Baramulla town stood near the stadium’s gate, holding a hand-painted banner that read “Nashe se azaadi” (Freedom from intoxication).
Dr Nazir Changa, a nodal officer who coordinated over 100 buses from the Kunzar belt, said participants arrived well before the scheduled time. “There was an excitement among them. They were happy to be part of this. Similar success was witnessed from all nodal officers.”
One of the bus driver, Mohammad Shafi, 52, who has driven vehicles for government events for over two decades, said he had never witnessed anything like it.
“I have driven buses for political rallies, for official functions, for religious processions. But this was different,” Shafi said while waiting to ferry participants back to Kunzar. “Usually, people sit quietly or sleep. Today, they were singing — not political songs, but folk songs about a clean Kashmir. Some were reciting poetry against drugs. A young boy stood up in my bus and said, ‘Bhai sahab, aaj main apne bhai ke liye aa raha hoon jo nashe mein doob raha hai.’ I almost cried.”
Muskaan an lawyer and a social activist said “For years, addiction was a whispered shame in Kashmir’s homes. Families hid their sons. No one wanted to speak about it publicly because of stigma,” Khan said. “Today, thousands stood up and said, ‘We have a problem, and we will solve it together.’ That is not a rally. That is a revolution.”
She added, “I saw an old woman from Baramulla district, must have been 70, holding a placard that said ‘Mera pota wapas chahiye.’ That broke me and healed me at the same time.”
Javid Ahmad a farmer from Sopore, drew a sharp distinction between Tuesday’s gathering and the valley’s familiar political processions.
“This is not a political rally,” he said. “It is an occasion where we all took a pledge for a beautiful tomorrow. No matter who is taking the lead — what matters is how this initiative helps our society and sends a loud message to the enemies of Kashmir.”
He added, “After the gun culture, they are now silently affecting our youth with drugs.”
What made the event historically unusual was the visible unity across ideological lines. National Conference leadership, opposition figures, the LG’s office, police, Army, civil sector officers, and civil societies all stood under the same umbrella — a rare visual in Kashmir’s fractured public space.
The most striking contingent came from SRM Welkin School in Sopore, which mobilised nearly 1,000 students — the largest school participation in the district.
“For the past three days, we were waiting for this day,” said Vice Principal Rayees Ahmad Khan. “All the students were excited to be part of this awareness. This is a great initiative. Everyone should support this cause and be careful about the younger generation.”
Elaborate security arrangements were put in place across Baramulla district, with additional layers of forces deployed along the National Highway and at the stadium. Snipers and police pickets were visible at multiple points.
A senior police officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, confirmed that no untoward incident was reported.
“Everything went well — from people’s movement to LG Sinha’s visit. Extra layers of security forces were alerted for a safe event,” the officer said.
Notably, this rally is said to be one of the biggest rally in the past decades in Baramull where people in such a Tsunami set recordsending loud message how concerned they are for the future of their younger generation. They are serious towards the bright and successful future they are very much concerned about the beautiful tomorrow.
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