JAMMU, May 22: Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Friday said that drugs and terrorism are “two sides of the same coin” in Jammu and Kashmir, asserting that investigations have revealed direct links between narcotics smuggling networks and terror organisations operating in the region.
Addressing a programme on the drug-free Jammu and Kashmir campaign, the LG said evidence gathered during various investigations has shown the involvement of the neighbouring country in promoting drug smuggling to finance terrorism and radicalisation activities.
He said that while some smugglers may have amassed wealth and constructed houses through illegal trade, the larger share of the money ultimately reaches organisations involved in radicalising youth, purchasing weapons and spreading terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir and other parts of the country.
Manoj Sinha said the primary objective of the administration is to safeguard the younger generation from the menace of drugs, adding that a conspiracy appeared to have been hatched to destroy the youth of Jammu and Kashmir in order to derail the vision of a “New Jammu and Kashmir” and a developed India.
“If the youth of Jammu and Kashmir are ruined, how will they move forward?” he said, stressing the need for collective efforts to eliminate drug abuse and terrorism from the Union Territory.
