Srinagar, May 10 -- Some crises arrive with immediate visibility through headlines, sirens, and public alarm, while others emerge quietly, embedding themselves within society until their consequences become impossible to ignore. Kashmir today is confronting the latter. The growing problem of drug abuse in the Valley is not merely an issue of law enforcement or healthcare. It reflects a far deeper social and emotional crisis, one closely tied to the realities of unemployment.

For years, unemployment in Kashmir has been discussed through statistics, reports, and policy debates, often treated as an abstract economic challenge. For the youth of the Valley, however, it is an intensely personal experience. It is the silence that follows years ...