Religious leaders to help tackle drug use, sale in Mumbai

The Narcotics Control Bureau NCB on Saturday initiated an awareness campaign against drug use and trafficking with the help of religious leaders from the Muslim community NCB Zonal Director Sameer Wankhede and his team visited the Juma Masjid in South Mumbai on June 26 which is marked as the International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking to launch a campaign focusing on Muslim youthldquoWe have found that youths are getting into trafficking because of illiteracy poverty unemployment and bad company We have targeted many areas and are now reaching out to religious leaders to stop Muslim youths from getting into drug traffickingrdquo Wankhede told middayHow many will we arrestApart from South Mumbai many areas of which are heavily populated by Muslims the NCB has also reached out to religious leaders in Andheri Lokhandwala Govandi Mankhurd Malwani and Mira Road ldquoWe will keep enforcing the law but how many people will we arrest Awareness with the help of religious leaders can play a major role Those involved in drug use can be sent to rehabilitation centres We need the societyrsquos help to control the drug menacerdquo he saidBefore reaching out to the religious leaders NCB also studied parts of the Quran and Hadith collected traditions of prophet Muhammed based on his sayings and actions that deal with drug use ldquoI told religious leaders that Muslims donrsquot drink because liquor is forbidden in Islam Likewise there are parts of Quran and Hadith that prohibit consuming drugsrdquo Wankhede saidThe agency requested the NCB to use these to encourage youth to avoid drugs ldquoWe have asked them to make announcements during prayers especially on Friday and during religious gatherings We believe this will bring a major change and aid parents of children affected by the drug menacerdquo Wankhede saidCongress MLA from the Mumbadevi constituency Amin Patel said ldquoI donrsquot think the problem is limited to the Muslim community It has become a problem for every community We have been doing campaigns from mosques in our area NCBrsquos positive approach will be instrumental in reducing the drug menacerdquoNeed effective local copsWankhede and his team also visited the Sunni Bilal Masjid at Grant Road and addressed South Mumbaibased Muslim clerics from across sectsldquoIt is high time that we accept that there is a drug problem among our communityrsquos youth We have been campaigning for 10 years The problem is unemployment which drives them to drug trafficking for easy money and then into addiction and other crimes We need to accept that first to save our youthrdquo said Maulana Moin Miya Clerics also believe that local police are not dealing with the issue effectively despite knowing of major dealers and suppliers ldquoThe NCB has cracked down on the major suppliers But the local police need to do their job more effectivelyrdquo Moin Miya addedJuma Masjid to counsel drug users in NCB custodyThe Juma Masjid of Bombay Trust appointed a team of six Islamic scholars to conduct rehabilitation and counselling of repeat drug users while they are in the custody of the Narcotics Control Bureau NCBSameer Wankhede sitting in centre with Shoaib Khatib trustee and chairperson of the Juma Masjid of Bombay Trust in blackThe decision was taken after community leaders met with NCB Zonal Director Sameer Wankhede on Saturday Trustee and chairperson of the Juma Masjid of Bombay Trust Shoaib Khatib said ldquoThe aim is to focus on people using drugs and not peddlers There are kids and youth who are taken into custody for a few days by the NCB for using drugs While they are in custody our muftis scholars and community counsellors will meet them and explain the harmful effects of drugs on onersquos health and familyrdquoKhatib added ldquoAfter getting bail the person will go through withdrawal If someone has no money to buy drugs they would start selling them to finance their addiction If that doesnrsquot work they will resort to thieving Eventually one ends up becoming a criminal We need to explain these things to the afflicted youthrdquo Khatib said several South Mumbai areas have a growing drug problem These include Bhindi bazaar Dongri and some pockets near JJ Hospital ldquoThere are also some areas where only migrant workers live They donrsquot have family here and have easy access to cheap drugs Mostly the poor are getting affected and their exposure to cheap drugs is much morerdquo Gaurav Sarkar