Who Cast the Evil Eye on my Kashmir? Inside a Valley Wrestling With Family Crisis, Unemployment and Social Change

Who Cast the Evil Eye on Kashmir? Inside a Valley Wrestling With Family Crisis, Unemployment and Social Change

Kashmir Social Fabric Under Pressure: Who Cast the Evil Eye on the Valley? By: Javid Amin | 20 September 2026 From extravagant weddings and family-court battles to unemployment, trafficking and mental-health concerns, Kashmir is confronting a difficult question: what is happening to the social fabric of the Valley? There is a question increasingly being whispered across Kashmir, sometimes in drawing rooms, sometimes over tea, sometimes after a family dispute and sometimes after another troubling story appears on a mobile phone. What happened to us? The question is not really about…

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Kashmir Mosques Take Up Addiction, Suicide and Environment in New Social Reform Drive

Kashmir Mosques Take Up Addiction, Suicide and Environment in New Social Reform Drive

Kashmir Mosques Expand Role Beyond Religion as Ulema Take Up Addiction, Suicide and Environment By: Javid Amin | 16 September 2026 Srinagar: In Kashmir, the Friday sermon is being asked to do more than speak about faith. A new initiative by the Mutahida Majlis-e-Ulema (MMU) seeks to put issues such as drug addiction, suicide and self-harm, youth distress, family problems, social-media misuse and environmental degradation directly into the community conversation. The decision was taken at a one-day Ulema Meet and Seerat Conference in Srinagar on September 15, chaired by Mirwaiz…

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Kashmir’s Silent Demographic Shift: Are Smartphones, Digital Isolation, and Social Change Shrinking the Valley’s Future?

Kashmir’s Silent Demographic Shift: Are Smartphones, Digital Isolation, and Social Change Shrinking the Valley’s Future?

Kashmir Fertility Crisis: How Smartphones and Digital Isolation May Be Lowering Birth Rates By: Javid Amin | 18 May 2026 From Srinagar to Seoul, Experts Warn That Smartphones May Be Reshaping Human Relationships — and Lowering Birth Rates A profound demographic transformation is quietly unfolding across the world — and increasingly in Kashmir as well. Fertility rates are collapsing in country after country, marriages are happening later than ever, and younger generations are spending more time online while forming fewer long-term relationships offline. While economic stress, unemployment, housing costs, and…

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Breaking Bonds: Why Marriages in Kashmir Are Crumbling—and What Can Be Done

Breaking Bonds: Why Marriages in Kashmir Are Crumbling—and What Can Be Done

Kashmir Divorce Crisis 2026: Rising Domestic Violence, Costly Weddings & Changing Social Norms By: Javid Amin | 29 April 2026 A Silent Shift in the Valley’s Social Fabric Kashmir is witnessing a profound transformation in its family structure. Marriages—once seen as enduring, community-supported institutions—are increasingly breaking under pressure. Courts in Srinagar are reportedly seeing 3–5 divorce petitions daily, while domestic violence cases have more than doubled within a year. What was once rare is now becoming visible—and in some cases, normalized. This is not a single-cause crisis. It is the…

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Nearly Half of Kashmir’s Students Report Mental Health Struggles Linked to Social Media

Nearly Half of Kashmir’s Students Report Mental Health Struggles Linked to Social Media

45% of Kashmir’s Students Struggle With Mental Wellbeing Linked to Social Media: A Wake-Up Call for Schools and Parents By: Javid Amin | 07 March 2026 A new study examining adolescent behaviour in the Kashmir Valley has raised serious concerns about the mental wellbeing of school students. According to the research, around 45% of students up to Class 12 report sub-optimal mental wellbeing associated with excessive social media use. The findings highlight a growing challenge for families, schools, and policymakers: how to balance the benefits of digital connectivity with the…

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Two CRPF Jawans Die by Suicide in Jammu and Kashmir: A Deep Dive into Stress, Silence, and the Mental Health Crisis in Conflict Zones

Two CRPF Jawans Die by Suicide in Jammu and Kashmir: A Deep Dive into Stress, Silence, and the Mental Health Crisis in Conflict Zones

Two CRPF Jawans Die by Suicide in Jammu and Kashmir: Inside a Silent Crisis in the Ranks By: Javid Amin | 27 February 2026  On February 27, 2026, two separate and deeply tragic incidents unfolded in Jammu and Kashmir. In Srinagar and Shopian — miles apart but emotionally connected — two personnel of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) allegedly ended their lives using their service rifles. The deaths of Jawan Hari Om in Srinagar’s Parimpora area and Jawan Manish Kumar in Shopian’s Batapora camp have once again brought into…

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Beyond Marks: Rethinking Merit, Youth, and Mental Well-Being in Kashmir

Beyond Marks: Rethinking Merit, Youth, and Mental Well-Being in Kashmir

Beyond Marks: Rethinking Merit, Youth, and Mental Well-Being in Kashmir By Umar Khan Amiri In Kashmir, the declaration of academic results has increasingly become more than a routine educational milestone. It has evolved into a social yardstick—one that often measures not just performance, but worth, intelligence, and future potential. This mindset, deeply entrenched in society, has had a distressing impact on the mental health and self-esteem of young people. Every year, students give their best within the limits of their individual capacities. Yet the first and often the only question…

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Over 1.3 Million People Affected by Drug Abuse in Jammu & Kashmir: A Deepening Crisis Threatening Youth, Security, and Social Stability

Over 1.3 Million People Affected by Drug Abuse in Jammu & Kashmir: A Deepening Crisis Threatening Youth, Security, and Social Stability

Drug Abuse Crisis in Jammu & Kashmir: Over 1.3 Million Affected as Heroin Use and Youth Addiction Surge By: Javid Amin | 07 January 2026 A Grim Milestone: Drug Abuse Reaches Alarming Levels in Jammu & Kashmir Jammu & Kashmir is confronting one of the most severe social and public health crises in its recent history, with over 1.3 million people now affected by drug abuse, according to official estimates. The figure represents a dramatic rise from approximately 600,000 cases just three years ago, underscoring the speed and scale at…

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From Detox to Despair: Why J&K’s Drug Crisis Needs More Than Short-Term Fixes

From Detox to Despair: Why J&K’s Drug Crisis Needs More Than Short-Term Fixes

10% of J&K Population Struggling with Substance Abuse, Yet Long-Term Rehab Remains a Mirage By: Javid Amin | 26 October 2025 The Hidden Epidemic Jammu and Kashmir is facing one of India’s most severe drug addiction crises, with over 10% of its population—approximately 13.5 lakh individuals—struggling with substance abuse, according to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Social Justice and Empowerment. Behind the numbers lies a grim picture: a generation caught between trauma, unemployment, and easy access to narcotics. Despite government campaigns and public awareness drives, long-term rehabilitation remains a distant…

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The Digital Danger Lurking in Kashmiri Homes: How Screen Addiction is Rewiring Childhood

The Digital Danger Lurking in Kashmiri Homes: How Screen Addiction is Rewiring Childhood

A Silent Crisis in Kashmiri Households By: Javid Amin | 16 October 2025 The phrase “The Digital Danger Lurking in Kashmiri Homes” has rapidly emerged as a powerful lens through which journalists, educators, and psychologists are examining a growing—and deeply concerning—crisis: the unchecked rise of digital addiction among children and teenagers in the Kashmir Valley. What began as a tool of connection during lockdowns and political disruptions has quietly evolved into a force reshaping childhood, family dynamics, mental health, and even cultural continuity. As per features in Kashmir Observer and…

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