The New Indian Express ·
A Nation Under the Influence
When the film Udta Punjab arrived in cinemas a decade ago, it provoked denial, institutional anger, and bitter debate. Critics dismissed its bleak portrayal of youth hollowed out by syringes and cheap heroin as sensationalist fiction. Ten years later, that film looks understated rather than exaggerated fiction. The crisis is no longer Punjab’s alone. It has spread across India, infiltrating premier campuses, tech corridors, coastal villages, and industrial hubs with quiet ruthlessness.
India occupies a perilous geographical position between two major illicit narcotics epicentres: the Golden Crescent of Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iran to the west and the Golden Triangle of Myanmar, Laos, and Thailand to the east. With the world’s largest young population, who are mostly jobless and unemployable, we are a gold mine for the narcotic business. Pakistan uses narcotics as the most effective weapon to destabilise our future. Low-cost drones drop consignments of heroin and methamphetamines across the western plains under cover of night. Deep-sea dhows dump massive shipments into international waters off the western coast, while dense jungle trails facilitate trafficking across the Northeast.
History provides stark warnings about what happens when narcotics take root inside a society. In Mexico and Colombia, drug syndicates hollowed out the state from within. India stands at a critical juncture where transit pipelines have evolved into lucrative domestic consumer bases, mirroring the early stages of Latin America’s descent.
