Charsi men in a bind!
BOONI, Feb 1: Perhaps for the first time, an acute shortage of charas has hit the town of Booni but the charsi men are hopeful that it is a temporary crisis and would go away very soon.
They said the shortage was neither due to the recent announcement by the new district police officer (DPO) to go after the drug peddlers nor had any link to the closure of the roads.
However, social circles here appreciated the decision of the new DPO and said due to his bold step the noose around the drug peddlers had been tightened, leading to the shortage of charas and other drugs in upper Chitral. These charsi men, however, seemed perturbed over the shortage as they needed it the most in the cold weather.
An interaction with some of the known and senior charsis of Booni showed that the shortage had sent the prices skyrocketing.
A few days ago, they said charas was available in Booni for Rs.1,200 per tola but now it is not available even for Rs.2,000 per tola. Some of the senior charsis told ChitralToday that the smugglers had deliberately created an artificial shortage of charas to pocket more money.–S.N. Peerzada
Quite interesting story, I must say! I really take pity over poor hash addicts. But the DPO Abbas Majid Marwat should also tighten the noose around the police officers who are also addicted to the drug. There is no check and balance on the police in Chitral who could be seen stealing slabs of hash during the raid and then putting half a pound under their belt. The use of charas is quite common in Broghil and Ovirk area of Lotkuh where there is extreme temperature in winter. Opium is also commonly being used in Ovirk area but the police is yet to extend the scope of its operation to these areas. Another thing which the new DPO needs to do on war footing is to identify Charsi policemen instead of harassing civilian Charsis. These cops helps the Charas in mafia in running their dense. If you want to bribe a corrupt tiny SHO or his Charsi constable, you have to arrange charas, thara (desi sharab) and other psychotropic drugs. Chitral has been turned into a Chasistan due to these corrupt police officers and the civilians Charsis must not be blamed for the boom in the lucrative charas trade in the valley. All the police cops especially the corrupt SHOs should be medically examined and any police officer involved in taking drugs should be sent to prison.