It is very unfortunate that a group of women from Mayu village in Lower Dibang Valley district fighting against drug menace has been receiving threat with dire consequence from some persons. The women group is not only extending cooperation to the police to apprehend the drug peddlers, they have also been educating the people about the harmful effects of drugs and also conducting drug eradication drives in some infamous areas for the betterment of the society. The good thing is that the women group is determined to fight against all the evils that are prevailing in the society despite threats to their lives.
It has succeeded to form an Anti-Drug Committee with selected members of Idu Mishmi Cultural and Literary Society (IMCLS) and the All Idu Mishmi Students Union (AIMSU) to intensify the movement against drug menace in the district. According to a report, the Lower Dibang Valley police did not receive any complaint from the women group regarding threats to their lives. However, Lower Dibang Valley SP appreciates the women group for its commendable job against drug menace and assured the women of strict action against the wrongdoers. ‘The police department is always there to act on information without revealing the identity of informers if it makes them feel safer,’ the SP had said.
The women groups are not only active against drug menace in Lower Dibang Valley district, they are also active in Namsai, East Siang and some other drug effected districts of the state. For example, we can take the names of Women Welfare Societies of Namsai and Miao in Changlang districts, besides the Women Against Social Evils (WASE), an East Siang based organization which had already drawn the media attention for its crusade against drug abuse in Siang valley.
We have reasons to believe that the state Government is well aware of the drug menace in the state. During observation of International Day against Drugs Abuse and Illicit Trafficking in Namsai last month, Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein had claimed that there is a corridor of drug trafficking from Changlang to Namsai, Lohit, Anjaw, Lower Dibang Valley and East Siang districts to western part of Arunachal Pradesh, which needs to be broken. He had also called for waging a war against drug addiction to eradicate it from the society.
Threats to women volunteers just few days after the observation of International Day against Drugs Abuse and Illicit Trafficking is a cause for concern. State Govt must think seriously to protect the women who are voluntarily fighting against drug menace in some districts of the state and also take concrete steps to deal with drug menace.