This normalisation of gambling in Kashmir has not just economic implications, but widespread social-cultural implications
Last week, one of my friends broke a horrific news to me about one of our common friends. He said that our friend has auctioned his ancestral land to pay off the debt which he had incurred while gambling online.
Gambling dates back to times before written history. In many countries gambling houses were widespread in the first millennium BCE, and betting on fighting animals was common. Playing cards appeared in the 9th century CE in China. Poker, the most popular US card game associated with gambling, derives from the Persian game As-Nas dating back to the 17th century.
Over the years the methods and means of gambling have evolved. Traditionally, it was effected at a particular designated place, where the wagers met to conduct the gamble. However, in current times, the wager or the gambler does not necessarily need to be at a specific place, face to face with others to perform the act. The act can be done at the touch of a button, from one’s home or office and that, too, clandestinely.
Lately, this risky and money-loaded touch of the button has found new followers in Kashmir where traditionally and culturally brick and mortar housed gambling is despised and mocked at. And because of this mock and loathing associated with congressional gambling, it couldn’t be normal or even a fashion.
But now that almost everyone has a devise in his hand that can, anytime, be turned into a casino, Kashur is no more stranger to gambling.
In my locality, most of the youth have these gambling apps installed, where they bet huge amounts of money almost daily. This is not typical of my locality alone; in fact, this phenomenon is a new normal across Kashmir.
These tempting gambling apps are almost in every home, every college, university campuses, with millions of rupees put on stake every day. The version of these apps vary, some like Dream 11 allow bets on players, while others like Teen Patti are simply a virtual version of card gambling. It is so powerful that you could lose a million bucks on a single strike.
What is terrifying that many youngsters have fallen prey to these illegal and underground apps. Though these are officially banned, they continue to be in business, in the face of a lax legal machinery. These apps are so impactful and unsympathetic that these can rob you off your clothes, drain out your hard-earned money.
While most of the youngsters using these apps do not know the maxim, “it is the house that always wins”, what ensures their persistent presence on these apps is the temptation of earning big, without much of physical and mental work. In a sense these apps are addictive: once a user loses a certain amount of money, he continues to stay on the platform in the hope of winning back. And once a user, by sheer luck, wins a certain amount of money he persists on the app hoping to win more. In that vicious cycle, he ends ups ultimately losing, thus validating the statement, “the house always wins”.
This normalisation of gambling in Kashmir has not just economic implications, but widespread social-cultural implications. It has literally and virtually bastardised every user’s household into a gambling house, even while there might be ritualistic prayers happening within the same household. Moreover, it keeps one’s mind preoccupied all the time, which, in turn, reduces people’s social engagements.
The anxiety and stress level of people engaged is online gambling is scientifically established and it thus needs no further validation. The losers on these platforms are known to have family discords and conflicts. It even creates discord among the filial affiliations.
Given the sensitivity of the issues, there is an urgent need to arrest this growing trend of online gambling. The issue is very serious, with widespread social consequences, and any more waiting will have far-reaching and compounded future implications. This current trend of online gambling in Kashmir has the tendency to spread like a wild fire, and take more and more people within its reach, if we do not do something now, urgently.
The first and foremost is the counselling of youth engaged in these activities, as well as sensitisation. Not just those already engaged but the prospective ones should be taught that gambling is not only morally corrupt but also has the potential to reduce a person and his family to penury. Massive campaigns like written graffiti on public walls, or paintings with messages like, “online gambling is a curse, it reduces to penury, and it robs families of their riches, and deprives them of peace, it is highly addictive, loss making and thus religiously prohibited.” These campaigns and some other education and awareness campaigns can go a long way in arresting the growing trend of online gambling and save our young and old alike.
The writer is a research scholar at Department of Sociology, University of Kashmir