[Reader-list] Kashmiris Sick & Tired of Hurriyat

[Pawan Durani]

Kashmir is being suffocated more by the hartals called by the local leaders.
Snapshots of life in the valley as the unrest unfolds…

And the bandhs have affected tourism too, one of the mainstays of the
Kashmir economy.

http://www.hindu.com/mag/2008/08/31/stories/2008083150010100.htm


Twenty-year-old Laila sighed when I met her in Srinagar. She had spent the
third consecutive day indoors in her residence in Nishat. She wanted to go
out for a drive and an ice cream nearby, she had hoped that today at least
it would have been possib le. But the third day of shut-down called by the
Hurriyat turned out to be unrelenting. "We are sick and tired," says her
sister. "Why are we being made to pay for whatever is happening in Jammu?"

No college, no meeting friends, no going out even for a short stroll, life
was becoming suffocating and boring.
No cause for concern

Kashmir's leaders were protesting against the alleged "economic blockade"
imposed on it by Jammu by calling for strikes. I had been sceptical when I
came here in the first week of August. Would I find stuff to buy and eat?
Yet, Kashmiris seemed to be stocked with food. Ghulam Mohammed Dar, a
resident of downtown Zeina Kadal, faced no food problem. Even during the
bandh, his local butcher and vegetable vendors are able to stock him up with
food. This is pretty much true of most residents in Srinagar.

On the Maulana Azad Road, the popular Café Arabica was closed. Through the
backdoor, however, the entrance to the café was open, its shelves stacked
with pastries and savouries. At the Shah-n-Shah's Tops restaurant, all the
dishes offered on the menu are available. "We have our supplies, enough rice
and pulses to last us a couple of months and meat supplies from our local
supplier," says Tariq, owner of a modest hotel in Lal Chowk. The problem is
with buyers — customers were few and far in between.

Shops in Bijbihara, Aish Muqam, Chandanwari, Pahalgam too are stocked with
food stuff. Ghulam Hassan, a resident of Aish Muqam, working in Srinagar,
complains that shopkeepers have been taking advantage of the blockade and
rumours of impending shortage by hiking prices of vegetables and rice.

And though "economic blockade" is on the lips of many, few seemed to be
affected by it as far as food is concerned. There is no starvation. Kashmir
is a society where people are used to hoarding food that sees them through
the long winter each year.

Rather than by the "economic blockade" from Jammu, Kashmir is being
suffocated by the hartal and bandh calls given by Hurriyat leaders. And the
bandhs have affected tourism too, one of the mainstays of the Kashmir
economy.

Javaid Ahmed of Heevan Resorts in Pahalgam bemoans the fact that since July,
90 per cent of the chain's reservations for Paghalgam and Gulmarg have been
cancelled. Smaller, more modest hotels have also lost revenue.

Losses are also being incurred by other daily wage earners. Auto-driver
Rasool Ahmed says business is bad. His words are echoed by a corn seller who
usually has brisk business in Srinagar's popular "Challi point". People are
too scared to come out when there is a call for shutdown and business for
him has been badly hit.
Forced to comply

The owner of a handicraft shop on Srinagar's upmarket Poloview Road, on
conditions of anonymity, says that his business has been badly hit since
July. First, tourists dropped sharply, and then he is often forced to keep
his shop closed. "I don't care which party calls for a shutdown, I'd rather
continue with my business, but I don't want to take risks. Miscreants can
easily damage my shop and goods and then who would compensate me?" So
against his will, he heeds the bandh calls.

Healthcare however, seems to have been hit by the Jammu-Srinagar highway
blockade. There are reports of shortage of drugs and baby food. But the
chemist shops I visited in Rajbagh and Gupkar do not seem to have problems,
at least for now. Dr. Abdul Hamid Zargar, Director of Shere Kashmir
Institute of Medical Sciences (SKIMS), says that his institute has
stockpiles for two to three months. However, necessities like surgical
disposables were not being replenished as regularly as usual. Dr. Zargar is
worried that supplies would run out. Doctors in the oncology department of
SKIMS complain that anti-cancer drugs are running out, common brands of
insulin are not available, causing people to look for alternative brands
which is discomforting. Dr. Mohamed Latif, Medical Superintendent of the Lal
Ded Hospital, complains that his supplies are not coming in from those who
had been given tenders for them. Most of the suppliers are based in Jammu.
The last supply the hospital received from Jammu was two weeks back.

Petrol is another commodity in short supply — most petrol pumps have either
remained closed or have long queues.

And then there are the fruit growers — the fruit industry in Kashmir has a
turnover of about Rs.2,500 crores. Twenty-five lakh families are dependent
on the industry. They have been unable to transport their fruits to other
Indian markets because the national highway has been blocked. Mr. Ghulam
Rasool Butt, the Chairman of the Kashmir Coordination Committee of the
Kashmir Valley Fruit Growers' and Dealers' Union, based in Baramullah, is
livid. He estimates that the fruit industry has incurred a loss of Rs. 400
crores. According to Butt, 60 per cent of the packed fruits ready for
transportation to markets have been spoilt. Yet, there was really no need to
launch the march to Muzzafarabad, foreseen to fail in any case — the fruit
growers wanted to get to India through Muzzafarabad! That Hurriyat leaders
would support the march came as no surprise. People have also been wondering
why no preventive curfew was imposed on the day of the march.

What followed is there for all to see. But as of now, Kashmir is not
starving, simply simmering.