[Reader-list] Two Sad Incidents

[S. Jabbar]

Dear Bipin,
It would be useful to familiarize yourself about the industrial policies of
the state before referring to the abolition of Article 370 as a quick fix.
Perhaps this mail will help.

The govt of J&K has a number of industrial estates in the Valley as well as
in Jammu where highly subsidized land is available to entrepreneurs on long
lease-- 90 years I think. Plus lots of other incentives to lure
industrialists, but they haven't really worked.  J&K had some industry
before the troubles started in 1989.  All of these closed down because of
militancy including Mohan Meakin and HMT.

There are other problems also which have nothing to do with the present
political situation and that is geography and the fact that Kashmir which
was once an entrepot, a hub on the lucrative Central Asia trade route is now
a backward frontier without access to traditional markets.  Pakistan & India
attempted to address this by opening traditional roads between the Valley
and Muzaffarabad and Poonch and Rawlakot (proposed Kargil-Skardu road yet to
be re-opened), but these have not been thought through because there are
currency & banking issues.  Plus there is the additional problem of the ban
on telecommunications between the two regions so that traders cannot
coordinate with each other.

The third reason for economic decline is the fact that young people are no
longer engaging in traditional cottage industry like carpet & shawl weaving,
wood carving, papier mache etc, which used to rank amongst the finest in the
world.  The reason for this is the same in the rest of India, that is,
manual labour is looked down upon.  No one wants to work with their hands
and everyone wants sarkari naukri or the equivalent, which is any white
collared job.

These are some of the challenges that have to be addressed if you are
seriously thinking about J&K's economy.






> From: Bipin <aliens at dataone.in>
> Date: Tue, 23 Feb 2010 11:05:28 +0530
> To: "'S. Jabbar'" <sonia.jabbar at gmail.com>
> Cc: sarai-list <reader-list at sarai.net>
> Subject: RE: [Reader-list] Two Sad Incidents
> 
> Dear Jabbar,
> 
> "An overwhelming majority 71 per cent of the Valleys population is under 35.
> An estimated 74 per cent of the youth are educated. But as a result of the
> strife, stagnant economy and absence of industry there are no jobs. The
> unemployment figure has touched 4 lakh half of them are college graduates."
> 
> Problem with article/law 370 that no one than local Kashmiris buy land there.
> If it is removed made free for all Indians, then you will see how industries
> will set there and employment problem will solved definitely. But, it is
> unfortunate that few (very minor) separatists dictate the terms there.
> 
> Thanks
> Bipin
> 
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: reader-list-bounces at sarai.net [mailto:reader-list-bounces at sarai.net] On
> Behalf Of S. Jabbar
> Sent: Tuesday, February 23, 2010 9:59 AM
> To: Shuddhabrata Sengupta; Sarai
> Subject: Re: [Reader-list] Two Sad Incidents
> 
>  
>     
>       MAIL TODAY ePaper
>  
>  
> Copyright © 2008 MAIL TODAY.
>  
>  
> Feb 20, 2010 
> 'It is stifling to be young in Kashmir'
> by Sonia Jabbar 
> ( As told to Neha Tara Mehta)
> 
> 
> THERES a major difference between 1990 and 2010. In 1990, Kashmiris really
> believed azadi was around the corner. Two historic events ‹ the withdrawal
> of the Soviet army from Afghanistan and the fall of the Berlin Wall ‹
> convinced people that great powers were not invincible and the
> demonstrations in Kashmir, though full of anger, had a great degree of
> optimism. Today, the demonstrations flow from a deep well of nihilism and
> the reason for this is also located in recent history.
> 
> From 2000 onwards, when the Vajpayee government initiated a series of
> movements towards reconciliation with Pakistan on Kashmir ‹ the ceasefire in
> 2000 and the Lahore Pact ‹ it created a very positive atmosphere. Everyone,
> from General Pervez Musharraf on the Pakistani side to the mainstream
> political parties in Jammu and Kashmir, and the Kashmiri separatists, were
> outdoing each other to come up with creative solutions. There were talks,
> both public and secret, Track II meetings and round- table conferences at
> the highest levels. The 2002 elections were very successful and all this
> generated a great degree of public confidence and optimism.
> 
> Both India and Pakistan failed to take advantage of the tremendous goodwill
> that they had generated. Nothing happened. By 2007, peoples hope started
> dwindling. There was no alternative but a life of constant tension
> between the guns of the army and those of the militants.
> 
> Most young people in Kashmir view the Indian military presence from two
> perspectives: one, as an army of occupation, and two, as an irritant you
> have to negotiate with every day when you come across road blocks and
> bunkers. What do you do with a life that's continually disrupted by hartals
> and curfews? Young people in the rest of the country have no idea of just
> how stifling it is to be young in Kashmir. There doesnt seem to be a way
> out, so young people are filled with suspicion and cynicism.
> 
> 
> The Amarnath issue in 2008 was a non- issue. It was an excuse for the
> volcano of disappointment and frustration to erupt. The separatists took
> advantage of the groundswell. At that time I spent some time in downtown
> Srinagar. Though I found the stone- throwers employed by separatist groups
> as agent provocateurs, most of the demonstrators were young and gullible
> boys. These I found to be extremely frustrated youth who took to the streets
> at the slightest provocation. For some, it was a rite of passage to prove
> ones masculinity. It was considered an act of bravado to have taken on the
> police. 
> 
> These are young people who have grown up in the last 20 years, their
> movements constricted by the military presence and restriction on movements.
> An overwhelming majority ‹ 71 per cent of the Valleys population ‹ is under
> 35. An estimated 74 per cent of the youth are educated. But as a result of
> the strife, stagnant economy and absence of industry there are no jobs. The
> unemployment figure has touched 4 lakh ‹ half of them are college graduates.
> And because they cant settle in life financially, they marry much later. So
> you have young people who would normally have married in their early 20s,
> are now marrying in their late 20s or early 30s.
> 
> This large population of frustrated, nihilistic young people is most
> susceptible to being drawn into another cycle of militancy. Death has more
> meaning for them than life. The only way this situation can be salvaged is
> if they see some forward movement on the Kashmir problem.
> 
> 
> 
> 
>> From: Shuddhabrata Sengupta <shuddha at sarai.net>
>> Date: Tue, 23 Feb 2010 00:19:12 +0530
>> To: reader-list list <reader-list at sarai.net>
>> Subject: [Reader-list] Two Sad Incidents
>> 
>> Dear All,
> 
> Two bits of news that came in, of a Taleban beheading of two sikhs
>> in  
> Pakistan's North West Frontier Province, and of the death of an 11
> day
>> old infant in Kashmir, during a scuffle between a group of
> protestors and
>> the infant's parents, who were being apparently
> prevailed upon to join their
>> protest - are shocking.
> 
> The Taleban's beheading of the two Pakistani Sikhs is
>> barbaric and  
> needs to be condemned in the strongest possible words.
> 
> And the
>> mindless hot-headedness of those who precipitated the infants
> death in
>> Kashmir also points to the fact that the pro-Azadi camp has
> a great deal of
>> introspection to do about how it handles the day to
> day aspects of running a
>> protest movement.  I think that the 'stone
> pelting' protests become in
>> several instances, episodes for lumpen
> young men to let off their macho
>> steam. The second Palestinian
> intifada degenerated into something that the
>> Israeli Armed Forces
> could completely crush because the twin tactics of
>> 'stone pelting' 
> and suicide bombing totally alienated both public opinion
>> across the  
> world, and also ensured that ordinary citizens found it
>> increasingly  
> intimidating to be a part of the protest process. Protest
>> became a  
> young men and adoloscent boys fantasy of militancy, not a serious
>> and  
> non-violent challenge to state power. There is a real danger that the
>> 
> same might occur in Kashmir.
> 
> I remain convinced that the end of the military
>> occupation of the
> Kashmir valley is a worthwhile goal. I am also fully aware
>> that the  
> pro-Azadi camp is fuelled at present by little other than rage. I
>> do  
> not think that rage alone is a basis for a worthwhile political goal.
> I
>> find the incident in which the infant died, as regrettable as
> instances
>> where children have either died or been severely injured by
> police,
>> paramilitary or army actions in the recent past in the
> Kashmir valley.
> 
> The
>> absence of a vision can never be made up for by a surfeit of
>> stones.
> 
> sadly,
> 
> Shuddha
> 
> 
> 
> Shuddhabrata Sengupta
> The Sarai Programme at
>> CSDS
> Raqs Media 
>> Collective
> shuddha at sarai.net
> www.sarai.net
> www.raqsmediacollective.net
> 
> 
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