Tag: special report

Mother Killers

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Drug abuse is already an epidemic. Earlier the drug abusers used to die silent death by overdose. Now, the resource-deficit addicts have started turning against their own relations, reports Raashid Andrabi
With the hospitals getting an unprecedented number of addicts, some with overdose, a new pandemic is in progress in Kashmir. KL Illustraition: Malik Kaisar
That the instant and unexplained deaths of young men could be the outcome of a drug overdose is the old story. The new story is more tragic. Desperate to have drugs and the means to manage the costs can push the addicts to kill their own family members, even the closest relations.
Kashmir has actually landed into a state of fear and disbelief, as a series of heinous crimes rocked the Vale. In a spate of horrific incidents, family members turned on each other. The tragedy is that a son was held responsible for killing his mother.
Data that the government has put in the public domain suggest nearly 10 lakh people in Jammu and Kashmir are victims of drug abuse. Cannabis addiction affects at least 1.44 lakh drug abusers, while opioid addiction is prevalent among 5.34 lakh men and 8,000 women, and sedative addiction among 1.6 lakh men and 8,000 women. Experts believe that these figures could be much lower than the actual numbers, as many drug users are hesitant to seek medical care or open up about their addiction due to fear of social ostracism.
Despite efforts to combat the epidemic, the problem seems to be getting worse. In 2022, a report by the National Drug Dependence Treatment Centre of AIIMS estimated the total number of drug abusers in Jammu and Kashmir at over 6 lakh, placing the erstwhile State fifth in the country among all States and Union Territories. Another study, conducted in December 2022, ranked Kashmir second among the States and Union Territories in the country for drug abuse, ahead of Punjab.
The impact of drug addiction is evident across the region, with reports of violence, crime, and broken families. The recent spate of homicides has only served to highlight the devastating consequences of this epidemic. Families are torn apart, and communities are left in fear and disbelief, as the people of Kashmir struggle to come to terms with the reality of the situation.
Ashmuqam Murders
The air was thick with tension as the news of the heinous crime spread like wildfire through the narrow alleys of Anantnag. Javaid Ahmad Rather, a successful baker, had committed an unforgivable act of violence against his own family and neighbours.

Ashmuqam: The shrine area.
On a chilly Friday morning in December 2022, the small town of Ashmuqam was abuzz with rumours of an incident involving one of its residents. Rather, a man known for his excessive drinking and drug use had apparently lost his sanity under the influence of a faith healer. The news quickly spread like wildfire, and people started to speculate about what could have possibly driven him to such madness.
Some claimed that the faith healer had given him powerful drugs, while others believed that he had cast a spell on him.
Rather’s father vehemently denied these accusations, insisting that his son was not a drug addict or a drunkard. He spoke of Rather’s success as a businessman, with three traditional bakery shops in Pahalgam that were managed by ten people. However, there was no denying the horror of what had occurred.
Rather’s father had just returned from Pahalgam, where he had gone to bring his son back home. Rather’s father claimed that the faith healer had asked them to sacrifice a sheep, but he did not know what had made his son lose control.
It started with Rather hitting his father on the head, sending him reeling to the ground. Rather then took his mother, Hafiza Begum, on the pretext of visiting a shrine. But instead of seeking blessings, he attacked her with a cane, causing her to die on the spot. The blood-curdling screams of Rather’s mother echoed through the quiet streets, alerting the neighbours who rushed to help.
But the horror had only just begun. Rather, now completely out of control, began targeting everyone in the area. Mohammad Amin Shah and Ghulam Nabi Khadim, two of Rather’s neighbours, were caught in his path of destruction and were brutally killed.
As the town’s gossip mill went into overdrive, the local police were called in to investigate the incident. They managed to apprehend Rather, but not before he had injured six other people. Shockingly, it was later revealed that Rather had been detained by the police just a day before the incident when he was seen roaming naked in the market carrying a bottle of liquor.
A Mother’s Murder
Anantnag’s Kehribal village was plunged into darkness when a shocking incident came to light. In what can only be described as a heinous crime, a 45-year-old woman named Razia Akther was brutally murdered by her own son and his accomplice, all for the sake of money. The victim Razia was hit on the head with a stone by her own son, Aaqib, and his accomplice Adil. The duo had allegedly hatched a conspiracy to steal money from Razia, but it ended up in a brutal murder.
The initial incident was thought to be an accidental fall from a concrete slab, but police investigations revealed that it was indeed a murder.
On October 21, details revealed police recovered the body of Razia and rushed her to GMC Anantnag for treatment, but the doctors declared her brought dead. The prolonged matrimonial dispute and various allegations and counter-allegations in societal circles made the police suspect foul play. They initiated proceedings under section 174 CRPC and took the body into possession for medico-legal formalities.
In a quick follow-up to the murder, it was Aqib, the son, holding the microphone and telling on camera the details of how his grandparents actually killed his mother. With emotional outbursts, he had successfully managed to hoodwink society.
As the cops started investigating the case, the cat was out of the bag. Police found Aqib and Adil responsible for the murder. They had hatched a criminal conspiracy to snatch money from the deceased. As she refused to yield, Aqib smashed his mother and punched her. Later, they tried to portray the murder as an accidental death and even created a fake crime scene.
Both accused fled away from the spot along with the snatched money. They even got the victim admitted to the hospital with the assistance of other family members. However, during further investigation, a disclosure memo was prepared, and the weapon of offence was recovered. An FIR has been registered under relevant sections of IPC.
The Sopore Shocker
The Sopore town was jolted by a horrific incident on a chilly March morning.
On March 30, Showkat Ahmad Ganai, a 32-year-old resident of Dangerpora village in Sopore, reportedly strangled his 70-year-old mother, Aisha Begum. A son, consumed by the dark grip of drug addiction, committed the ultimate betrayal by snuffing out the life of his own mother. The community is reeling from the shock of yet another senseless murder, which has left many questioning the corrosive impact of drugs on society and the lengths to which addiction can drive a person to commit the most heinous of crimes.
Sopore: An aerial view. It is the bridge that connects the two parts of Sopore. Image: Junaid Bhat
Speaking to the media, Showkat’s devastated sister said the family had always tried to steer Showkat away from his wrongdoings and get him on the right track. They had even scolded him when he was heading in the wrong direction, but in recent times, he had turned his life around, working hard and earning a good livelihood.
Showkat’s sister is still in disbelief about what could have happened to him and that he would resort to killing his own mother. She said that her brother had been very humble towards everyone around him, and everything seemed to be going fine until this incident occurred.
The killer’s sister is also grappling with the shock and cannot come to terms with what has happened. She expressed her wish that the police should catch Showkat and bring him to face justice. She went on to say that she wants to see him hanged in front of her, as that is the only justice that she can think of.
Larger Impact
With drug abuse as rampant as an epidemic, according to the police, a lot of crimes could be attributed to the addicts, who are always cash-starved. With some of them turning towards their family members, there is a possibility that they can kill others too.
While the authorities have been taking action against the suppliers – mostly the retailers, and making arrests on a daily basis, there is a requirement for snapping the supply chain. Officials have been consistently saying that the supplies are sourced from across the Line of Control (LoC) and various gangs including members of the security grid, have been arrested. However, the drug bazaar is still making a lot of money and on a daily basis; hundreds of families are getting devastated. Can Kashmir’s efficient security grid trace and squeeze the tracks that keep the drug supplies on?
(Photographs used in this report are representational and not linked, directly or indirectly, to the incidents mentioned in the report.)

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( With inputs from : kashmirlife.net )

May 4, 2023
Kashmir’s Naqashi Printers

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Even though modernity has overtaken the traditional arts associated with handicrafts, some specialities survived the onslaught. Mir Suneem reports the maze where a neglected art form is battling for survival
Ghulam Nabi Wani, an aged Naqash artists working on wood in a dim-lit workshop at his Safa Kadal residence in Srinagar. KL Image Mir Suneem
On a cold winter morning, an old feeble man sits in a small shack separated from his main house by a stretch of garden area at Safa Kadal’s Malik Sahib Chai Dub. His eyes do not lose focus as he works diligently on a small wooden block, contriving designs on it using a gouge and a tapping tool.
The shack converted into a workshop is lit by a high-voltage bulb placed just near the working area for more visibility. Stuffed with tools, equipment, wooden blocks, paper designs and a long table, it hardly provides any space for another person to sit in it.
Ghulam Nabi Wani, a septuagenarian has been carving designs for more than 50 years along with his elder brother Ghulam Ahmad Wani who died several years ago. He carves intricate and sophisticated designs on walnut lumber that are later used by design printers, commonly known as Naqashs for printing Shawls and other clothing items.
In Main City
The art of Naqsh carving is more prominent in Srinagar’s Shehr-e-Khas, the main city. A general belief is that master artisans share this art with their children and do not teach anyone outside their kinship. However, only a few names are presently involved in this business and Ghulam Nabi Wani is one of them.
Belonging to a family of artists with his father doing Tilla work all his life, Wani naturally had an inclination towards arts and crafts. This paved the way to pick woodcarving as his art form and later followed the footsteps of his brothers and established himself as a master carving artist.

“I receive a number of patterns and designs made on butter paper from various Naqashs and whittle a block of wood accordingly to attain that design,” Wani said. “It is a very fine craft and requires skill, patience and immense hard work.”
Most of the designs are convoluted and are meant primarily for Shawl embroidery. “These can only be carved on blocks of walnut wood as no other type can bare the entire treatment and could lose firmness,” Asserts Wani. “Blocks of various measurements are cut from walnut lumber and seasoned and as soon as they are dry, different designs are carved out on them according to the actual designs received on paper using various tools. Then oil is applied to let the blocks set. It is not an easy job and demands a lot of time and concentration.”
Wani believes that art is a secret that everyone cannot unravel. Only those who are passionate can learn it and pass it forward to other generations. “I have taught my son too who is currently also indulged in the handicraft business and I wish him to carry forward my legacy in the future.” He said he is open to teaching anyone but the current generation is impatient and not passionate enough to utilize their time to learn this art.
Reduced Numbers
Other than Wani, only a few people know and practice this art currently. Mohammad Shafi Punjabi who lives in Srinagar’s Rajouri Kadal has been drawing and carving designs himself ever since he grew up but for the last few years, he has not been able to continue this work due to old age and illness.
The conditions in which Kashmir Naqash artisans work in Srinagar. KL Image: Mir Suneem
“Shafi has worked as a prominent and noticeable Naqash for many decades and a number of printers and other Naqashs used to visit him and buy his designs but now due to his illness, he is bed-ridden and no longer does this job,” said Shafi’s wife.
She said that all their children are well educated and settled in their jobs and businesses and none of them has taken up their father’s craft and doesn’t even desire to do so. “It demands a lot of hard work and time and despite that, the income is too meagre that my children decided to do something else for a better living.”
Apart from Shafi’s children, there are many others who dropped the idea of continuing their generation-old craft of Naqashi and chose business or some other job over it.
“There are many factors responsible for pushing this art towards death,” said Zafar Ahmad Ashai, a Naqash (imprinter) from Lalbazar. “One of these is the age-old tradition of keeping the art in the family and not giving it away, and the other reason is the reluctance of new generation kids to learn or pursue this craft as it demands a lot of time and effort with minimal benefits.”
Zafar, originally from Aalikadal learned to print the designs on Shawls and other garments from his elder brother, Mohammad Ashraf Ashai and it has been more than 40 years since he picked the art. He owns a workshop at Srinagar’s Aalikadal where he works along with a few of his employees.
He said even he doesn’t want his children to do Shawl printing when they grow up. “It is a tough and messy job. You have to handle ink and stay in pungent workshops for hours. My children have no interest in this and they are studying in order to do better jobs in the future,” he said.
While talking about the state of this art a few decades earlier when most areas of downtown Srinagar had Naqsh carvers and printers in abundance, Zafar recalls this huge building with ancient architecture that stood between tiny alleys of Maharaj Gunj and was turned into a Naqash workshop by Ghulam Qadir Naqash of Zoonimar who used to draw and carve designs and his brother Ghulam Nabi Naqash who used to print along with many other employees.
“It was the most renowned printing place in those times. The imprinters there used to print hundreds of shawls every day and it was always crowded with handicraft artists and other people who used to visit the place to drop their orders,” Zafar said. “However, several years ago with the death of one of the owners of the workshop and some other unknown reasons, it was closed and the building stays there completely abandoned. People from far away areas still come asking for this once so popular Naqash workshop which doesn’t exist anymore.”
Printing Addresses
On one hand, where Naqsh carvers or designers are going down in number, there are some age-old Naqash workshops that still run successfully in several areas of the city. These are basically just printing places where imprinters from various places of Kashmir regardless of their family jobs work as employees.
A Naqash workshop is wontedly a big dark room with a pungent reek inside it where imprinters work tirelessly to meet their orders. Their grubby and calloused hands are stained with ink and adhesive while they use their bare hands to apply it on patterned blocks to print impressions on Shawls.
Apart from printing various designs on Pashmina, Count and other types of Shawls and stoles, some imprinters also print Sarees, Suits, Pherans, Cushion covers, Ponchos and other garments using various types of designs blocks meant for Sozni, Aari, Tilla work or any other handicraft.
The imprinters mainly have their workshops in Kawdara, Rajouri Kadal, Naid Kadal, Bohri Kadal, Safa Kadal, Nowhatta and other places of Srinagar. However, it is not necessary that the imprinters belong to the same area. There are many who belong to areas outside Srinagar.
Phalguru’s Initiative
One of the workshops Shahnawaz Naqash House was established some 40 years back by an eminent Sozni artist, Habibullah Phalguru who used to draw his own designs on butter paper and send them out for carving on walnut wood. He made the workshop along with his son Shahnawaz Phalguru near his house at Naid Kadal to expand his field of work.
Presently, Shahnawaz works as a businessman and has employed several imprinters to run the workshop. According to him, imprinters don’t have to belong to a particular community or region to take up this field. It is laborious and one who decides to learn and practice it can pursue this job easily.
“I am working here for the last 18 years,” Parvez Ahmad, one of his employees from Pampore said. “None of my family members had any association with any kind of art form but I came here to learn it and now as I have gained expertise in this work, I can teach others too.”
“When the design made on a walnut wood block comes to the printer, he uses it to print all items by applying ink to it. This is no ordinary ink. It is made by the imprinter himself by adding Saresh (a kind of adhesive) to the boiling water. Then its steam is used to moisten the ink they get from the market (which is usually black or white or sometimes blue). This ink is basically carbon or zinc. Earlier, the hay that was collected around chimneys and fireplaces was used as ink. The ink is applied on hand and tapped on the block. Then its impression is pressed on a shawl or any cloth,” explains Parvez.
He said that a design block doesn’t last for very long. The design fades with time and then it is of no use and needs to be re-carved.
The Naqash House
Another huge workshop, Hassan Naqash House lies in the Aalikadal area of Srinagar. Currently run by Showkat Ahmad Naqash,52, it was actually established by his father Ghulam Hassan Naqash who died eight years ago. Hassan used to make and carve designs himself and Showkat still uses the same designs to print Shawls.
“I don’t need to buy new designs from anyone. I still use my father’s designs and get them re-carved once they are weary and non-functional but unfortunately, not more than four designers or carvers are left in Kashmir now,” said Showkat.
He said he studied up to matriculation and then joined his father. Currently, he has several employees working alongside him. However, his children have no plans to get into this field.
It is evident that the arrival of machines into the handicraft industry has affected the artists badly but such a thing has not intervened in the real Naqash world yet. Apart from this, no non-Kashmiri has been able to get into this field so far as it requires a good hand in the craft.
“In some places, people use trace paper for printing but it is not preferred much as it comes with its share of disadvantages. This method is usually used in Tilla work and other related works where it could be concealed with embroidery but not in the case of Shawls and Sozni (needle-art),” said Showkat.
He said that trace paper printing is cheaper and kerosene is used in the process which may lead to many issues. Also, the ink is permanent and cannot be washed away easily.
“Such technique is mostly used outside Srinagar in villages such as Makhama, Beerwa and other places and now it is gradually taking over as only few wood carvers are left to dig into the wood to make designs.”
In the Noorbagh area of Srinagar, there are around 15 trace designers and many non-Kashmiri artisans work there but according to the practising Naqashs, trace printing has no comparison with handmade designing and poses many health risks due to the use of kerosene in it.

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( With inputs from : kashmirlife.net )

March 9, 2023
The Kashmir Morels

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Like carpets that Kashmir weaves but ill-affords for itself, the valley produces more than 25 tons of costly morels that sell at a cost higher than silver in the global market, reports Tazeem Nazir
Morel Mushrooms, locally called Gucchi or Kan Gitch are prized wild-growing Fungi that feed a high end overseas market in Kashmir
Come spring and hundreds of people living in the Kashmir foothills will leave for, what they say, the Gucchi hunt. Usually arduous journeys, it is expertise and fate that helps collectors to locate the morels in the coniferous forests, the most expensive mushrooms that cannot be cultivated commercially. Locally, it is called Gucchi or Kan Gutch.
A major Kashmir export, these mushrooms are a treasure for collectors and a taste for consumers. Collectors take months in harvesting these mushrooms and many weeks to sun-drying them before selling them.
Collectors offer interesting ideas about their hunts. These mushrooms grow in clumps on partly rotten tree trunks, topsoil, and leaves. “Some people say, these could be found anywhere near a spot that had seen a forest fire in the last season,” one collector claimed. “But the crisis is that they may not grow at the same place next season.” Another belief is that these mushrooms sprout after lightning strikes the ground. Usually, they start appearing in late March and can be collected up to May.
It looks distinct from the entire mushroom varieties. Its cap is faded brownish cream, yellow to tan, or faded brown to greyish brown. The edges of the ridges are usually lighter than the pits, and quite oval in outline, now and again bluntly cone-shaped with a rounded pinnacle or greater elongate. Caps are hollow and connected to the stem at the lower edge. The meat is fragile. The stem is white to pale yellow or pale yellow, hollow and straight, or with a bulbous or club-shaped base.
“I live near the forest. When I was 15, I used to go on a mushrooms hunt,” Mohammad Waseem, a resident of Rayil in Ganderbal’s Gund belt, said. “I used to go for fun but sometimes it would fetch me some morels. The season for harvesting these mushrooms starts after the snow lines start disappearing.”
The morel pickers are supposed to be experts in their field. Nature grows lot of false morels as well and some of them are poisonous. The fake morels are almost akin to the prized mushroom but slightly differ in their caps which are rounder in false ones. Of over 14000 mushroom species only less than 3000 are edible.
Morels grow in higher reaches. “When we reach higher forests we face difficulties in finding these mushrooms as they are scattered over the forest land,” Zareefa, who goes on morel harvesting every year in Ganderbal hills, said. “At home, we put these mushrooms like beads in a thread and put the ‘garland” to sundry. They need proper care otherwise fungus can hit the garlands of mushrooms and make them black.”

Zareefa said she has heard that these mushrooms are very costly but we do not get much from it. “Earlier, we used to get Rs 10,000 for one kilogram but now we barely get half of it,” Zareefa regretted, insisting that the dealers give too hoots to the struggle we put in to collect these rare plants. She has been collecting the morels for the last three years between April and June. “Families used to manage their living by selling these mushrooms but now it is too difficult because we do not get much from it.”
A Major Export
Harvesters apart, the morels are a key export. Though a small part of the yearly collection goes to the upmarket hotel chains, the bulk goes offshore. A conservative estimate puts the average yearly morel production at around 25 tons.
“We supply morels to Germany, France, Switzerland, and China,” one Srinagar-based exporter, who talked on the condition of anonymity, said. “Routinely, we export around none tons a year. It mostly goes to different food industries.” He puts the cost for A-grade morel per kilogram at Rs 20,000 but insiders in the sector said it is way beyond it.
The exporter said the quantum of harvest in a year is linked to the weather conditions. Adverse weather hampers the harvest by Gujjars and Bakerwals, who are major contributors to the collection.
Admitting that there were problems in demand, another exporter Mohammad Affan said the global recession seriously compromised the rates. “These mushrooms are being sold either at supermarkets or are in demand from upmarket hotel chains,” Affan said. “Because of Covid19, tourism and travel were seriously impacted and the demand fell to an all-time low. The global slowdown has witnessed a 20 per cent fall in overseas demand and right now we see only 70 to 80 per cent sales.”
Asked about the disinterest that mushroom collectors are exhibiting because of low returns, another exporter said the morels are being marketed through a complicated long chain. “It is not that we purchase from gatherers and then we sell in retail. The fact is that we sell to major business companies who sell to the retailers,” the exporter said. “It has a lot to do with the size and quality of the mushroom, and age plays a key role.” He said the per kilogram costs start from Rs 10,000 and it goes up to Rs 24000 depending upon these factors – the same season morel costs more than the one that was harvested last season. “Smaller qualities cost huge. Even in Kashmir, a 100-gram packet would cost you Rs 3000.”
Morel exports said they are taking all the mandatory precautions in making the purchases. It is a zero-GST commodity but these exporters have to ensure they buy the mushroom from collectors who are certified by the forest department. “They must have the license,” one exporter said. “It is a laborious process to establish that the mushroom falls in the zero tariff category in GST. We do this for the farmers because they have only small quantities.”
The morel mushroom collectors are scattered across Kashmir. Mostly in the foothills, they are in Kupwara, Budgam, Ganderbal and Pahalgam and other parts of south and north Kashmir. “While they are collected early spring, the morels are in demand mostly during winters between September and March.”
Masood Wafai, a mechanical engineer turned mushroom entrepreneur said the morels in Kashmir are surrounded by myths. “That morels sprout with lightning and thunder hitting the ground in higher reaches is baseless,” Wafai, who recently attended a high-end interaction with academics, said. “These mushrooms require a particular temperature and environment to grow. The more black the soil, the more the fungus would be around. The Directorate of mushroom research, which has been working on these morels for the last three years have succeeded in growing these mushrooms in laboratory conditions but they have not succeeded in the way they wanted. It is being said that China has already produced it successfully but they are not letting their secret out.”
The Nutrient Worth
Even though the morels share a lot of their properties and nutrient structure with other mushrooms, the Gucchi fungus is still costly. “The demand for these mushrooms is high because they are rich in nutrients and they shed almost 80 per cent of their water when dried and with water, they resume a much bigger size.”
Beenish Zohra, a dietician, said Kashmir calls it Kan Gitch because they look like human ears. Known as Morchella esculenta to science this most sought-after macro-fungi has medicinal properties and is considered a dietary antioxidant. “The scientific research carried out on morels demonstrates that their anti-oxidative have immune-stimulatory and anti-inflammatory bioactivities besides being anti-tumour properties,” Zohra said. “The morel contains high amounts of potassium, vitamins, and copper, which all contribute to a healthy nervous system and cardiovascular health. Besides, they carry the highest amount of vitamin D among edible mushrooms, in addition to vitamin B1m which is thiamine that breaks down the body’s sugar content.”
People suffering from Arthritis, have thyroid or liver issues or wish to resist fatigue are being suggested to use morels as part of the food. “By nature, these mushrooms are antiviral, lower the blood sugar, reduce the signs of ageing, and improve immunity,” Zohra added. “The healing capacities of the mushroom make it vital in traditional medicine baskets.”
Zohra said that people who have mushroom allergy must avoid morels. Before they are cooked, they need to be cleaned properly because in certain cases insects remain trapped in their flesh. Over-consumption can lead to severe abdominal issues and can lead to abdominal pain, diarrhoea, nausea, and vomiting.
Climate Change
Morels do not grow in Jammu and Kashmir alone. In fact, the entire Himalayan range is home to precious mushrooms. Off late, however, there are reports that the availability of the mushroom has gone down and the research carried out by the Solan-based Indian Council of Agriculture Research (ICAR) Directorate of Mushroom Research suggests that the increase in temperature is the key reason. Climate change, the research suggests is making this mushroom a victim.
At the same time, the experts suggest that the morel pickers must not uproot the mushroom totally. Instead, they must cut it from the stem. Besides, they suggest that if the pickers encounter a bunch at a spot, they must leave at least one mushroom untouched.

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( With inputs from : kashmirlife.net )

March 2, 2023
The Reasi Lithium

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The Geographical Survey of India (GSI) revelations that Reasi hills hold vast treasures of rare and expensive lithium have triggered hopes of a better carbon-free future and a lot of prosperity. The inferred deposits have implied flip side too, reports Khalid Bashir Gura
On February 9, an otherwise non-descript village nestled in the high mountains of Reasi suddenly became a national cynosure. The village’s long solitude was disrupted as hoards of people started thronging the belt. Salal Kotli Sarpanch, Preetam Singh’s kept ringing as requests came for guiding the visiting officials to the area.
In 2018, a Geological Survey of India (GSI) team reached Salal, said Singh, to collect samples for research. They were following up the 1995-1997 survey by geologists KK Sharma and SC Uppal who spotted higher values of lithium in the area suggesting further exploration. Then, Lithium was in less demand, a situation that dramatically changed later.
The outcome of the 2018 exercise was made public on February 9, when the Ministry of Mines announced GSI’s success in locating “inferred” resources (G3) of 5.9 million tonnes of lithium in the Salal-Haimana belt.
“We have been about told the economic prosperity the discovery of the lithium will bring,” Singh said. “But simultaneously we find ourselves worrying about our possible displacement.”
New Oil
Officials say the discovery will boost Aatma Nirbhar Bharat and make it self-reliant in a metal that is now fuelling growth. The crucial discovery coincided with the climate-change-impacted world transitioning from fossil fuels to zero-emissions energy sources in which lithium holds the key. Over the years, especially by Industrial Revolutions 3 and 4, the shiny grey-light metal has evolved over the years in the global market as a ‘white gold.’

“Price of lithium has gone to insane levels! Tesla might actually have to get into the mining and refining directly at scale, unless costs improve,” Twitter owner, Elon Musk, the world’s top capitalist who invests in future technology including Tesla founder tweeted on April 9, 2022.
Apart from being used in batteries to power smartphones, laptops and almost all other gadgets, Lithium is a vital component in the rechargeable batteries that run electric vehicles (EVs). Its low weight and enormous capacity to store energy led markets to exhibit lithium hunger. The discovery is expected to end India’s import dependence and help in achieving its goals of reducing carbon footprints as the country aims at deriving about 50 per cent of cumulative electric power installed capacity from non-fossil fuel energy resources by 2030. In 2022, India sold more than a million EVs and the plan is to reach 10 million units by 2030.
“Lithium batteries are the new oil,” asserted Elon Musk, insisting by 2027 30 million EVs must be created. This, he said, would require 1.8 million tonnes of lithium carbonate equivalent. “This would require a 473 per cent increase in output of lithium carbonate equivalent to 1.8 million tonnes from levels in 2019.”
“No doubt now, that India’s future will be ‘electrifying,’” Industrialist Anand Mahindra tweeted, hailing the discovery.
Better Quality
Against the normal grade of 220 ppm (particles per million), the Reasi lithium found is 550 ppm indicating the presence of the best quality in abundant deposits, earth scientist Prof Shakil Romshoo said. “India may become the world’s major producer and the EV industry will get a shot in the arm as India is committed to increasing the number of EVs by 30 per cent by 2030.”
NITI Aayog data suggests the total EV sales by 2030 could go up to 80 million from the current 1.3 million sales reported till July 2022. A Central Electricity Authority (CEA) report claims that by 2029-30, India will have 2.700 MWs of battery storage capacity.
These requirements have triggered massive price escalations for lithium, now dubbed ‘white gold’.
A group of excited resident in Reasi’s Salal area with soil blocks that has Lithoium in it. The GST said in February 2023 that the area has 5.9 million tonnes of Lithium.
Asserting that the discovery will help India to tackle the climate change crisis, Ramshoo said, “now India can deliver on its international promise of becoming carbon neutral by 2070” If climate targets set in the Paris Agreement are to be met, he said green technology especially EV’s have to be promoted on large scale in India, China, US, and Europe.
Import Dependence
While Chile, Australia, Argentina and China are home to the world’s highest lithium reserves, the path-breaking discovery put India on the map of the world’s largest lithium mines, only next to Chile. According to government data from the Ministry of Commerce and Industries, between April-December of 2022-23, India shelled out Rs. 163 billion for the import of lithium and lithium-ion
The present discovery will reduce the country’s dependence on imports. Reports appearing in the media suggest in 2020-21, India imported Rs 173 crore worth of lithium metal and lithium batteries for Rs 8,811 crore. In 2022, between April and November alone, Rs 164 crore worth of metal and Rs 7,986 crore worth of batteries were imported.
Last year, Parliamentary Affairs, Coal and Mines Minister, Pralhad Joshi informed Rajya Sabha, that India imported Lithium-ion worth Rs 8,574 crores in FY 2018-19, Rs 8,819 crores in 2019-20 and Lithium-ion worth Rs 8,811 crores in 2020-21.
India did not manufacture lithium-ion (Li-ion) cells till 2020 and would import from China or Taiwan and assemble them here. “India imported US$1.23 billion worth of Li-ion batteries between 2018 and 2019,” a February 2022 report by the India chapter of the World Resources Institute (WRI) said. “Over 165 crores lithium batteries are estimated to have been imported into India between FY17 and FY20 at an estimated import bill of upwards of US $3.3 billion.”
Reasi could change the situation now.
While the officials said the work will start soon, it remains to be seen how the extraction will start. Lithium can be extracted in different ways, depending on the type of the deposit — generally either through solar evaporation of large brine pools or from hard-rock extraction of the ore.
A Long Way
As the deposit is being described as “inferred resources,” an official in the mining department, who wished to remain anonymous, said: “we should wait for some time till the final stages of assessment before proper identification of the proven reserve.”
Earlier, in 2021, the 1,600 tonnes of lithium ore discovered in Karnataka were also classified as being in the “inferred category”. A lot of steps are involved before India could become a producer of Lithium.
Many assessments and samplings are required. The exploration of mineral deposits is divided into four stages — reconnaissance (G4), preliminary exploration (G3), general exploration (G2) and detailed exploration (G1). In Reasi, GSI is at G3.
“These are initial estimates. The process will take many years before actual mining starts,” said, Professor Pankaj Srivastava, Department of Geology, University of Jammu. “To arrive at a high confidence level, the exploratory companies will undertake the G2 level of assessment after G3, where the indicative resources are calculated, which tells us how much of the deposit could be mined with more facts. Later in the G1 level, the real ‘proved resource assessment’ is done.”
Experts say the “inferred” mineral is a resource for which quantity, grade and mineral content are estimated only with a low level of confidence. It is based on information gathered from locations such as outcrops, trenches, pits, workings and drill holes that may be of limited or uncertain quality, and also of lower reliability from geological evidence.
“As our level of confidence is low, it may increase or decrease. It is at a preliminary stage. Lithium is present in both forms. It is in the lattice of the mineral and it does not have its own mineral but the bauxite at the site is lithium-rich,” Srivastava said. “We need technology to extract lithium out of the rocks.
GSI Findings
Geologists have found the solubility of lithium is amenable to dissolution only by hydrofluorination with perchloric acid, which means the metal is present either in silicate or in the lattices of bauxite mineral, the GSI Survey of 1995 to 1997 reveals.
As analytical results have indicated high values of Li (averaging 883.80 ppm), according to study, as the mineralogical studies have failed to identify the mineral phase except in one sample where cockeite was indicated, the higher values of lithium are persistent throughout the belt (where bauxite is exposed) in the bauxite column. “Lithium prospect in the bauxite column in the area investigation appears to be promising. The bauxite column in Salal-Panasa-Sangarmarg (Saroda Bas) and Chakar areas appears to be a promising horizon for lithium and may be taken up for further detailed work,” the study stated. “The higher values of Lithium are persistent throughout the belt (Where bauxite is exposed) in the bauxite column). Lithium prospect in the bauxite column in the area investigation appears to be promising.”
Ecological Concerns
Amidst all these hopes and planning, environmentalists have raised a clarion call to save the flora and fauna of the region.
Romshu suggested that the mining and exploration of the lithium ore would have a significant environmental cost, which needs to be minimised, by employing the latest environmental-friendly exploration technologies.
Happy otherwise, even the residents know the flip side of the discovery. “We are apprehensive about an uncertain future. There will be economic prosperity but what will happen to us, our lands and homes,” Balbir Singh, a local transporter said. Almost 8000 people live in 2500 homes.
“We have learned that mining triggers pollution and people are displaced from demarcated areas,” Preetam Singh, a Sarpanch said. “Worried residents have called for a panchayat meeting. We cannot stop its extraction but the government has to think about us before embarking on the project.”

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( With inputs from : kashmirlife.net )

February 22, 2023
Kashmir’s New Parties

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With the political permutations and combinations continuously at play in Jammu and Kashmir since the last assembly elections in 2014, the region has witnessed the formation of 22 new political parties in the last eight years, reports Yawar Hussain
JK Police arrested the founder of Awami Awaaz Party on February 16, 2023, for being anti-national. The party came into being after the reading down of Article 370 in August 2019. Pic: JKP
The Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP), recently formed by Ghulam Nabi Azad has been a new entrant in Kashmir’s political space. While he managed dissensions from the Congress, the clock reversed soon as six leaders including three former lawmakers re-joined the Congress around Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Joda Yatra.
Like Congress, the Peoples Democratic Party also faced similar dissensions after the fall of the BJPDP alliance in June 2018. While it paved way for the making of the Jammu and Kashmir Apni Party as 12 former PDP leaders joined it, the rest choose Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Conference which now has 10 former PDP leaders.
Unlike JKAP and JKPC, there are many parties – registered and unregistered, which have cropped up post-August 2019.
Not Traditional
Jammu and Kashmir Nationalist Peoples Front, launched in 2021, is headed by Sheikh Muzzafar who says that the party’s core ideology is violence, drugs and corruption-free Jammu and Kashmir while the issues like Article 370 aren’t their cup of tea.
“The parties raking up the 370 issues should address it. We have only these three issues on our plate,” Muzzafar said. On being asked about how different JKNPF is from parties with similar agendas, Muzzafar said that the traditional parties have exploited both India and Pakistan. “They have added to the violence, the root cause of which is corruption which we plan to eradicate.”
Along similar lines, the Jammu and Kashmir Awami Awaaz party was formally launched in February 2022 with Suhail Khan as President. The party came into the news soon after they went to hoist the tricolour at Ghanta Ghar.

The party spokesperson Mohammad Arif said that the traditional parties have only pushed the common masses down while siphoning the money for themselves. “Our youth are mainly into drugs because of unemployment. We would get multi-national companies here so that youth get jobs like in rest of India.” He said that Article 370 is a right of the people of J&K that they should get. “Party would decide on the course of action on 370 in coming time.”
As per the party’s vision statement, the members have “affirmed to strive for national integration, peace, brotherhood, communal harmony, development and all other issues for the betterment of inhabitants of Jammu Kashmir without consideration of Caste, creed, region, religion, sex colour and so on.”
Jammu and Kashmir All Alliance Democratic Party was launched in July 2022 by Raquib ul Rashi, Navneet Misra and Nasir Ali Kochak, who all switched from Aam Aadmi Party.
Mishra said that the party’s core agenda is statehood which was snatched unfairly. “The traditional parties in Jammu and Kashmir have only divided the people of the area on religious and regional lines. We will try to bridge those gaps.”
He said that JKAADP is for the restoration pre-August 5 status on the lines in which the farm laws were reversed which were also passed by parliament.
Haq Insaf Party, registered with the Election Commission of India in July 2019, is headed by the former Aam Aadmi Party. Its leader Bilal Khan says that the party was formed for addressing basic developmental issues which the traditional parties couldn’t deliver in the erstwhile state. However, Khan believes that Article 370 shouldn’t have been read down.
Gareeb Democratic Party J&K (GDBJK) was launched in September 2022 by Bashir Ahmad Ganie who rechristened his earlier party Rajya Navjawan Shakti Party started in 2005. The party’s core agenda is to give tickets to people from financially weaker backgrounds so that they can become part of the developmental process.
Aman Aur Shanti Tehreek-e-Jammu Kashmir founded by hitherto unknown Abdullah Kashmiri is registered by the Election Commission of India under the unrecognised party category.
Before August 5, the party was a votary for protection of the Jammu and Kashmir’s special status. Recently, Abdullah during a protest asked the leaders associated with the Hurriyat Conference to leave the resistance and become part of mainstream politics.
All India People’s Nationalist Party, launched in November 2021 is headed by Mudasir Ahmad and Sheeraz Zaman Lone Tantray.
Mudasir says that the party’s core agenda is the restoration of the statehood that the Home minister and Prime Minister have promised. “We plan to go to each part of India as well as Jammu and Kashmir for our demand, unlike the traditional parties.”
He says that the party also wants to be a messenger from J&K to other people of India who think that Kashmiris aren’t nationalists. “There is a gap which might be our fault. We want to tell the people of the country that we too are nationalists.”
Jammu and Kashmir Save Party (JKSP) started by Ghulam Hassan Dar is also critical of the traditional parties. Dar says that the PDP and NC have both killed and maimed the people of Kashmir for power while accusing each other of public consumption.
He said that NC sold autonomy while PDP sold self-rule while others sold the right to self-determination and Azadi to the “beleaguered” people of Kashmir.
“The youth of Jammu and Kashmir want to change. We formed the JKSP to only save the people from these traditional parties.”
Jammu and Kashmir Workers Party came into prominence during the 2018’s Panchayat elections which the PDP and NC boycotted against the central government’s non-assurance on protection for Article 370. Since his party put up candidates in that Panchayat election, Mir Junaid, its leader has been vocally critical of both the PDP and NC.
Terming NC’s and PDP’s Gupkar Alliance as ‘Ali Baba Aur Chalis Chor’, Mir said that pre-August-5 these parties were saying that if Article 370 goes they won’t abide by the Indian constitution and won’t even hold the tricolour. “When District Development Council elections were announced, they both jumped into the contest. That is the proof of their hypocrisy.”
“What is wrong if someone from Jammu becomes Chief Minister this time around? Kashmiris have ruled the region for so long,” Mir said. His party has been supportive of the August 5 moves vis-à-vis the erstwhile state.
Mir managed to get dissension from the National Conference when his wife and former lawmaker Shenaz Ganai parted ways with the party before their marriage.
In line with the new parties emerging against the traditional ones, Sheikh Imran, a Srinagar Municipal Corporation councillor has now started Khanyar Darbar which is yet to be established as a party.
Imran, like Mir, came to prominence during the Urban Local Body elections of 2018, which were also boycotted by NC and PDP. He started with Congress and then Peoples Conference. Currently, he is critical of the PDP, Congress, NC and everyone else under the Khanyar Darbar umbrella. However, he has had rekindled bonhomie with JKAP Youth President and SMC Mayor Junaid Azim Mattu but has been critical of JKAP Chief Altaf Bukhari in a rather timid tone.
Challengers
This new political crowd apart, Kashmir’s traditional parties will face the challenge from the Jammu and Kashmir Apni Party (JKAP), Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Conference (JKPC) and the newly formed Democratic Progressive Azad Party.
JKAP, formed in March 2020, has been critical of the Gupkar Alliance while being silent on the JKPC. The party’s core ideology has been the restoration of statehood along with securing land and job rights for the people and basic development including job creation.
The party floated at a time when all top mainstream leaders of Kashmir were in custody post-August 5. JKAP managed to win 12 seats out of 172 seats in the DDC elections of 2020 but installed its chairmen in two district development councils of Kashmir Valley.
Like the JKAP, the JKPC, which had just two seats in the previous assembly, gained substantial leaders from the PDP.
An ally of the BJP in the previous government, JKPC also won the chairperson posts of two DDCs in Baramulla and Kupwara. The party was a part of the Gupkar Alliance pre and post-August 5 but they parted ways alleging that PDP and NC had put proxy candidates against them in the DDC elections.
However, all Gupkar Alliance constituents alleged that proxy candidates were put up by them against each other including by the JKPC. JKPC has been a votary for the restoration of Articles 370 and 35-A.
Both JKAP and JKPC have been dubbed as BJP’s B-team.
The traditional parties are now also bracing up to either an ally or fight against Azad’s DPAP who had earned goodwill across the board for his three-year term as its chief minister from 2005 to 2008.
Even though Azad hasn’t been critical of the traditional parties barring the Congress, he has termed his chief ministerial era as the “best” in a direct snub to these parties who have ruled J&K multiple times.
His party’s ideology is in contravention of the Gupkar Alliance but in line with the JKAP. DPAP is also vouching for the restoration of statehood along with the protection of land and employment rights for natives and development.
While Gupkar Alliance avoided dubbing DPAP as BJP’s second fiddle, the Congress and JKAP alleged that they were propped up by the Centre. The DPAP hasn’t had a smooth run so far as the party’s few founding members are in the doldrums while some have returned back to the parent Congress party.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which voted in favour of the reading down of Articles 370 and 35-A along with the downsizing of Jammu and Kashmir to a UT, has been looking for inroads into the Jammu province based on their performance in the neighbouring Punjab state.
After facing many hiccups since 2014, the party last year got a shot in the arm when the Jammu and Kashmir Panthers Party almost merged into AAP with former’s chairman Harshdev Singh joining the bandwagon.
The party has been eyeing the Jammu province’s Hindu heartland areas where it sees Congress’s downfall as a window of opportunity to challenge the BJP which has been ruling the region since 2014.
Swept Away
Earlier in March 2019, babu-turned-politician Shah Faesal launched Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Movement (JKPM), which he deserted after August 5 to join back the civil services. JKPM became conspicuously absent from the discourse even though it was launched with much fanfare – Hawa badlegi. Initially, the party tied up with former lawmaker Engineer Rashid’s Awami Ittihad Party (AIP) for the 2019’s general elections. Rashid, currently in Tihar jail in a militant funding case, had managed to garner over one lakh votes in a closely contested election.
However, Faesal along with scores of mainstream politicians was detained under Public Safety Act (PSA). After his release in 2020, Faesal left politics and is currently Deputy Secretary of the Union Culture Ministry.
His party was then in hands of former Peoples Democratic Party lawmaker Javaid Mustafa Mir who also deserted the ship to join the JKAP.
Like JKPM, the AIP also witnessed dissensions after Rashid’s arrest. Former AIP Spokesperson Sheeban Ashai left the party last year in August to form the Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Party.
He accused his former boss Rashid’s brother Sheikh Khurshid of engaging in close-door negotiations with JKAP Chief Syed Altaf Bukhari.
His party’s agenda would be healthcare, education, infrastructure development and job creation.
“Resolution of Kashmir problem, Articles 370 and 35-A and statehood along with repealing of draconian laws is sacrosanct for us,” Ashai said.
In July 2020, cricketer Sayim Mustafa launched his Jammu and Kashmir Socio-Political Movement (JKSPAM) party which fizzled out soon with no activities visible on the ground. However, last year in March, Mustafa personally participated in a youth convention at Sher-e-Kashmir Park where he spoke on the engagement of youth.
New Jammu Parties
National Awami United Party, founded in July 2019 by Sandeep Singh Manhas is registered with the Election Commission of India under the unrecognised category. The party is focused on clean governance in Jammu and Kashmir.
National Democratic Party (Indian) launched in November 2018 by Rajesh Gupta has been critical of the traditional parties barring the BJP. In May 2019, when BJP returned to power in the centre, Gupta while congratulating Prime Minister Narinder had said, “It is a golden opportunity for Modi to remove article 370 as he promised in his Party’s manifesto. He can overcome this issue once and for all by removing Article 370.”
Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Party Secular was founded by Sushant Bakshi on the issues of clean governance and development.
The two important parties which emerged in Jammu post-2014 include the ultra-right wing Ikk Jutt Jammu headed by Ankur Sharma and Dogra Swabhiman Sanghathan (DSS) headed by former Congress and BJP lawmaker Choudhary Lal Singh.
While Ikk Jutt has been championing the cause of a separate state for Jammu while keeping Kashmir valley as union territory without an assembly, DSS has been focussed on safeguarding Dogra identity which it says is under threat following the reading down of Articles 370 and 35-A.
Parties De-Registered
The Election Commission of India de-registered eight parties in Jammu and Kashmir in 2022, which include Jammu & Kashmir Awami League, Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Party Nationalist, All J&K Peoples Patriotic Front, Democratic Janta Dal (J&K), J&K Citizens Party and Jammu and Kashmir National United Front, Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Democratic Front (Secular) and Jammu & Kashmir Save Srinagar Front.
J&K Awami League was founded by Mohammad Yusuf Parray (alias Kuka Parray) in 1995 and had an MLA each in the 1996 and 2002 assemblies. Kuka’s son Imtiyaz Parray joined JKAP last year.
The Democratic Party Nationalist was formed by former minister Ghulam Hassan Mir after he quit Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). He currently is the senior vice president of JKAP.
The Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Democratic Front (Secular) is headed by several-time lawmaker Hakim Yasin. The party since its launch in the early 2000s hasn’t won any other seat. Its deregistration has been termed as a “confusion” by the party which has taken up the matter with ECI.

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( With inputs from : kashmirlife.net )

February 18, 2023
Uninterrupted Migrations

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Srinagar is expanding fast as hoards of rich, professionals and fortune hunters from Kashmir periphery are making Srinagar their home. Raashid Andrabi explains the trend
This is the main Srinagar city called the down-town where congested housing is the norm. KL Image: Bilal Bahadur
Syed Ishfaq, 42, a resident of border Tanghdar town shifted to Srinagar in 2017 when his son started preparing for his Board examination classes. He chose Lawaypora, almost 150 km from Karna, where his relatives were already living. Ishfaq, a teacher, headed a 4-member nuclear family but found it difficult to educate his children in his hometown with negligible exposure and facilities.
“I was born in Tanghdar, and I used to visit Srinagar very less, mostly when I had to visit any of my relatives here or for any medical or official emergency,” Ishfaq said. Tanghdar, 67 km from Kupwara, is literally located on the Line of Control, the de facto border between two halves of Kashmir. “It isn’t just about the future of my children alone. It is about a place where you can receive all basic services. Moreover, the chances of work here are better than in the villages.”
A New Trend
Over the years, a huge population from the Kashmir periphery moved to Srinagar for one or the other reason. Mostly, it was the education of children that was a key factor. However, there are countless families that migrated – partially or fully, even in certain cases seasonally, to Srinagar for a professional career, better life, and fortune hunting.
In certain cases, migration was dictated by development. Gurez is one of the best illustrations where the NHPC required the depopulation of a vast belt to set up the dam for the Kishangaga Hydroelectric Power Project. This area was routinely inaccessible for nearly half of the year as the Razdan Pass would remain snow-covered.
After the residents, mostly Shina-speaking Dard people lost their battles against the power giant, they took the compensation and moved out of the beautiful valley. Though in Bandipore, they have a housing colony, where most of them live but most of them have decided to move to Srinagar directly. In various parts of Srinagar city, there are clusters of people who have acquired small properties in recent years.
Root Reconnect

While a section of these neo-migrants felt consumed by the comparatively fast urban life, there are many who still live with the “loss”.
Aleem, 23, sitting on the banks of Dal lake to watch the lovely sunset was snapping pictures of it. “It’s stunning, isn’t it? I frequently think about how much quiet and tranquillity there is in my home village back in Ganderbal,” Aleem said. “My parents purchased a home here in Srinagar after my brother finished his 12th grade with excellent grades. They believed that life in the city is better. For the last three years we have been living in the city, we hardly visit the ancestral home.”
Aleem sees city life as monotonous, and misses the get-togethers with his peers and neighbours, playing cricket in just-harvested rice fields and taking a dip in the riverside. He feels lonely and does not know even the names of his neighbours as everybody is preoccupied with moving on in their lives. Social life is completely neglected. My village resembled a big family,” Aleem regretted.
After spending 23 years in Srinagar, Abubakar Hakeem, now a resident of Zainakote, has opened a 24 x7 business in Bandipora, his ancestral home. In 2011, his family moved to Srinagar, leaving their home, agricultural land uninhabited.
“We left Bandipora for a decent education. I wanted to start a new business after studying business,” Hakeem said. Lured by the departmental store concept, he decided to start his own store. “In 2022, I started construction of my store in Bandipora. It helped me reconnect with my root and address a deficit.” His Blue Basket is up and running and he has hired the entire human resource locally.
White Collar Issues
Kashmir’s agricultural land is already in so short supply that families are unable to manage their livelihoods from small pieces of land. Coupled with the stigma of being a farmer, they move towards cities. In elder generation is either getting agricultural implements to replace the lost manpower or simply have abandoned the small patches of land and surviving on the earnings of their younger generation.
Section of the people who are posted in Srinagar gradually decide to have a flat or small home of their own. At some point in time, this home becomes their new permanent address.
Mubashir Dewani, a public servant, is from Bandipora. Currently, he divides his week between his residence in Srinagar and his hometown of Kunan. Father of two young girls, he struggled with the choice of letting his children pursue their education in his hometown or relocating to Srinagar.
“We didn’t choose to send our children to study in Srinagar; we had no choice but to do so,” Mubashir said. “How could I leave my daughters in Bandipore, when their mother works in Srinagar?” Mubashir believes urbanization has two sides. People flourish in rural areas before leaving for urban areas due to societal stigma after achieving some success there, he said.
Most of the rich people in the periphery own a house in Srinagar. The same is true with the best professionals who eventually had no option but to work in Srinagar. In most cases, however, they retain their inheritance and belongings in the villages and usually manage their time between the two homes.
Unlike the rich, who can afford to manage their incomes from their rural and urban properties, people like Mubashir could not. “My family moved to Srinagar, and I lost my herds, chickens, and fishery farms, all of which had a positive impact on both me and my village’s economic well-being,” Mubashir said. “As I was sucked by my 10 am – 4 pm career, the farms collapsed.” He regrets that he is not alone. “Individuals who had the capacity to contribute to the betterment of the village relocated as a result of which the villages continue to be as primitive.”
The internal migration has created a situation that Srinagar is now a huge city. It has already got into Budgam, Ganderbal and Pulwama and within a few years, parts of Baramulla will be included in Srinagar Municipal Corporation. Gradually, this is adding to the unfair and uneven distribution of populations between the city and the periphery.
This is enforcing choices on people. Many of the Srinagar neighbourhoods were rural or semi-rural villages. As the cost of the land escalated, they sold out their lands, changed their lifestyle and culture and are as urban as Zaina Kadal.
Opportunities
Over the years, the Kashmir villages are better moneyed, thanks to the cash crops that replaced the rice in most of the south and parts of north Kashmir. In Srinagar’s expansion, a lot of them see fortunes. The land in Srinagar is perhaps one of the most lucrative investments.
Ibrahim Ahmad, a resident of Srinagar’s Natipora neighbourhood, relocated to Srinagar with his wife, three children, and parents from Pulwama. “I purchased this piece of land back in 2018, and throughout the following few years, its value has increased substantially,” Ahmad said. “Before the end of the year, I sold a portion of it and gained a respectable profit. I then used the same money to build my house, and after my kids were admitted to some colleges in Srinagar, we decided to move here.”
There are dozens of people who had invested in land in the city periphery in the last century. All of them are millionaires now. In most cases, the appreciation is more than 100 per cent. No land in Srinagar sells at Rs 70 lakh a kanal. In certain cases, it is as high as Rs 3.5 crore.
A 21-year-old cluster university student from Srinagar, Zuhaib Ahmad Bhat recently launched a Srinagar-based real estate firm. Given that he has sold a significant number of homes to residents of Zainakote, Bemina, Soura, and other locations, Zuhaib has been pleased with the prospects of this firm. “More than half of my buyers were from Kashmiri villages,” he said. “People primarily move here from these areas due to the greater opportunities and facilities.”
The massive escalation in land prices has created an interesting trend. Now a section of people from the city moves towards the periphery. They sell their belongings in the heart of the city and get better land plots on extreme borders of the city. The reverse migration from the city is the outcome of the failure of the governance structure in offering some way out to the hugely congested Srinagar city, especially the Shahr-e-Khas.
Insiders in the real estate sector suggest that while education and jobs could be a reason, the claims that Srinagar has better facilities do not sound plausible. “You can reach Anantnag in less time than SKIMS from Batamaloo,” Abdul Rashid, who buys and sells property around the so-called 90-Feet said. “You have train connectivity with Sopore and Baramulla that is cheap and fast. There are better roads, good schools and most of the uptown brands in almost all major towns. In fact, the market in Anantnag is better and cheap than in Srinagar. Yes, the only issue is that of power supply that is slightly improved in Srinagar.”
Rashid believes that migration to Srinagar is being seen as part of “upward mobility” and not dictated by the absence of infrastructure. This might be true in a section of the neo-migrants but this is not the whole story.

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( With inputs from : kashmirlife.net )

February 5, 2023
Unfair Job Fairs

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Jammu and Kashmir has one of the highest unemployment ratios in India. To overcome joblessness, the government initiated job fairs and invited a lot of companies to hire the unemployed. In 23 fairs, 9743 unemployed youth offered their services to 205 participating companies but only 623 got jobs, reports Fahd Khan
Jobless: A huge crowd of boys and girl job-seekers in a job fair in Srinagar’s mini-indoor stadium in late 2022. KL Image: Hilal Shah
Amid an all-time high unemployment rate and joblessness, Jammu and Kashmir government’s much-hyped job fairs have provided jobs to around six per cent of the participants in 2022 in Kashmir. Lack of technical and communication skills was termed to be the key deficits preventing them from getting hired.
The observation of skill deficit raises doubts about the working of the skilling system, which is apparently a top governance priority.
Background
The Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) had highlighted the skyrocketing of the unemployment crisis in the past few years. Till mid-January 2023, it stood at 14.8 per cent, which is the sixth highest in the country. Though the survey outcomes had its own factors including Covid19, it generated a lot of debate over the state of joblessness.
Jammu and Kashmir’s Department of District Employment and Counselling Centres in collaboration with some non-governmental organizations hosted a number of job fairs across Kashmir’s 10 districts. It brought potential human resources face-to-face with potential employers from the private sector.
Officials who arranged these events revealed a total of 9743 unemployed youth participated in 23 job fairs that were organized across 10 Kashmir districts in 2022. Of them, only 623 were provided with on-spot placements. Officials said a total of 205 local and national companies participated in these recruitment rallies.
Srinagar hosted two major events and 2900 youth participated along with 67 local and national companies. Eventually, 25 candidates got on-spot placements, officials said.

In the Pulwama district, one job fair was held that attracted the participation of 213 candidates. At the end of it, nobody got a job order.
In Budgam, two fairs were organised in which 381 youth participated, of whom only 20 got placements. A total of 13 local and national companies participated in the event.
In Ganderbal, only one event was organised in which nine youths out of 900 got on-spot placements. Eleven companies participated in the event.
Anantnag hosted two fairs in which 28 youths got placed among 1211 who participated.
In the adjoining Kulgam district, nine job fairs – the highest among all the districts – were conducted in only 474 got placements among the 3117 youth who had participated. A total of 31 local and national companies participated in the event.
In the Shopian district, two job fairs got 13 people recruited among the 450 youth who had participated.
In Baramulla and Bandipore districts, two job fairs each were organised in which 52 youth from the former district got placed out of 325 total participants while just two received placements in the latter district out of a total of 246 participants.
No job fairs, however, was organised in Kupwara.
As many as 211 youths were recommended for skilling and as many as 3928 on-spot registrations were made on the state employment portal.
Rozgar Mela’s
Apart from these Job Fairs that the Department of District Development and Counselling organised, many similar Job Fairs were organized by non-governmental organizations in view of the surge in the unemployment rate.
In one of such event that the Goodwill Non-governmental organization hosted at Indore Stadium Srinagar, more than 20 MNC’s including local companies participated.
Thousands of youths across Kashmir had thronged the venue to get themselves enrolled in the mega recruitment drives that were being organized both by the government and the NGOs. Some of the companies that participated in the event included SBI Life, HDFC, Jio Care, Tata Motors, Peaks Auto, Kashmir Motors, Himalayan Motors, Shuhul Motors, Ashoka Leyland, LIC, Wishfin, KY Motors, Exide NEO and Fair Deal Motors. Many people even got recruited by US-based companies and are working from home right now.
Problems
Government claims notwithstanding, all these job-linked events provided jobs to only six per cent of the total participants. Many youths who had participated in these fairs alleged that despite aspirants possessing higher qualifications and skills, they were not recruited as the companies didn’t have enough vacancies. As per the participating youth, the low salary was also one of the reasons for them not taking up jobs for which they had to move out of Jammu and Kashmir.
Skill proved to be a major setback for the participating youth not getting jobs in the mega recruitment drives. Many youths claimed that despite coming from far-flung areas with the hope of getting jobs, they were offered loans by participating insurance and banking companies.
In a video on social media, a girl who had participated in an event is heard saying: “With a master’s degree and four diplomas, I had very little hope of getting a job in this event. What more qualifications should I possess to get a job? Even we can’t start our own business as banks provide loans against property only or they charge huge interest rates. Even some companies seek experience for jobs. How come an unemployed youth is experienced when he is never provided with a job? Even we don’t have such an exposure here in Kashmir, where we are trained at the grassroots level to start our own businesses”.
“Many of the jobs being provided in these events are routine basic jobs, “one insider said, talking in anonymity. “Jobs being offered are an insurance agent or marketing persons which one can easily get without participating in these events. There were many schemes like this earlier as well.”
The average salaries fixed during the job fairs were Rs 10000. Whether those who got jobs are satisfied and continuing it is the question to be asked.
Officials Speak
“Most of the companies recruit candidates based on their skills only but the majority of the people who had participated couldn’t meet the required criteria set by these companies,” a senior official in the Directorate of Employment said: “To keep up the pace in today’s world and to get hired by companies, one should possess both communication and technical skills which our youth mostly lack.”
The officer said they were shocked to see that in one of the recruitment drives at the University of Kashmir, only one could make it up to the interview. “The reason being the communication barrier,” an official at the District Employment and Counselling Centre said.
“We mostly deal with the sale and services of automobiles, most of the students were either overqualified or under-qualified for the Jobs we were providing,” one of the recruiting executives in a local automobile concern, who participated in these fairs, said. “For sales, we particularly needed people having good communication skills and those having experience in the service sector. We too aren’t a big company and have already been under a financial crunch since Covid19 and another crisis. Still, we hired around four to five students and they are currently working in our company under probation. Skill was the main reason that we couldn’t provide jobs to the people”.
Developments
It is pertinent to mention that the government has included numerous skill-based courses like IT, management, and tourism at the college level in the past few years, which seems to have a questionable outcome. The government is also imparting job-oriented skill-based courses through polytechnics, hotel management institutes and NIELIT.
“To impart skills to our youth many candidates who had participated in these job fairs were registered for the skill courses being organised by the Tata Consultancy Services (TCS),” an officer at the Directorate of Employment said.
There are many government schemes aimed at up-skilling youth. Himayat was a major flagship scheme under this category under which the youth were trained and later deployed in the market. NIELIT also provided many IT-related courses.
Another scheme was launched by the government in Public Private Partnership mode. It was aimed at improving the quality of the vocational training in the Country and making it demand-driven, so as to ensure better employability of the pass-outs. It covered 32 ITIs in Jammu and Kashmir. Other courses that were launched for the general public also included Sewing, Henna Art, cookery etc.
It seems as if the candidates are yet to be adequately trained or are lacking the actual skill that the employers require.

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( With inputs from : kashmirlife.net )

January 26, 2023