What’s next for Kashmir?
Since the early hours of August 5, politics has been operating in a vacuum in the Valley – with three former CMs among over 500 politicians detained.
As Kashmir reels from an unprecedented lockdown for a ninth day on Tuesday and many families struggle to procure basic necessities or reach loved ones, there is much consternation about what lies ahead for the Valley’s five million people on three fronts -- politics, economy and security.
Since the early hours of August 5, politics has been operating in a vacuum in the Valley – with three former CMs, prominent leaders of the National Conference and the Peoples Democratic Party, and at least 500 political workers detained.
The locals now stare at the possibility of a long-drawn security deployment, which experts worry say is not a sustainable arrangement. Kashmir has a home-grown network of industrialists and businesses that mushroomed owing to special privileges, which may be hurt due to withdrawal of special privileges.
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Two events six months apart have shaken Nazir Ahmad Magrey’s life.
The suicide bombing on February 14 that killed 40 paramilitary troopers barely 100 metres from his two-storey house overlooking the Jhelum; and the revoking of Article 370, which granted special status to Jammu & Kashmir, on August 5.
The bomb attack – he initially thought it was a plane crash -- blew out his windows and shook the frame of his house, bringing the spectre of terror to his doorstep.
