Cross-LoC trade & travel rolls on despite Uri attack, but it is no respite for Kashmir

Uri attack fallout

The post-Uri stand-off has come as a serious disappointment to a majority of Kashmiris as it is seen to have nullified the "three month old uprising in the state".

"People expected the ongoing upsurge to lead to the central government initiating a credible political engagement with Kashmir and also resuming talks with Pakistan. Nothing of the sort has happened," says the political analyst Prof Gull Wani. "Instead, New Delhi has become even more hardline on Kashmir, retracing its steps from the political outreach to the people and relying exclusively on security measures to tide over the crisis. This topped up with the Uri attack has now put a full stop to all Kashmir related efforts."

The Uri attack and its fallout have made little difference to the existing troubled state of affairs, although the number of protests has registered a perceptible decline. On 18 September, just as the attack was taking place, stone-pelting incidents were reported at many places in Kulgam, Kupwara and Awantipora. Besides, Khushboo Jan, 13, of Gadafpora village in Shopian, collapsed during clashes between protestors and government forces near Chatwatan, witnesses and her family said. The girl was taken to a nearby Primary Health Centre where doctors declared her as brought dead. The preliminary cause of her death was stated to be cardiac arrest.

The death toll in 81 days of the strife now stands at 91. Several hundred people have been fully or partially blinded and around 12,000 have been injured. On Tuesday, Foziya Sidiq, 22, was killed when a vehicle hit her while reversing amid stone-throwing at Parimpora, on the outskirts of Srinagar. Her sister Nadia sustained serious injuries and is being treated at a Srinagar hospital.

The everyday reality of Kashmir remains the same: markets are closed and the streets deserted. The neighbourhoods have a ghostly feel even in broad daylight. Trade and tourism has been crippled.

According to Yaseen Khan, Kashmir is losing Rs 135 crore daily, with the losses going up to Rs 200 crore during the recent Eid festival. This puts the total economic loss in 81 days at around Rs 11,000 crore.

Children's education has been the worst affected. Schools are shut and the children are confined to their homes. Ironically, some schools have recorded lessons and posted study material online, which in the absence of internet no one can access.

"Uri has obscured all of this. And the fraying Indo-Pak ties, SAARC summit meltdown has left little scope for any positive movement on Kashmir," says Naseer Ahmad, a local columnist. "At a time when New Delhi is taking apart the regional institutional infrastructure, it can hardly be expected to engage Kashmir politically. It is tragic".

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