Packed hotels, brisk trade prove best defences against cross-border terror
Kashmir can be very depressing. In 2005, after the POK earthquake, I led a team on behalf of the UN to support the post-earthquake reconstruction. Visiting Muzaffarabad and villages around POK was an eye opener: no one spoke Kashmiri.
All spoke only Urdu and some spoke Punjabi. There was no local or civilian administration. Entire earthquake relief and reconstruction effort was being run by the Pakistani Army, led by officers from Pakistani Punjab.
Earthquake affected people were left to themselves and I photographed large numbers of local people building their earthquake destroyed homes on their own, without any Government support. The economically bleak landscape of POK is a fertile ground for recruiting militants for cross border attacks.
However across the LOC, in Jammu and Kashmir, things have changed drastically.
Post abrogation of Article 370, multiple steps were taken to stop terror funding, including by strengthening relations with oil exporting states and pro actively plugging flow of funds to extremist organizations. Focused military action to plug infiltration from across the border has drastically reduced cross border funding and export of foreign funded militants.
However, the real magic in Kashmir is the economic revival of livelihoods, like tourism, agriculture and handicrafts. State GDP of Jammu and Kashmir rose by 15% in 2022-23 at a rate higher than the national average .
This is the great peace dividend for the local people of Kashmir. Instead of staying cooped up in repeated bandhs and closures, ordinary Kashmiri people are sending their children to study in Pune, Delhi and other centers.
