Militancy is `good business'

[Guest guest]

Militancy is `good business'

Rasheeda Bhagat

SRINAGAR, Oct. 24

 

IF there was some hope that the attacks on Afghanistan, putting

the Taliban and their friends under immense pressure, would

result in reduced militancy in the Kashmir Valley, thanks to the

export of indigenous and foreign militants to the beleaguered

nation, the attempt on Tuesday to blow up the Air Force airport at

Avantipur, near Srinagar, has proved this wrong. Kashmir

remains on the agenda of the militants and the four fidayeen

(suicide squad) who were killed during this incident is ample

evidence.

 

``But why would militancy end?'' asks an army officer posted at

the heavily-guarded Srinagar headquarters of the army. ``It is

such good business. The rest of India might be reeling under

recession and real estate prices might be down. But look at the

palatial, three-storeyed buildings which are coming up in and

around Srinagar. Some of them have 20 to 25 rooms. Where is

the money coming from?''

 

His colleague agrees. A good shop in the Lal Chowk area costs

anywhere between Rs 50 lakh and Rs 70 lakh, and people are

buying, he says.

 

Curiously enough, the endorsement of a fairly healthy economy,

as far as purchasing power of at least one class of people is

concerned, comes from a textile businessmen seated next to

me on the Jet Airways flight from Delhi to Srinagar.

 

``Oh yes, business is not bad at all, and in Srinagar we manage

to sell quite a lot. But we also deal with some other States, and

there is a problem when it comes to getting money from some of

the places outside Kashmir,'' he says.

 

What is surprising to find is that quite a few segments of

business have benefited from the industry called militancy. One

example you are given is of people who started all kinds of

businesses, getting goods from other parts of India, and then

going underground. Another example is that of somebody

starting a transport company and booking consignments to and

from the Valley.

 

``After a year of so of genuine transactions, the man changes the

name of the company, and anybody chasing the goods he has

lost is told that this particular company has closed down. Now,

how many people would want to brave bullets or bombs of the

militants, for which Kashmir has become famous, to come all

the way here to search for the absconder?'' you are asked.

 

Next comes the money required to ``protect'' yourself if you are

somebody in the community. ``As the politicians are the first on

the hit-list of the militants, first of all they have to get official

security. Next, they have to pay protection money to the militants

or their agents. So, that is good business too. Add to this the

hotel rooms required to put up the additional CRPF or BSF men,

and that provides another stream of income,'' says a local

journalist.

 

He adds that these days, it is common to see construction

activity in the zones close to the LoC too. ``The other day, the

commander of Tangahar was telling me that in the town where

there is hardly a population of 50,000, there are 50 to 60 Tata

Sumo vehicles.''

 

The money militants and their families get for keeping

insurgency alive in the Valley is well-known. But what is much

more disturbing is information from army personnel that children

in the age group 12 to 14 are used by the militants to hurl

grenades.

 

``They give Rs 100 for throwing one grenade and because these

are children most of the time, the grenades miss their mark and

that is why you see so many civilians dying. We have also had

instances when 16-year-old and 17-year-old boys who have

been roped in have lost their nerve at the last minute, but their

instigators have pushed them to complete the suicide mission,''

said the officer.

 

But this is not to say that everything is hunky-dory in Srinagar as

far as people's incomes go. After the October 1 blast in the State

Assembly complex, the little flow of tourism which was there also

seems to have ebbed. Hotel occupancies have fallen to a

pathetic 10 per cent; the houseboats are virtually unoccupied

and so are the shikaras on Dal Lake. To a tourism-driven

industry, this has meant distressing times right from the hotel

owners to the handicraft artisans.

 

Says Mr Amit Amla, a director of the Broadway Hotel in Srinagar,

``Yesterday, 16 rooms in my hotel were occupied; and 13 were

taken by mediapersons.''

 

Right from the BBC to the AFP to even a correspondent of the Al

Jazeera, Srinagar is brimming with journalists. Kashmir

continues to be a rich source of news for the media. The Al

Jazeera correspondent, Mr Wadah Khanfar, who has been

based in Johannesburg for more than a year and has spent the

last couple of weeks in Delhi, was repeatedly ``warned not to go

 

to Kashmir. I was told it is not safe. But after coming to Srinagar I

realise that it is certainly safer than many of the places in Africa

which I tour extensively,'' he told Business Line.