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Kashmir's long road to prosperity
By Sudha Ramachandran
URI -
While few in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) believe that
the violence and bloodshed will end in the near future,
several expect the likely opening of the road linking
Srinagar, the state's summer capital, with Muzaffarabad
in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (POK) to transform their
economy.
In fact, in towns like Sopore and Uri,
the mood with regard to the economic dividend is not
just hopeful, it is upbeat.
The opening of the
183 kilometer Srinagar-Muzaffarabad road, as mooted by
India recently, will facilitate travel and trade between
the two Kashmirs ie, the parts controlled by India and
Pakistan. Several Kashmiris have relatives living on the
other side of the Line of Control (LoC) that divides the
former princely state of Jammu and Kashmir. If the road
is opened, they could visit each other easily. At
present, a Kashmiri living in the Valley has to travel
to Delhi by road or air, and then fly or take a bus to
Lahore, from where he has to then travel to POK. A bus
service between Srinagar and Muzaffarabad would
considerably cut travel time and costs.
Constructed over a 10-year period and thrown
open for use in 1892, the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad road was
until 1947 the Kashmir Valley's main link with the
outside world. It has remained closed since the
India-Pakistan war in 1947-48. The road begins in
Srinagar and runs through Baramulla and Uri in Indian
Kashmir. It then crosses the LoC and runs through Kohala
to reach Muzaffarabad in POK. The road has been extended
to Rawalpindi in Pakistan.
Kashmiris in the
Valley say that if the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad road is
opened and trade ties permitted, their produce and goods
can reach markets in Rawalpindi in a matter of hours. At
present, they are dependent on the Srinagar-Jammu
highway, which is blocked for months because of snowfall
and avalanches. It takes at least 12 hours by road from
Srinagar to Jammu when the weather is fine, and then
several days by road/rail for goods to move from there
to Delhi and on to markets in Mumbai, Chennai or
Kolkata.
Kashmir's apple industry will gain
significantly if the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad road is
opened. Residents of Sopore, a town along the
Srinagar-Muzaffarabad road that is famous for its apple
orchards, say that their apples rot by the time they
reach the markets in Delhi and other parts of India. An
owner of an orchard in Sopore told Asia Times Online
that the cost of transporting apples to markets would be
halved if apples could be sold at Rawalpindi. Kashmiri
truck drivers say that if they could take the apples to
be sold in Rawalpindi, they "would be freed of the
harassment they suffer at the hands of the police in
Delhi".
Residents of Uri feel that their town
will witness an economic boom when the
Srinagar-Muzaffarabad road opens. Uri lies near the LoC.
The Indian army has been here since 1947-48. Uri's
economy is closely tied to the presence of the Indian
soldiers. The soldiers purchase from the local shops and
hire the services of Uri's residents.
People in
Uri feel that the opening of the road would bring
Kashmiris from the Valley and POK to their town. This,
Uri residents say, would boost their economy. Besides,
they are hoping that the ceasefire along the LoC will
encourage tourists to come to this part of Kashmir. The
Baramulla-Uri stretch of the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad road
runs along the Jhelum river and weaves through mountains
of breathtaking beauty.
Real estate prices along
the Baramulla-Uri stretch of the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad
road are said to have shot up in the past few months
since India proposed the opening of the road. "This more
than anything else signals the enormous economic
potential of the region," points out a bureaucrat in
Baramulla.
A similar spurt in real estate prices
along the Baramulla-Uri stretch of the road was
witnessed in 2001 as well. At that time, too, India had
put forward the proposal to reopen the
Srinagar-Muzaffarabad road and there were hopes that the
proposal would be discussed at the Agra summit of 2001.
The failure of the Agra summit resulted in the proposal
being put in cold storage, dashing the hopes of the
Kashmiris.
Will their hopes be dashed this time
as well? Kashmiris, long used to broken promises and
betrayals by India and Pakistan, fear that the reopening
of the road is likely to remain a dream.
Both
India and Pakistan have reservations over opening the
road. Sections in India fear that a bus link between the
two Kashmirs will facilitate the flow of terrorists into
J&K. Moreover, there is concern in some circles that
as Kashmiris trade with Pakistan grows, their dependence
on India would diminish. Some have also drawn attention
to the possibility of Kashmiri aspirations for
azadi (independence) gaining strength as
interaction between the two Kashmirs increase.
Pakistan fears that agreeing to checkpoints at
the LoC would be a step towards according recognition to
the LoC as the international border between the two
countries. It was this concern that prompted Islamabad
to announce in October that it would accept India's
proposal for a bus link between Srinagar and
Muzaffarabad on the condition that UN monitors would man
the checkpoints at the LoC.
Pakistan's
reluctance to respond positively to India's proposal did
not go down well with the Kashmiris. While Islamabad has
since come around to expressing support for a bus
service linking Srinagar and Muzaffarabad, Kashmiris
fear that Pakistan will not agree to the bus link. It is
India that is seen now in Kashmir as more open to the
idea of bringing together the divided Kashmiri people.
Indeed, India is now pushing for the opening of
the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad road. It recognizes that there
is much to be gained from opening the road. If India is
trying to erode pro-Pakistan sentiment in the Valley,
what better way than to let the Kashmiri people see for
themselves what Pakistan has to offer?
Socio-economic development in Jammu and Kashmir
is higher than that in POK. Many Kashmiris in the Valley
might be Muslim like those across the LoC, but the Islam
that is popular in the Valley is quite different from
that followed in Pakistan.
Sections in India
believe that the most pragmatic solution to the
India-Pakistan conflict over Kashmir is conversion of
the LoC into an international border. As this by itself
is unlikely to satisfy Kashmiri aspirations, a porous
border that will enable the people on both sides to meet
and set up cross-border institutional arrangements is
being suggested. The reopening of the road is a step in
this direction as it implies acceptance by both
countries that the LoC is the border. It also
facilitates interaction between the Kashmiri people.
The J&K government is already preparing for
the opening of the road as it is keen to tap the
economic potential that it promises. With help from
Delhi, the government proposes to convert the existing
highway into a four-lane expressway. The tourism
department is said to be providing assistance and
concessions to those interested in providing
accommodation to travelers in their homes and in opening
tea shops and restaurants on the route.
If the
Srinagar-Muzaffarabad road is opened, there is a
possibility that India and Pakistan will start competing
to show off the level of development and democracy that
the Kashmirs under their control are enjoying. That
would be the best thing to happen to the Kashmiri people
in a long time.
(Copyright 2004 Asia Times
Online Ltd. All rights reserved. Please contact content@atimes.com for
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