Faceoff: Aftermath of Article 370 | Economic Times

a. How to unleash business in Jammu and Kashmir, by David DevadasPleased, a middle-aged Kashmiri teacher says, 'UT is good.' By UT, he is referring to Jammu and Kashmir's (and Ladakh's) Union territory status through the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, which was introduced on August 5, 2019, and passed the same day in Rajya Sabha, and passed in Lok Sabha the next day. Eyes sparkling, he reels off figures for how much dearness allowance rates have improved, and how many Rehbar-e-Taleem (J&K scheme for locally employed village) teachers now have regular jobs. Administration has been streamlined, he says, and work gets done.His brother, a small-scale entrepreneur, isn't happy like his brother. 'First, demonetisation hit us. Then, (Article) 370 hit us. Then, Covid hit us.' He raises his voice and adds, 'And what hit us the most was GST.' The goods and services tax pinches particularly, for, much of J&K's output was exempt from central sales tax before the constitutional changes of two years ago.Everyone seems to agree - though off the record - that what happened then was bad. Even the teacher says so, regarding rights.To be sure, there's no obvious distress in Kashmir, but conversations evince a deep sense of hurt. That hurt could have been salved by a transformative fillip to the economy. (Initially, almost no one regretted the sidelining of J&K's political class.) But the general refrain on the ground is that two age-old banes of Kashmiri life - corruption and exploitative bureaucracy - have thrived since '5/8'.The result: things are no better - indeed, worse - for a businessman or creator of crafts and other potential sources of income. 'Here, the official is rich, the businessman is poor,' says Mir Zainulabedin, former president of the Kashmir Food Processing Association. That's a sad commentary on what GoI has sustained - big government, repressed enterprise.Nurturing small-scale productive work opportunities should have been the top priority of the Centre-run J&K government over the past three years, since Governor's Rule was announced in June 2018, and subsequently President's Rule. For, traditional crafts of all sorts are shrinking, as are traditional modes of commercial hospitality. The number of houseboats, for example, is down from around 3,500 registered a couple of decades ago to less than 1,000 now.But far from incentives for enterprise and productivity, 'it's completely a bureaucratic raj', says Shakeel Qalanderi, president of the Federation of Chambers of Industry of Kashmir for the last six years. Small entrepreneurs recount horror stories of red tape.Bureaucracy is not just obstructive for a businessman but the common citizen, too, faces unresponsive closed doors. Beyond these experiences is a structural problem. Since almost everyone wants a government job, a virtual dole economy has emerged over the decades, with perhaps a third of Kashmiri households living off salaries and pensions provided by taxpayers elsewhere in the country.This not only requires a continuous stream of unproductive central grants, but there's almost almost no local revenue. Many of those officials in overstaffed offices barely work, but often extort by obstruction - alienating people, since it's all done in the name of 'India'. Those with guaranteed salaries and pensions have an incentive to stay home during hartals. So, agitations have, in the past, been spurred from government offices. Shopkeepers, vendors, auto drivers and others who earn a daily wage suffered.And, yet, creating 50,000 new government jobs was among the first things promised by the new rulers after Governor's Rule was imposed in 2018. That demonstrated how little the powers that be, and what pass for their think-tanks, comprehend the structural issues in J&K. While government jobs are a drain (salary budgets, red tape, extortion, et al), Kashmir has immense, largely untapped, potential for food processing, horticulture (beyond apples), floriculture, bee-keeping, sericulture and a host of old and new artisanal crafts. Nurturing these could boost productivity, employment and revenue - and create stakes in tranquillity.As for mechanised industry, more than half the production units in Kashmir used to depend on state government purchases (again, using central grants), and were protected by an entry tariff at the state border. Unable to compete in nationwide tenders, or against the cheaper products now flowing in, many are closing down, according to Qalanderi. He wants protection. But, perhaps, competitive efficiency is what needs to be spurred.There's no sign of it, though. People get on with their lives, even as many small businessmen complain of an economic crunch. Apart from the factors the teacher's brother listed (GST, Covid, etc), investigations of bank officers have combined with high interest rates to squeeze credit. The new industrial policy, too, has far less incentives than the 2002 policy. Although that document was like a dream come true - on paper - food-processing entrepreneur Syed Pervez Ahmad correctly points out that the bureaucracy only let a few politically connected big fish benefit.J&K's economy desperately needs to be freed from stifling red tape. Sadly, an opportunity is slipping.b. Minus Article 370, paradise regained, by Tarun VijayKashmir stood for everything that was good on Earth - its people, land, culture, heritage and peace. Article 370 negated everything. It turned it into a land of jihadi turmoil, especially for those living there who didn't yield to the medieval brand of hatred. It became a communal cauldron - young women were punished if they married 'outside', and citizenship was denied to Gurkhas, scheduled castes and other Hindus.Muslims who stood for amity and the Indian tricolour were silenced at gunpoint, police officers and jawans targeted, while the common (Muslim) man and woman on the street never benefited from the fruits of progress pocketed by Kashmir's political classes represented by the Houses of Abdullah and Mufti.Ladakh was terrified of the 'Srinagar mafia'. It never got justice, not in jobs, reservations or education, not to say in development grants. Jammu was dwarfed, even though it had a larger population than its neighbouring region, generated larger revenue, being allotted less seats in the state legislature.Jammu and Ladakh, larger together than Kashmir, received less than what the Valley alone got, and were looked down as a pariah by Srinagar. The latter mocked Ladakh when it wanted a college. Under his prime ministership, Narendra Modi has given Ladakh a central university, medical and engineering colleges, proper infrastructure and a sense of pride. Even in the Valley, justice - and sanity - returned to the land of Rishi Kashyap, after whom Kashmir is named.With the 'special status' for Kashmir abrogated from Article 370 on June 6, 2019, common Ladakhi Buddhist, Jammu Dogra and Pandit, and Valley Muslim now feel more secure and happy, and look to a new future. Women are empowered, feel recognised and counted, scheduled castes and Gurkhas are now full-fledged citizens, while Hindu refugees have regained their possessions with old, discriminating laws gone. This included the repeal of 12 land laws and 26 revised, amended and adapted. Kashmiri Hindus, who were exiled and brutalised, have begun returning home.Article 370 was a cruel propagator of discriminations against scheduled castes. When the first domicile certificate was given to 71-year-old Deepoo Devi of Valmiki Samaj Basti in July 2020, it was an emotional moment. Like her, some 3,000 Hindu Valmikis invited by the Kashmir government in 1957 as 'sanitary workers' from Punjab's Gurdaspur district, over the decades became 'unwanted people'.The supremacy of India's Parliament was challenged. Every Bill it passed was for entire India - 'except the state of Jammu and Kashmir'. If J&K was an integral part of us, why was this line there? There never was a single instance where the advocates of this nefarious clause could show if Article 370 brought actual peace to any inch of J&K. Rather, it fanned separatism, a hatred for Hindus and offered space for secessionists.A nationwide movement was needed to have the Indian tricolour on top Lal Chowk tower. Today, it flies with pride.A nation is not just about bread and shelter. It's the soul of a nation that defines its life and dreams. Jammu and Kashmir, in the hands of Article 370 secular fundamentalists hit at, and bruised, that soul. It silently saw brutal massacres, the exile of an entire people, celebrated terrorists, refused to mourn the death of security personnel who saved them as well as ordinary people from every calamity and natural disaster, saw the Islamification of education and other aspects of life.With the abrogation of Article 370 two years ago, sanity and peace have returned in a region that was, till only a couple of years ago, known for daily hartals and stone-pelting, and where being a Hindu was a difficult proposition. For the last two years - three, if one counts since J&K came under Governor's and then President's Rule in 2018 - the number of violent incidents has come down drastically.J&K Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha has earned the confidence of the Union territory's people and leaders. The recent meet of Kashmir's political leaders with the prime minister on June 24 has underlined that. GoI's ₹80,000 crore package for J&K development, and ₹50,000 crore for Ladakh's development will change both regions positively.The mainstay of democracy, panchayat elections, which were never held, have been revived. The autocracy of a few family fiefdoms stands exposed. This political elite never helped Kashmiris, never earned the trust of Buddhists or Hindus, never helped Muslims to grow in a happy, peaceful atmosphere.The troubles in J&K that helped India's enemies will now hopefully dissipate, bringing about a new era of peace and prosperity. The two years after the revocation of Article 370 have witnessed a new stage in Kashmir's - and Jammu's and Ladakh's - history and future. Sanity and justice have returned. Who can have anything to say against that?