Kashmir Reaches Breaking Point As Curfew Cripples The Valley For The 43rd Day And Counting

At a little guest house behind rows of locked hotels on Boulevard Road parallel to the Dal lake, Quadir Ahmed, its caretaker, checked the fresh towels folded neatly inside a small wooden cabinet. He had kept a bar of soap handy. "Just in case," he said, looking forlornly at the empty rooms.

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"I come here every day, though there's nothing to do. I don't know how long this will go on. It's driving me mad."

As curfew remained clamped for a record 42nd day on Friday, starting on July 9 after violence broke out following Hizbul commander Burhan Wani's killing, many in the valley said the unending restrictions on movement, commerce and trade are making them lose their mind, that they have reached breaking point.

Some said if things continue like this, many of them would need counselling

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"I haven't taken a paisa home for weeks," said Nazir Mohammad, a shikara-owner, as he sat idly on a culvert overlooking the placid Dal. "How does the government think we're feeding our children? How long will our food stocks last, or the money we have saved?"

Economy and tourism hit

Hotel and houseboat owners are staring at an economic crisis. There are about 4,000 shikaras and 1,200 houseboats on the Dal, and they are all desperate for some earnings, said Nazir Mohammad, a shikara owner.

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"On a good day in the peak season, and this is one, I'd take home Rs 3,000. Look at us now. What's worse is that we can't even look forward to October, when the business is really good. Hoteliers tell us that tourists have cancelled their bookings."

Not being able to communicate has just added to the nervousness and rage. Though broadband has been restored, it's patchy. There's a complete ban on mobile internet. The only phones that work are BSNL postpaid numbers. Everything else is dead.

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Information blackout

Information is another big casualty. At the government circuit house in Sonwar, accessible after clearance from multiple police and CRPF checkpoints, 'VIP' guests kept checking with the reception desk if any newspapers had arrived. "No," said the person at the counter. "The delivery boy didn't come today and there is no way of finding out why."

Newspapers stopped from July 16 to 19 due to a "ban". Production began later but circulation has been hit hard and some managements have had to shrink newsroom operations. A clutch of small dailies have cut down on staff.

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"There's no end to our suffering," said a retired government official. "People are caught between militants and security forces. As if the curfew wasn't enough, separatists have ordered a shutdown till August 25. There's no milk for kids, food is scarce, schools and colleges are bolted, hospitals are creaking under the load of thousands injured in the violence. In which state has there been curfew for 42 days? It's unprecedented. Things are so bad for us now that many will join gangs of stone-pelters just to get out of home."