Author: Agencies, Jammu
Publication: Navhind Times
Dated: August 21, 2008
Was there an economic blockade of' Kashmir
valley as some of its leaders are alleging?
There are conflicting, stands on economic
blockade of the valley, with Jammu's traders terming it a "blatant lie"
bandied by separatists to whip up passions while the authorities, in the valley
admit there were "some disruptions" in supplies.
"Supplies were disrupted to the entire
Jammu and Kashmir, just not the valley" maintains Mr Ram Sahai, president
of Jammu's Chamber of Industry and Commerce. The state has 22 districts, of
which the 10 in Jammu and two in the Ladakh region were equally affected"
Mr Sahai says.
According to a trader, who did not want to
be named, the Kashmiri leadership, whether mainstream or separatists, was
"distorting facts about the supplies", as they did in the case of
the Amarnath land issue.
He cited official data recorded at the Lakhanpur
toll post in Kathua district of Jammu through which all trucks entering the
state have to pass. More than 35,000 trucks carrying supplies reached the
Kashmir valley since July 1, according to the data recorded at the Lakhanpur
post the gateway to Jammu and Kashmir.
All essential commodities are imported into
the state, from wheat, rice to raw material for industries. Pilgrims to Vaishno
Devi and tourists, particularly to the valley, also move through Lakhanpur.
However, an official spokesman in the Kashmir
valley said that from July 30 to Aug 18, around, 2,800. trucks carrying essential
commodities like fuel and medicine have come to the valley.
Around 3,300 fruit and vegetable laden trucks
left the valley during the same period for different parts of north India
the official added.
He also acknowledged there was "some
disruption on the ]ammu-Srinagar national Highway. Otherwise we used to get
1,000 trucks per day going to the valley.
A trader in Jammu said that during street
demonstrations in July to protest the revocation of the land transfer to the
Amarnath shrine board protesters in Jammu had stoned all passing vehicles
without making any distinction whether they were Jammu-bound, headed for the
valley or carrying supplies to the cold desert region of Ladakh.
"My vehicle was stoned and I saved myself
by ducking;' said Amrit Lal, a truck driver of Jammu who was ferrying sheep
to the valley. The protesters were not sparing anyone.
According to another driver, things worsened
when some of the trucks made it to the valley. Many truck drivers were beaten
by mobs in south Kashmir in the last week of July. All the truck drivers headed
for the valley then happened to be from Punjab. When word of the beatings
reached Punjab, people there came out in protest on the highway linking Jammu
and Kashmir to Punjab.
"We were carrying supplies for them and
they beat us up," Narinder Singh, a driver belonging to Gurdaspur, Punjab,
had told reporters on July 28 on his way back to Punjab.
"Even now if they call it an economic
blockade and fuel the fire in Kashmir on a non-issue, this is the most unfortunate
thing to happen," said Mr Bali Bhagat, general secretary of the state
unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party. The truckers have been the ones to lose
in the violence.
Mr Yash Pal Gupta, a trader of Kanak Mandi,
a major trading centre in Jammu, says the roads are open and trucks are headed,
towards the valley.
The army paramilitary Central Reserve Police
Force and the police have been deployed at sensitive places along the highway
to ensure that it is not blocked by protesters.
The Indian Army is firm on keeping the highway
open. Anybody disrupting the traffic would be severely dealt with Lt Gen Vinay
Sharma, whose troops are responsible for guarding the borders and counter-insurgency
operations from Patpankot, Punjab, to Jammu, said at a press conference a
few days ago. "There is no economic blockade; there never was one."
Commenting on economic blockade, separatist
leader Sajjad Ghani Lone said: "The world has been seeing and reporting
the economic blockade enforced by the extremist forces in Jammu against the
valley people. It was their frustrations and they cannot deny what is the
writing on the wall.
