Batamaloo to Bijnor

The Centre’s clampdown before it scrapped the special status of Jammu and Kashmir on August 5 led to many leaving the Valley, including several barbers, confectioners and general store owners. Most are reluctant to identify themselves or to talk about their experiences in Kashmir. Most also hope to return once things go back to how they were.

“From Kiratpur alone, at least a hundred families have been living and working in different parts of Kashmir. We have been doing this for nearly 50 years. In the past 10-15 years, many of the younger boys have set up hair salons, but earlier we would mostly sell halwa-parantha and kheer. They are very popular with Kashmiris, mausam ke hisab se (depending on the weather). Some of us also set up kirana stores,” says a 45-year-old halwai, who says he has been working in Budgam for nearly 30 years.

A small town of traders and labourers with a population of 61,946 (2011 Census), Kiratpur in Bijnor district is less than 200 km from the National Capital. Nearly 77 per cent of the town’s population is Muslim.

While most residents are unsure about Kiratpur and Bijnor district’s Kashmir connection — “we have always been going there for work,” say most residents — a 46-year-old, who owns a kirana store near Srinagar, recalls a story he says he heard in his teen years: “Sometime in the 1960s, two men, Ghulam Mustafa and Rashid, left Bijnor in search of work and landed in Bhopal. Some men were taking labourers from the city to Kashmir, and both the men went along. Later, they returned to Bijnor and took youngsters with them there. Since then, we have been going there for work.”

A father of seven, the 45-year-old confectioner from Budgam says he returned to Bijnor a week ago, and claims to have incurred a loss of Rs 5 lakh because of the shutdown in Kashmir. “I have no money left for even daily expenses. So many of us have been left unemployed, the government should have thought about us,” he says, sitting outside a shop in Kiratpur.

But he promptly adds, “We have nothing against the government’s decision. Jo kiya woh sahi kiya (What they did was right). But we have been idle for days now. From Bijnor district, over 2,000 families lived and worked in Kashmir. They are all struggling too.”

Most of the men who have returned to Kiratpur from Kashmir are largely unemployed, say residents, with few job opportunities in the area. “There are no factories or any big construction work happening here. We will have to go out and look. I used to make sweets, I don’t know any other work,” says the 45-year-old.

He has another concern: “My children’s school year has been disrupted. I don’t know when we will be able to go back. They are home now,” he says. His eldest is 17 and the youngest seven months old.

About life in Kashmir, a 30-year-old barber, who recently returned from the Valley, says that unlike popular opinion, “we never faced any problems… We would stay among ourselves”.

Dressed in a snug T-shirt, a few streaks of colour in his hair, he continues, “No matter what was happening in Kashmir, we were not affected. Our salons were always full. Bijnor barbers are in demand in Kashmir because we know the latest styles. We are closer to Delhi, we get to see new haircuts. During my visits home, I would learn new styles and then give them to my customers at Batamaloo in Srinagar,” he says, surrounded by several men his age, all of whom are back from the Valley.

Adds another man, who is in his 20s, “Bas ek problem thi, ‘Bihari, Bihari’ bol kar mazaak udaate the (There was only one problem, the locals would mock us calling us Biharis).” As the group breaks into laughter, the 30-year-old joins in, “It was said in jest, nothing serious. We had loyal customers, especially young boys.”

The 30-year-old says he was in Srinagar for 10 years. “I also have a beauty products store there, it was very popular among women. I bought all my products from Sadar Bazaar in Delhi and then sold them there… My family is still there.”

Since his return two weeks ago, he adds, both his salon and the shop in Batamaloo are shut. “Of course we are struggling. We are just waiting for any news to come, I am hoping to return.”

Like him, the 32-year-old from Kupwara still has family back in the Valley. “My older brother and his family are there. He called me last week from a police office where a landline has been set up. We spoke for a few minutes. He said everything was fine but our shop is still shut,” he says.