As cross-LoC trade falls silent in Kashmir, Mehbooba, traders recall how a dream became reality

Once the hub of cross-Line of Control (LoC) trade in Kashmir, the Salamabad Trade Facilitation Centre in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district is set to become a tourism centre. However, for former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti and traders who used the facility, the move marks “the closure of a chapter of hope written by blood, sacrifices and years of toil”.

The Jammu and Kashmir government this month decided to hand over the trade facilitation centre, which once housed warehouses, scanning centres, customs services and a cafeteria, to the Tourism Department. The move comes seven years after the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) suspended the cross-LoC trade in April 2019 “due to security reasons”.

“Handing over the Salamabad Trade Facilitation Centre to the Tourism Department will promote border tourism. The area has great potential for tourism. I thank Chief Minister Omar Abdullah for it,” said Sajad Shafi, National Conference legislator from Uri.

But for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and traders associated with the cross-LoC trade, the news has come as a rude shock. “This decision is deeply distressing for me personally. The road was a dream cherished by lakhs of Kashmiris for decades, and one my father, Mufti (Muhammad Sayeed) Sahab, fulfilled in a remarkably short time,” Ms. Mufti told The Hindu.

She recalled the militant attack in 2005 on the Tourist Reception Centre (TRC) in Srinagar, which was aimed at disrupting the cross-LoC bus service and left 13 people injured. “The cross-LoC trade came at a heavy price, with almost a dozen PDP workers losing their lives in the grenade attack during the historic Muzaffarabad Chalo rally,” she said.

In 2005, during Mufti Muhammad Sayeed’s tenure as Chief Minister, the cross-LoC bus service began from Srinagar to Muzaffarabad (in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir). The initiative was followed by the introduction of cross-LoC trade at multiple points in 2008. “Opening this road was perhaps the biggest confidence-building measure between the two parts of Kashmir since 1947. It reunited families, connected communities and later created livelihoods through cross-LoC trade,” said Ms. Mufti.

PDP leader and former Minister Naeem Akhtar, who was a senior officer in the Mufti Sayeed government in 2008, said Mr. Sayeed had set up hoardings on the cross-LoC bus service in 2002 “as a hope to end decades of uncertainty”.

“Mehbooba Mufti had to sit in the first row of the bus from Srinagar up to Kaman Post in Uri as a guarantor of security after the bus route was targeted by fidayeens (suicide attackers) in Srinagar. Passengers refused to sit in the bus after the attack. Ms. Mufti sat in the front to ensure they had a sense of security. She made the decision in spite of tip-offs about likely attacks. It was the first time since 1947 that Pakistan and India agreed on something concrete in relation to Kashmir. It did start healing the wounds of the past,” said Mr. Akhtar.

For Mr. Akhtar, the cross-LoC connection through the bus service and trade was “a unique idea of resolution for a lasting peace” in Kashmir. “Traditionally, J&K was known for trading with Central Asia and Xinjiang. Kashmir owes its craft and art to this interaction. In 1947, as the accession to India became final, Mufti sahib saw cross-LoC trade as measures within the Constitution to bring a lasting solution and revive old links,” he said.

Mr. Akhtar called the decision to close the cross-LoC trade, which was inaugurated by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi, a “closure of hope”. “Halting the trade is not an ordinary act. It’s stamping out hope,” he said.

According to official figures, the trade touched ₹1,700 crore by 2015. In 2019, the MHA suspended the trade, saying the trade routes were being used by Pakistan-based elements to funnel illegal weapons, narcotics and fake currency.

Samiullah Bhat, who served as vice president of the Cross LoC Traders Association, recalled how his trucks laden with bananas got stuck at the Salamabad trade centre and the goods rotted in 2019. “We were told the Aman Setu bridge was unavailable due to necessary repairs. For weeks in February 2019, there was no clear picture about the trade. All of a sudden, the trade was halted. The traders still have unsettled bills pending. It runs into crores of rupees,” said Mr. Bhat.

The cross-LoC trade was a cashless barter system. Mr. Bhat said around 700 traders from both sides of the LoC were involved in the trade in 2019. “As a trader, I feel I was toyed with. First, we were asked to start trading with fanfare, and suddenly it ended. I am sure there will be ‘black sheep’. The authorities could have identified them and taken action, but not ended the trade. No one incident of smuggling on the Wagah route leads to its permanent closure,” said Mr. Bhat.

On the move to turn the trade centre into a tourism facility, Mr. Bhat said he would welcome the move “if tourism was extended to other parts of Kashmir too”. “Let this become a new point of exchange between people of this side and that side of Kashmir. Let people from the other side of Kashmir too get to see how developed this side of Kashmir is. We are ready for any new mechanism put in place to resume trade and bus service,” he said.

On his last visit to Salamabad in 2015, Mr. Sayeed had pushed for telecom and banking facilities, insisting the issue be taken up by the Joint Working Group between India and Pakistan “to expand the scope of trade”. He had also cleared a proposal as the Chief Minister to procure full-body scanners to make the movement of people and goods across the LoC smoother.

Ms. Mufti questioned the Centre’s arguments on suspending the trade. “When trade was suspended in 2019 citing security concerns and allegations of drug trafficking, the answer should have been stronger regulation and monitoring, not shutting the door on cross-LoC economic engagement,” said Ms. Mufti.

She said tourism in Uri should be encouraged, but not by closing a historic gateway to the other side of Kashmir. “Uri, due to its location, can be much more than a tourism destination. It deserves to be a bridge for people, trade, livelihoods and reconciliation,” said Ms. Mufti.

Besides around 300 traders active on the Kashmir route, the suspension of trade also affected around 1,000 truck drivers and 200 labourers. Around 140 trucks would ply every week on the cross-LoC routes, carrying goods, including local produce worth ₹10 lakh on average. An official estimate suggested that the bus service came as a hope to around 30,000 families separated in successive waves of wars between India and Pakistan and violence along the LoC in Kashmir since 1947.