Go through this gem before they delete it.
Here's one comment from an outsider's perspective:
Melpay:
Very true. I am a journalist from a middle eastern country and have travelled in both countries. I was here for writing a report on an unrelated topic when I came across this post.
So I had this journalistic urge of writing a quick comment as I won't be able to write this in my News without getting fired. Uh Oh. Sorry if it is gibberish as I am writing it quickly while travelling, but this is what I think. I know it is a sensitive topic and I don't want to offend anyone.
Since I write about International news, especially about Asia, I have studied all countries in this region in detail. The difference in economy and institutional quality is already huge between India-Pakistan, but I wonder what would happen 10 years from now when it widens even more. The thing is, during partition and till 1990s, Pakistan was better than India economically in most metrics in per capita terms. That all changed in around 2005 when India started to slowly overtake Pakistan.
Now it is only going to change at a rapid rate with the kind of mega projects happening in India. It is not reported much, and I am not allowed to, but if you search around you would also wonder. Just for one example, around 30 huge tunnels worth over $20 billion dollars are being build just in J&K, some of them as long as 14kilometers long. And work is going on 24hours a day to finish it as quickly as possible in such horrible climate.
Many of the passes in the Himalayas close down for 5 months during winter and this has been the norm since forever. And even during summer, it is risky to cross the passes while taking 3-4 hours time. After the tunnels are ready, you can zip past it in 5 minutes. The difference in quality of life is going to be unimaginably better. And that is just talking about tunnels, so, imagine the highway construction projects happening there. This many tunnels and highways will make it comparable infrastructure wise to Switzerland soon.
This year, Railway line from India to Kashmir will be completed. It will go through the highest bridge in the world called Chenab bridge. Trains will go on it at a height higher than Eiffel Tower and will travel through over 100kms of tunnels. It is being done at some $10billion cost even after it being such a difficult project. And it goes all the way to Srinagar and then till Kupwara, near LOC.
A Dubai based company is making a inland port in J&K and its construction is ongoing at a rapid pace. Now, they get direct access to what is going to be the 3rd largest market in the world at same logistical cost as rest of India, and will be able to trade throughout the year. Both of this will make the industries in Kashmir competitive and is surely a gamechanger.
And a dedicated Motorway from near Delhi to Kashmir is being build. This will cut-short the travel time from around 30 hours in the past to just 9 hours via road!
Srinagar and Jammu will be getting Metro. That too, not a small one, but of 25km each at a cost of $1.5billion. All premier Indian institutes of higher studies like IIT, IIM, AAIMS, NIT are being built or already operational in J&K. Dozens of new hospitals and schools are being build.
We can talk all about the freedom in J&K, but in around 10 years, I doubt if people from Indian side of Kashmir will want to move to Pakistani side after enjoying the economic bloom and comforts. They may want to shift to wealthier countries, but not Pakistan. What is happening now in Kashmir Infrastructure wise is what I thought will happen in Pakistan after CPEC while talking to some politicians and people of Pakistan at that time. But the CPEC type dream is genuinely happening in Kashmir while it barerly created a change in Pakistan. And youth of Kashmir are excited about these.
When people are worried and not confident about their future, they invest in gold & dollars and they avoid putting money in land. That is what I see in war torn places. People in Kashmir are investing in building houses, tourist resorts, hotels, houseboats, shopping complexes and small scale industries. This is the main thing everyone should look at as this shows confidence that people believe in their country. This shows people are confident now things will get better and will be stable, thus they can invest in immovable properties.
And seriously, we are doing a dis-service to all these people by not reporting it, but that is how it is. In my opinion, we should report these positive stories, but my editor is against it. The issue of not reporting is that you will soon get blindsided when things inevitably change.
I have travelled a lot and have met a lot of people from all backgrounds and religions. What is shown in news on both sides are wrong. It is sampling size problem and also media blowing out things out of proportion. We do it because it is competitive business and our bosses want sensational news, or because our bosses have pressure from politicians to write a certain way.
There are surely bad incidents you can see and point out in news. But, bad incidents are happening everywhere. If you account for the percentage of population of India and compare it to that of the world they are 1 in 7 people, so every 7th crime should be happening in India. Every seventh bad person would be an Indian. But, is there that many bad things actually happening or is it few incidents being overly getting media attention?
Another sampling bias is with people's interactions with Indian Muslims abroad. If you are meeting poor people, especially those without much knowledge, they will say pasture is greener on the side they are not in, because they are poor and uneducated about the problems of the other side and since they already are suffering being poor, so why not try other side.
If you meet someone well off but is uneducated about realities in other side, they will also say why not try the other side. But, if you meet someone who is well off and educated about the realities, I don't think they will want to gain citizenship of Pakistan. In India, I have only seen consistent sentiment of Anti-India among Muslims in J&K. And that too is changing. Muslims of other regions are looking for same things as Hindus of those regions like job, better road, 24hr water supply etc. There surely are religious hatred among both religions in certain places especially in Northern India, but these are not the priority or first thought of 99% of people regardless of religion and most people do not act on it.
And even in Kashmir the sentiment is changing. I went to a place called Tangdhar in Kashmir. This is a difficult place to go. It is 7 hour journey north of Srinager. It is closest to LOC. This is one of the most isolated towns of India, with only one road connecting India and this place, and that go through a high mountain pass which get closed for 5 months in winter.
I was shocked that none of the people there said anything against India unless I specifically ask them about it, as I had to write a report with anti establishment perspective. This was not so 10 years ago. The biggest priority concern of people there was when will the tunnel project in their region be completed as it will give them easy connectivity to Srinager via Kupwara. Some people also wanted the road to Pakistan to open because it would be easier for trade, and not because of religious reasons. They were all happy even being so isolated and under-developed, way happier than city folks.
Honestly, the talk some people give about Kashmiris or any other group wanting freedom is misleading and wrong. People want better life, not freedom. Proof is China and all wealthier middle eastern monarchies. Muslims in India have more freedom than people in my country, or in most Muslim countries. Being a journalist, I feel the restrictions of my freedom in my country too, but still I prefer to live in my country than a poor country like India because its more comfortable to live here. I wouldn't trade that for more freedom, nor will the Chinese or the Kashmiris of the future. Money First rule applies to nearly everyone.
I went to India first time around 2006 after going to Pakistan in 2005, if I remember correctly. The difference between both countries were pretty much non existent to me. It felt like same country. But, in mid 2021 I had to go to Pakistan during Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, and I recently did a visit of India in early 2022 and then again in late 2022. I heard G20 summit is going to happen this year in Kashmir, so I may visit there again, and I think that event will be India showcasing what I told you here!
The difference in both countries are already massive. Pakistan feels same as my visit from 2005, but India is now an entirely different place. Seriously, there are Mega-construction projects happening everywhere! Every city getting metro. Everyone enjoying high speed internet at prices cheaper than my country. And, regardless of religion, no matter who you ask, the number one thing they want is development, and all politicians regardless of party is competing among themselves to offer development to their region.
There are fights and rivalry among politicians of BJP itself on why some project got allotted to another district and not his district because survival of politicians even within BJP seems entirely dependent on what they achieved in past 5 years. These kind of things were last seen by me while in China 20 years ago where politicians of CCP were competing among themselves for projects.
And speaking of China, my journalist friend in Delhi boasted that that India now is making highways at the fastest speed in the world, faster than China was at its fastest. I couldn't believe it, then he showed some stats saying India was building some 45km highway per day! I was shocked. Its true. How can a democratic country with weak and slow legal system with such dense population make highways faster than China and dictatorships in Middle East?
