Unrest forces many traders to go for change in business

Editor

Business activities have again picked up in the Kashmir valley, but the past few months of unrest has forced several traders to change their businesses.
The change has been forced by the prolonged unrest that started with the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani on July 8 sparking widespread protests amid shutdown calls of the Hurriyat. Though the unrest has waned considerably, several Valley traders have changed their businesses accordingly as most of the marketplaces especially in and around city centre Lal Chowk and the old city open only during the “relaxation” in the Hurriyat protest calendar.
Abdul Rauf, who sold cosmetics in retail at Magarmal Bagh crossing, is now doing wholesale business. He says he “adjusted” his business in view of the situation.
“I had never done wholesale business before but I had to adjust my business as I had no choice. I could hardly keep my shop open as it is located on the main road where protests would sometimes take place even during the relaxation in the Hurriyat calendar. Now, I bring Chinese cigarettes in wholesale from New Delhi and sell the same to local shopkeepers,” said Rauf, who also is secretary of the Traders Federation Exhibition Road Magarmal Crossing. “Now, I supply goods to the markets in the afternoon and the shutdown does not affect my business much as it used to before.”
The hotels and restaurant owners are among the worst affected as some continue to remain shut. “In normal times, tourists would start coming in June-July, but now for nearly past five months my hotel and restaurant has remained shut,” said Imtiaz Wani, owner of City Star Guest House on the Hari Singh High Street.
Wani has now converted his restaurant at the Jawahar Nagar area into a retail shop where he sells blankets and other bedding material. “While I am hoping that my hotel would open when normalcy returns, in the meantime I have temporarily switched over to a new business. I started this new venture as sitting idle with no work was more taxing than suffering financial losses,” he said.

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