'Jobs, Jobs, Jobs': What Kashmiris Want

At Srinagar's famed Lal Chowk, Rediff.com's Syed Firdaus Ashraf meets a computer engineer who drives an auto for a living and discovers that Kashmiris are more interested in finding jobs than discussing the assembly election.

At the busy Lal Chowk in Srinagar you see dozens of autorickshaws waiting for prospective passengers.

At the centre of Lal Chowk, you see the Indian flag flying high at a spot where not too long ago it was impossible to imagine such a spectacle.

But then things have changed in Srinagar after the scrapping of Article 370 on August 5, 2019.

Tourists from across India at Lal Chowk make it a point to click photographs with the Tiranga in the background and post it either on their WhatsApp groups or other social media, thus indicating the winds of change in Kashmir.

I ask Srinagar resident Mohammad Farooq, an autorickshaw driver, what issues will dominate the Jammu and Kashmir assembly election.

"Jobs, jobs, jobs," Farooq replies.

In his 50s, the senior gent promptly takes out his mobile phone to display his son's graduation certificate stored in his photogallery.

"Look at this degree," says Farooq. "My son is a BCom graduate and for the last two years he has no job."

"My son did odd jobs for Rs 15,000 in small business firms, but then was thrown out for some or the other reason. Today he sits at home and I have to support him by driving an auto rather than him supporting me financially," adds Farooq.

"The situation is so bad in Srinagar that computer engineers and graduates drive autorickshaws to support their families!" Farooq exclaims.

"You are kidding, Farooq saab," I say, "why would a computer engineer drive an auto?"

"I am not kidding," says Farooq with some vehemence and asks another autorickshaw driver, Bilal Ahmed Shaikh, to locate Aafaq Ahmed Dar.

Just as Bilal takes out his mobile phone to call Aafaq, we spot Aafaq walking towards us.

"Here is Aafaq," says Farooq making the introductions. "He is a computer engineer and he drives an auto to support his family. He got no job in the computer industry because there is no computer industry in Srinagar."

"Aafaq, are you really a computer engineer?" I ask, still incredulous.

"I try to forget this fact about my life, but these other autowallahs don't let me forget it."

In his mid-40s, Aafaq looks disillusioned and seems resigned to his fate of driving an auto.

Why did he give up employment in the computer industry to ply an autorickshaw. He stares at me for a moment and replies, "Family."

"Before writing about Kashmiri society you must understand the Kashmiri's value system," he says. "They value their families the most and so do I."

I used to earn Rs 60,000 as a network engineer way back in 2007, but from 2008 strikes and the rise in militancy ensured I lost my job because my company shut down its operations here," says Aafaq.

So why didn't he move to another city for employment? "As I told you, what matters to Kashmiris most is their family. I had two young sisters to support," Aafaq says. "I was their guardian, therefore I decided to stay back though I had no job."

Aafaq started doing odd jobs after which he decided he would ply an auto.

His sisters are married now and he appears satisfied with his meagre salary of Rs 15,000 to Rs 20,000 a month.

And what about the companies that have now set up operations in Kashmir? Won't he get a job there? "My qualification is redundant now. I have lost touch with networking and I am okay with what I am doing."

After Aafaq leaves to drop a passenger to his destination, I ask a mobile cover seller in Lal Chowk about election issues in Kashmir.

He echoes Mohammad Farooq: "Jobs, jobs, jobs."

Naveed Bhatt, standing nearby, tells me he has a BCom degree and plys a rickshaw for a living.

Ten years ago, Naveed secured a job in Bahrain at a hospital and earned about Rs 1 lakh a month.

Just like Aafaq, Naveed returned to Srinagar to fulfill family responsibilities after his father asked him to do so.

"Family is family. Everything can wait, but not family," says Naveed, who quit his job and came to Srinagar in the second quarter of 2019 with no plans for the future.

That was when Article 370 was abolished and ordinary Kashmiris faced six months of a lockdown.

Things got worse after the curfew was lifted as Kashmir saw another lockdown in 2020, this time enforced by COVID-19.

He sat at home nursing his father who passed away that year.

Naveed bought a rickshaw for Rs 400,000 and says he is happy driving his vehicle around the streets of Srinagar.

Why couldn't he get a job at a hospital in Srinagar, after all he has valuable experience working at a hospital in Bahrain? "In Srinagar, they don't pay good salaries in hospitals," Naveed says. "I did try in some of them, but then felt it is better to drive a rickshaw like my younger brother who is a non-graduate and drives an auto to make a living."

Doesn't he feel bad how his career has declined? From working in Bahrain as a supervisor at a reputed hospital to driving a rickshaw?

He quotes Allama Iqbal in reply: "Khudi Na Bech, Garibi Mein Naam Paida Kar."

To quote Iqbal's full couplet: 'Mera tareeq amiri nahi, faqeeri hain; Khudi na bech, ghareebi mein naam paida ka..'

(My way of life is poverty, not the pursuit of wealth; Barter not thy Selfhood; win a name in adversity.)

"I am working hard and earning," Naveed says, "what is there to be ashamed?"