Kashmir Conflict: Woes Deepen As Lockdown Stifles Economy

The lockdown in Indian-administered Kashmir has cost the region's economy more than $1bn in two months, according to industry experts. BBC Hindi's Vineet Khare reports.

Mushtaq Chai recalls the afternoon of 2 August when he received a "security advisory" from the administration. A prominent local businessman, he owns several hotels across the Muslim-majority valley in Indian-administered Kashmir.

The note warned of "terror threats" and advised that tourists and Hindu pilgrims should "curtail their visit... and return as soon as possible".

Mr Chai, like many others, took the advisory seriously. Two years before, seven Hindu pilgrims were killed in a militant attack while returning from the Amarnath cave, a major Hindu shrine in Kashmir's Anantnag district.

"This was the first time in Kashmir's history that tourists and pilgrims were asked to leave," Mr Chai says.

- bbc.com