Important point is what all have changed in and about Kashmir post the move? The political ramifications apart, that is? The state of Jammu & Kashmir has been torn apart. There is J&K and there is Ladakh. And atop Ladakh is Pangong Lake, which is China real-estate for keeps. Also, where 20 Indian army men died in the cold still waters. Kashmir won't remember them, which is a cold fact. The Indian Army is not the average Kashmiris' enduring love interest.

Question follows: have Kashmiris become more "Indian" after the abrogation of Article 370? Propaganda says 'yes' but ask people residing in Jammu and folks there wouldn't be so certain. Absolutely. As long as there is Pakistan in the neighbourhood there is no saying with certainty. As long as there are politicians like Mehbooba Mufti and certain others who win elections from behind bars, there's no saying. but for the Indian Army's presence in the Valley.

However, grapevine says people today in Kashmir live better lives and that part of the credit goes to the departure of Article 370 and its effects. We who live outside Kashmir and Jammu wouldn't know and how many of us even want to know? One of the realities about Kashmir and Kashmiri is that mainland Indians have generally not shown an interest in them and their welfare. The average Kashmiri for a whole lot of us was the Kashmiri "terrorist" and the stone-thrower.

The Hurriyat and its doings consumed us for years of exciting stuff played on the roads and it was only occasionally that we cared to associate Kashmir with Bollywood movies. Films like 'Kashmir Ki Kali'. The movies had moved on to those associated with terror. Films like 'Haider'. Now, there aren't any movies on the radicalized Kashmiri though Shahrukh Khan and Salman Khan continue to dish out innuendos on what troubles the Kashmiri youth with a Pakistani spy doing the shoulder act.

Post-370, Kashmir is ruled from Delhi with the Lt. Governor the eyes and ears and the tongue of the Centre. Union Home Minister Amit Shah remains the heavyweight. He's sure to be find when terror acts target members of the Hindu community or after there are killings of Indian Army soldiers by, of course, Pak Army personnel in disguise. The abrogation of Article 370 has done a lot for the morale of these Pak Army infiltrators. They sneak in and settle down in dense forests and mountainous crags.

Who can forget Pahalgam and the 27 killings, one of them a Nepalese? All the "perps" were Pak Army and they infiltrated with relative ease. Did the average Kashmiri welcome their ingress? We don't know because for all the talk that Kashmir and Kashmiri have changed with Article 370 gone, there still isn't clarity on the issue because Kashmir has no place or forum to discuss and thrash the issue threadbare. Does anybody have the mojo to hold a seminar on the true feelings of the Kashmiri on the abrogation of Article 370 and its sister '35'?

Nope. Kashmiri people are better off sending their children to schools and colleges. and in growing apples. The only thing that hasn't been missed is the stone-pelting and injuries from peltguns. Now, the Valley is worrying about apples rotting on the highway. The Valley produces about 20-25 lakh metric tonnes of apples every year and depends on the Srinagar-Jammu national highway for the transportation of the fruits to places across the country, a money-spinner if any.

This year, however, Kashmir’s apple growers are in despair. Their harvests of apples are rotting on the highway. About 2,000–3,000 truckloads of apples are rotting on the 270 km Srinagar-Jammu highway, which is the only link to the rest of India. Is this how the abrogation of Article 370 has worked for the Kashmiri apple grower? The abrogation of Article 370 took the powers away from the hands of Kashmiri politicians, who no longer carry the weight of political power in their hands.

The apple grower and local politician can only wring their hands in frustration waiting for the Srinagar-Jammu highway to open once again. Do they even know why the highway closed? No answers are forthcoming, the Centre's pointsman hadn't spoken. Meanwhile, fruit growers and fruit traders have already lost over Rs 1,000 crore in revenue, with the losses climbing and threatening the livelihood of thousands. It is peak harvest season and Kashmiris were expecting a bonanza in happiness.

But joy has turned into sorrow and gloom. The bumper harvest of apples is rotting and all the hard work is decaying `"before our eyes.” Article 370 gone and Kashmir becoming "integral part of India" for all-time to come. It was a temporary provision and was out the window in one fell swoop. That was more important to India than any other action-taken in over 70 years of independent India, a truely masterpiece of a masterstroke.

But, what use to the common folk of Kashmir, the apple grower of Kashmir, if the departure of Article 370 does not solve their everyday problems? What if a simple thing like the opening of the sluices of a dam or opening a blocked highway that's blocking trade and killing employment? What if the abrogation of Article 370 cannot save their harvests of apples from rotting in truckloads on a highway supposed to be a lifeline and means of livelihood for thousands upon thousands?

Each truck carries 700-1200 apple boxes valued between Rs 10-15 lakhs. The losses have already crossed over Rs 1,000 crores and are increasing with each day. The impact is being felt across the Valley. The apples are rotting in trucks, fruit mandis and godowns. Things look very bleak. The Kashmiri apple grower is staring at a very dark future. Would they have been in this soup if Article 370 was still in place? It is a question, maybe not very profound or politically significant, but a question anyway: Would they have been in such a state if Article 370 was still in place?

It is about livelihood and small-small things that come in the way; like a highway that cannot be opened and no one in power to take a decision. It is about ease of doing business, and about helping easing life. What use abrogation of Article 370 to the Kashmiri apple grower stranded on a highway with rotting apples for company? (IPA Service)