‘Battle for orchards and livelihood’: Railway expansion sparks tension in Kashmir’s Shopian
Sibte Abdullah/ Boidurjya Singha
Bashir Ahmed Bhat was working in his apple orchard when he noticed an unusual activity around his farm. The 56-year-old farmer went close to the intruders and noticed, a team of officials surveying the area. "I was informed that the government is taking our land up for a vital railway line project," said Bashir Ahmed, a resident of Reshipora area in Zainapora, nearly twenty kilometers away from the district headquarters of the south Kashmir district of Shopian.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSOkxkSKWQ4&t=212s
Kashmir is world famous for its picturesque beauty. The apples of the regions are equally renowned. The fears of farmers like Bashir are triggered by the recent sanction of five railway lines through the valley. One of these lines, the A...