Three Days, Three Murders In Kashmir: How Militancy Rears Head In Apple Harvest Season theweek.in

It is no surprise, then, that the emerging militancy uses the widespread apple cultivation in the valley as a target against India. After the abrogation of Article 370, terrorists had threatened apple growers not to sell their produce in the market. Three people—including a Rajasthani truck driver, a migrant worker from Chhattisgarh and an apple trader from Punjab—were murdered by militants, and an apple truck was set on fire, leading to fears that the crop trade would come to a standstill.

About 75 percent of apple that India exports are grown in Kashmir. The Rs 8,000 crore business supports 33 lakh people, which is 47 percent of the population in Kashmir. This includes seven lakh growers and their families, transporters, packagers, fertilizer and chemical sellers, commission agents, retail fruit sellers, and laborers who work in apple orchards.