NET LOSS

The internet blockade is destroying Kashmir’s economy and the lives of Kashmiris

- TARIQ BHAT

In 2018, Umar Bebak from Pantha Chowk, Srinagar, entered into a joint venture with a Delhi-based company to manufacture and sell car cleaning products in Srinagar. He had taken the leap after a training programme at the Entrepreneur Development Institute in the city. Bebak borrowed ₹10 lakh from a bank to set up a manufacturing unit, rented a shop for ₹10,000 per month and paid a security deposit of ₹2 lakh.

He manufactured polishes for car bodies and cleaners for windscreens. Owing to good early demand, Bebak hired 15 salesmen and paid each ₹12,000 a month plus five per cent commission. Things were looking up till the internet blockade. The effect it had on Bebak’s business is an intriguing case study, because it was almost entirely brick-and-mortar, except for one aspect—he stayed in touch with his customers through emails and WhatsApp.

Post the internet blockade, phone calls did not have the same effect as the discussions online had, and sales plummeted. Six months on, Bebak, 24, has not been able to pay his staff and has also become a defaulter. He travelled to Delhi to mend things with his partner company, but his staff did not wait for his return. They quit, leaving his once thriving business in a shambles.