Jammu: Come winter, Jammu becomes home for thousands of Kashmiri people as they shift to the winter capital to spend the harsh winter months, especially the Chilla-i-Kalan period from December 21 to January 30.
For some, it is just to spend a good time in Jammu and escape the bone-chilling cold of Kashmir, but for many young people, it is an opportunity to earn a livelihood for their families.
These are mostly people from the lower middle class who, in the absence of any work in the Kashmir Valley, head towards Jammu to look for work.
These people hire carts and sell garments, shoes, and blankets, and a few sell barbeque in areas dominated by the Kashmiri population.
A 23-year-old Yawar Ahmed Chopan of the Dooru area of Anantnag district is one of many youths who move their carts from one place to another to sell their items.
Chopan is a graduate in the arts stream from the government college Dooru and has recently been enrolled at the Department in Sociology at the University of Kashmir. “I took this opportunity of the winter period to earn some money here in Jammu, and daily, along with many others, I have been moving from one place to another to sell the items available. With this, I will not only support my family but can save money for my higher studies,” he said while talking to ETV Bharat.
A few meters away from Chopan was another 19-year-old, Faizan Ahmed, from the Verinag area of south Kashmir’s Anantnag district, who was selling woollen cloths for kids. “I am a carpenter at my native place, but during winters we don’t get much work there, which forces us to come here and earn by selling on carts for a couple of months. Instead of staying idle at home, it is better to do some work here and not only earn money but also get relief from the cold wave of Kashmir, where the temperature is sub-zero,” Faizan added.
During the rest of the year, there are designated areas in Jammu city for people to sell their products, but the police keep a lenient hand on these youth and allow them to stay on the roadside and sell their products. Mostly at three places, these youth can be seen along with their carts. Since early morning, they have been seen running with the carts to get space available near Bahu Plaza in the railhead complex area, near Panama Chowk and alongside the Qasim Nagar Road opposite the distance education department of the University of Jammu.
Another youth from the Kulgam area of south Kashmir, Fayaz Ahmed Mir, said that almost 50 per cent of unemployed youth from their area are in Jammu, and most of them have hired carts to sell their products.
“You will find mostly people from South Kashmir, as when they saw one person leaving for Jammu to earn a livelihood, many others followed him. This trend has taken place in a couple of years, and more and more youth try to spend winters in Jammu and earn instead of staying at home without any purpose,” Mir added.
Here in Jammu, Kashmiri people are mostly staying in Muslim-dominated areas like Bathindi, Sunjwan, Chowadi, Gujjar Nagar, and Talab Khatinkan areas, and many people have constructed their own houses in Bathindi and Sunjwan, but a large number stay in rented accommodation as well.
Apart from the youth earning their livelihood, many people only stay in Jammu to spend the harsh winter period, and with only a few recreational facilities available, many of them spend time visiting Wave Mall and Bag-e-Bahu Park. Jamia Masjid at Talan Khatinkan and Makkah Masjid at Bathindi are the two famous mosques in Jammu where people spend hours in the sunshine.
The presence of the Kashmiri population during winters in these areas is also an opportunity for management committees of different mosques to get a handful amount as a donation to complete the construction work. On Fridays, Imams (heads of a mosque) make appeals for donations to complete the pending work of mosques and also to expand the structure further, as the existing facility is not in a position to host the rush of people.
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