India, Aug. 14 -- As Kashmir reels from an unprecedented lockdown for a ninth day on Tuesday and many families struggle to procure basic necessities or reach loved ones, there is much consternation about what lies ahead for the Valley's five million people on three fronts -- politics, economy and security.

Since the early hours of August 5, politics has been operating in a vacuum in the Valley - with three former CMs, prominent leaders of the National Conference and the Peoples Democratic Party, and at least 500 political workers detained.

The locals now stare at the possibility of a long-drawn security deployment, which experts worry say is not a sustainable arrangement. Kashmir has a home-grown network of industrialists and businesses...