Srinagar, Sept. 19 -- 'We've been crippled and virtually rendered as beggars, as even the most generous estimates put the Lassipora Industrial Estate's losses at around fifty thousand crores since 2019.'

By Aaqid Andrabi

AMONG the 587 business-units in Lassipora Industrial Estate - one of the largest industrial complexes in North India - sits a spacious but mirthless manufacturing unit of Abid Shah.

Overlooking his now-defunct plant, Abid looks morose and lets out a heavy sigh. A visible air of desolate-resignation drapes his sunken, dejected shoulders.

After founding his plant in 2015, Abid would manufacture school supplies, and was doing a decent business. But then came the fateful year of 2016 when Hizb commander Burhan Wani's kill...