8000 marriages held across Valley since Aug 5; Move leads to losses worth crores to chefs, decorators, mutton dealers, singers
Gowhar Nazir
Srinagar, August 28 (KNO) : In the wake of abrogation of article 370, the unprecedented clampdown across the Kashmir since August 5 has prompted the people to go for austere and simple Nikah (marriage) ceremonies without any extravangas due to the prevailing tensions across the region and the move has caused a major dent to the livelihood of chefs, decorators and mutton dealers.
Talking to Kashmir news Observer (KNO), figures collected from various districts suggest that at least 8000 marriages were cancelled in Kashmir and the nikah ceremony of the bridegrooms was performed in a very simple way. “Only few guests were invited at my marriage function. We decided to cut down all expenses and also the quantity of mutton which earlier was 600 kgs,” said Zahoor Ahmed Rather, of Pampore.
“We had prepared a list of at least 800 guests and after cutting down their number, we invited only 90 to 100 guests.” Like Zahoor , many grooms followed suit. The grooms and their families cited prevailing situation as the main reason for resorting to austere marriages. “There is no communication, transport and situation doesn’t allow us to invite guests in large numbers,” a family, that had planned marriage of their son and daughter for August 18 told KNO.
Mohammad Ramzaan told KNO, that he suffered huge losses because of the prevailing situation. “Last year I decorated near about 90 houses on the eve of marriage functions and I earned about Six Lakh rupees. This year the trouble started at the peak season of the marriages, and I earned only fifty thousand rupees as most of the grooms and brides decided to not decorate their houses,” he said.
Bashir Ahmed Khushbash, a chef by profession also narrated the same ordeal. “Revocation of Article 370 caused a huge dent to my earnings. Last season, I earned almost 20 lakh rupees. This year, the number of mutton quantity prepared at the marriage functions has drastically come down and with the result, our livelihood and earnings suffered huge losses,” he said.
Same concern was expressed by Tasleem Arif, a singer, who mostly sings at the marriage functions. “We hardly got any kind of invitations for singing at the marriage ceremonies this season only because of the communication clampdown.” he told KNO. The uncertainty also resulted in the huge losses to Lehanga and Sherwani sellers in Kashmir who have faced the same fate in the ongoing turmoil.(KNO)
