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Journalism of Courage
Violence in the Valley has cast its ominous shadow on Kashmir’s about Rs 30-crore cricket bat industry,known for manufacturing world-famous bats,second only to that made from the English Willow.
The “bat-hub” comprising seven villages — Charsoo,Hallmullaha,Bijbehara,Sangam,Sethar,Pujteng and Mirzapor in the South Kashmir remains enveloped in an eerie silence with the armed forces taking seize of the road.
The bat factories,which as per traders used to manufacture over five lakh bats per annum,spread across a radius of 20 kilometers on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway remain deserted.
Most of them stacking huge piles of handle-less bats,are closed. Roads remain deserted with almost no traces of activity. Traders and workers say they are forced to sell their belongings to survive.
“We are ruined. We pass our days under constant fear.
