India Inc in Independent Kashmir

As I went through an Indian Express Story titled India Inc rushed to Gujarat, where are they now: Mirwaiz by BASHAARAT MASOOD & MUZAMIL JALEEL which appeared on Wednesday, October 12, 2005, less than a week after the quake hit Kashmir region, I put myself a lot many question about the validity of this statement.
Just hours after the earthquake struck Gujarat in 2001, I rushed out not because my building also trembled and almost fell but because I had a lot many people to report to and with phone lines phut and mobiles in disarray, I could not have waited for orders to come in to move to places to report the incidents.
No second thought came to my mind as I joined a journalist friend of mine working in a big conglomerate for a trip that lasted more than a year. We visited almost all the places in Kutch and its surrounding areas reaching up to the Pakistan border in freezing temperatures. We had nothing to eat or drink but the villagers, already recovering from the shock of losing their dear ones, offered us help in the form of their already packed tents and more than willing to share whatever food they had.
Thanks to the missionaries in the region, we could never feel the real problem of hunger and thirst though we did go through without a single morsel for two days at a stretch. But that was not because nothing was available but we were so overworked that there was no time to synchronize the meal timings of respective organizations with that of our free time.
See What Mirwaiz said. ''It is sad that people have not responded to this great tragedy. This was not expected. When Latur and Bhuj were ravaged, big industrialists stepped forward to help. But no one seems to be coming to our aid.''
He is absolutely right but what he is not analyzing is the fact that Bhuj and Latur are not Kashmir. In both Bhuj and Latur there are no Hurriyats and in both the places any one at any given point of time in any form of transport with any item(anything literally) can easily reach.
Can Mirwaiz claim the same for the region he represents from?
In Bhuj, I could see individuals reaching in their individual capacity. They just picked up their vehicles and drove straight to places where their need was felt. It included doctors, engineers and para medics and even medical students. Those who were left behind joined one or the other organization.
Whereas in Bhuj, the relief materials in the form of tents and blankets were seen floating in streams and on highways, the Kashmiris are facing short supply and survive the freezing temperatures.
Even journalists could reach the PoK only 48 hours after the incident happened. These places are not only remote but are closely guarded for various reasons. It could be strategic, military, or just for the sake of guarding it.
No body reached Kashmir as they responded to Bhuj or Latur is what Mirwaiz is claiming and there is no doubt that it is true to the core.
But how? Who will be interested to trek a place where danger are in store for them both from military as well as extremists at each step. How will those volunteers who stepped out the moment they heard about an earthquake in Bhuj repeat the same in Kashmir? Who, after all, is responsible?
What I don't understand is how then the demand for an independent Kashmir is valid when Mirwaiz wants all those industries out of Kashmir to help them at the time of crisis. How is Kashmir going to survive independently?
That raises another question. What is so important in Kashmir that India and Pakistan are fighting a proxy war and real wars for the last five decades? What lies beneath this heaven on earth that can sustain itself even if it becomes independent from both India and Pakistan?