VOA慢速英语--印度安全运动影响克什米尔水果业与经济

Indian Security Campaign Affecting Kashmir’s Fruit Industry, Economy

September is harvest time in Kashmir, but the market in the northern town of Sopore is empty.

Usually at this time of year, the market is full of people, trucks and fresh fruits and vegetables. But this month, just outside of town, unharvested apples are going bad. They hang from fruit trees across India’s Jammu and Kashmir state, one of the largest apple growing areas in the world.

Fruit growers and traders say a weeks old security campaign has cut transport links with buyers in India and overseas, causing the industry to collapse¹. The operations began when Prime Minister Narendra Modi cancelled the state’s special constitutional status.

Modi described the move as a way to increase economic growth by treating Kashmir like the rest of India. But the unrest that has followed the government’s action has wrecked² the economy. This has made people in the Muslim-majority area very angry.

Earlier this month, the market in Sopore, a town known for its big houses and relative wealth, was empty.

“Everyone is scared,” a lone³ trader told the Reuters news agency. “No one will come.”

Apples are the most important product in Kashmir’s economy. About 3.5 million people work in the apple trade. That represents almost half the population.

On August 5, the government cancelled parts of the constitution that gave the Jammu and Kashmir area limited self-rule. People’s movements were restricted. Telephone and internet connections were cut. And then the harvest season started.

The government said that it wanted to prevent violence. More than 40,000 people have been killed in Kashmir since separatists launched a campaign against Indian rule in 1989.

Indian officials say they have begun easing the restrictions⁴, including re-starting landline telephone service.

The government has promised there will be fast economic development in Kashmir. It plans an investor⁵ conference later this year to bring in some of India’s top companies to create jobs and stop young people from joining independence movements.

But now, farmers say the security campaign is stopping them from either getting their produce to market or shipping⁶ it out to the rest of India.

In the farms surrounding Sopore, apples hung rotting on trees.

“We are stuck from both sides,” said Haji, a trader, sitting in his house in Sopore. “We can neither go here, nor there.”

Business collapse

Business people who spoke⁷ to Reuters say it is not just the apple industry that is having difficulties. Two other important parts of Kashmir’s economy have been hit very hard: tourism and handmade goods.

Shameem Ahmed is a travel agent in the summer capital of Srinagar. He said the most recent tourist season was completely destroyed.

“It will take a long time to revive⁸, and we don’t know what will happen next,” he said.

The lack of visitors has also affected⁹ carpet traders such as Shoukat Ahmed.

“When there are no tourists, there are no sales,” he said. “We are also unable to sell across India because communication is down.”

Some businessmen have also been among the hundreds of politicians and local leaders detained¹⁰ by the police since early August.

Many of those arrested have since been released, but Haseeb Drabu, a former state finance¹¹ minister, said people are now afraid to do business with Kashmir.

“With a few businessmen …under detention¹², why would anyone from the rest of the country (open) himself to…opening of his books?” Drabu said.

The latest events have hurt Manzoor Kolu. He operates a five-roomed houseboat on Srinagar’s Dal Lake.

Days before August 5, Kolu said police had come asking him to take tourists out of the area.

“They told me that if anything happens, I would be responsible,” he said. The four Indians using the houseboat left. Not one guest has come since.

“Now we have to wait until next April. It’s hopeless,” he said.

Kashmir’s tourism industry has slowed in recent years. In 2014, there were terrible floods, followed by unrest in 2016.

Tourist numbers had begun improving between April and July this year, government information showed. But it collapsed¹³ in August. Only 10,130 tourists came to the area last month. Usually, the monthly total is closer to 150,000.

I’m Susan Shand.

Words in This Story

status – n. the position or rank of someone or something when compared to others in a society

scared – adj. frightened

rot – v. to slowly decay¹⁴

tourism – n. the business of visit places for pleasure

revive – v. to bring back

carpet – n. a covering for the floor

1 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

2 wrecked   

adj.失事的，遇难的

参考例句：

• the hulk of a wrecked ship 遇难轮船的残骸
• the salvage of the wrecked tanker 对失事油轮的打捞

3 lone   

adj.孤寂的，单独的；唯一的

参考例句：

• A lone sea gull flew across the sky.一只孤独的海鸥在空中飞过。
• She could see a lone figure on the deserted beach.她在空旷的海滩上能看到一个孤独的身影。

4 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

5 investor   

n.投资者，投资人

参考例句：

• My nephew is a cautious investor.我侄子是个小心谨慎的投资者。
• The investor believes that his investment will pay off handsomely soon.这个投资者相信他的投资不久会有相当大的收益。

6 shipping   

n.船运（发货，运输，乘船）

参考例句：

• We struck a bargain with an American shipping firm.我们和一家美国船运公司谈成了一笔生意。
• There's a shipping charge of ￡5 added to the price.价格之外另加五英镑运输费。

7 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

8 revive   

v.（使）复苏，（使）重振活力，恢复生机，复兴

参考例句：

• These flowers will revive in water.这些花在水中会再活。
• They managed to revive the injured driver with cardiac massage.他们通过心脏按压使受伤的司机苏醒了过来。

9 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

10 detained   

留住( detain的过去式和过去分词 )； 耽搁； 拘留； 扣留

参考例句：

• One man has been detained for questioning. 一个男人被拘留审问。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group. 他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

11 finance   

n.财务管理，财政，金融，财源，资金

参考例句：

• She is an expert in finance.她是一名财政专家。
• A finance house made a bid to buy up the entire company.一家信贷公司出价买下了整个公司。

12 detention   

n.滞留，停留；拘留，扣留；(教育)留下

参考例句：

• He was kept in detention by the police.他被警察扣留了。
• He was in detention in connection with the bribery affair.他因与贿赂事件有牵连而被拘留了。

13 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

14 decay   

vi.腐烂，衰落；n.腐烂，腐朽，衰败状态

参考例句：

• The vegetables have begun to decay.那些蔬菜已开始腐烂。
• Our powers decay in old age.我们的体力在老年时就衰退。