'I Call This Kashmir Inc.'.(political corruption in Kashmir)(Brief Article)

Papa Kashtwari doesn't receive unexpected guests. Helmeted and flak- jacketed troops have guarded his house in Kashmir's summer capital, Srinagar, ever since he flip-flopped from being an Islamic rebel commander to a pro-Indian militant. After eight attempts on his life, the precautions aren't window dressing. But why is this 44-year-old small-time politician a target for an assassin's bullet? Because--like almost everything in violence-racked Kashmir--Kashtwari's loyalty went to the highest bidder in a war zone much more interested in the economics of corruption than the politics of peace.

As in other conflict zones like Indonesia's Aceh, Kashmir's 13-year insurgency has spawned a "war economy" that skews economic incentives, derails development and leaves the battle zone awash in cash and corruption. For every Indian bounty, Pakistan pays thousands of dollars to the widows of "martyrs." Kidnapping, ransom and extortion are growth industries. The war economy has even fueled a building boom of sprawling Italianate and Swiss-style villas in one of India's poorest states. Shop rents in Srinagar's busiest market have leaped sevenfold since the violence began. "I call this Kashmir Inc.," says Amitabh Mattoo, a professor at Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru University. "There's no doubt some benefit from the conflict and would be hostile to its resolution."

One of the biggest obstacles to peace may be Kashmir's own government. A senior official in New Delhi privately says that Kashmir's ruling party, the National Conference, is corrupt and a failure. Kashmir is unique in possessing a degree of economic autonomy that ...