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| Corona forces people to postpone weddings, engagement ceremonies in Kashmir | | | ISHTIYAQ AHMAD
Early Times Report
SRINAGAR, May 16: It was nearly after a decade that someone from Asadullah Sofi’s family in Rawalpora Srinagar was getting married.
Asadullah had decided to make it a memorable event by cooking all the feasts of Wazwaan and invite guests in hundreds.
The prevailing covid-19 situation, however, has compelled him to cancel the wedding. “We had decided to cook around three-quintals of meet on his wedding. But now we have cancelled all the invitations and decided to cancel the marriage till the situation improves,” he said.
Asadullah, said nobody would like to cook Wazwaan and invite the people on weddings under present circumstances.
“How can my relatives and friends come when there are strict restrictions in place on social gathering, important to stop spread of the deadly virus? How can we cook the Wazwaan when many people don’t find the essentials,” he added, who is a businessman by profession.
Reports said that scores of weddings and engagement ceremonies in Kashmir scheduled after the Eid- ul Fitr have been postponed or are going to be held in a “modified form” due to the lockdown announced to prevent the spread of COVID-19 pandemic.
The marriages in the valley were no more a low key affair as the industry had grown exponentially during the last about a decade, making it one of the most revenue generating unorganized sectors with lakhs of people associated with it directly or indirectly.
An average cost of a marriage ranges between Rs 5 lakh to Rs 20 lakh while a high end marriage can cost upto over Rs 50 lakh to Rs 1 crore in Kashmir.
But as the situation remains uncertain in view of COVID-19 pandemic J&K, people are forced to cancel or postpone marriages.
The industry has already suffered immensely last year after scrapping of Article 370 and Article 35 A.
“The peak season of marriages is between June and September,” people associated with the marriage business in Kashmir said, adding that it was hoped that they will generate revenue this year and try to make up for the losses incurred last year.
“But, in the first month of the marriage season, all the marriages were cancelled or postponed and uncertainty looms large in the coming months as well,” they said.
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