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After repeal of Article 370, not many Indian mainlanders visited valley. The Indian administration's 6-month forced shutdown, followed by the Covid-19 lockdown, prevented almost all from reaching Kashmir.

However, an anonymous visitor was a regular to the valley, flying back and forth many times during this period.

Meet Tapesh Bagati, a multi-millionaire KP, a power broker, political dalal and business-man, all adjectives fit him well.

well. While all of India struggles to control the spread of Covid-19, Tapesh and his son have made over half a dozen visits to Kashmir and Ladakh in July alone, the latest being a 3-day visit on 13th of this month. Many times, his visits coincide with that of BJP point-man to

Kashmir, Ram Madhav and MoS Jatinder Rana. Well-known in Delhi's higher echelons of government, Tapesh is called King-maker, who in the past has credited with breaking major political and business dealings. Not many people would know this that in 2015, Tapesh played a big role in

the BJP-PDP alliance. It has him who broke that deal of power through Haseeb Drabu. During the process the money that exchanged hands was through Tapesh and another Kashmiri business-man based in Mumbai (the story will follow separately). His role in Kashmir however did not end

with the formation of the BJP-PDP government. Instead, he got more involved in Kashmir Politics and Business with each passing day. He needed Delhi, on and off. It was his visit to Kashmir that compelled Mehbooba, unwilling to forge a re-alliance with the post

Senior Muftis death BJP. His meeting that day with Altaf Bukhari was enough to send out signals about the sinister plans of New Delhi. Following the abrogation of Article 370 and the subsequent detention of mainstream leaders, Tapesh was the first to visit

Omar and Mehbooba in court. Tapesh has been given the task of encouraging all 'masters' to move forward in new political dynamics. Many of his meetings with jailed leaders, however, failed to bear any major breakthrough. That was the point when Tapesh set up a new political game

in Kashmir. Altaf Bukhari, the old confidant of Indian Agencies was projected to fill the mainstream political vacuum despite reservations and reluctance from Home Ministry. Tapesh celebrated his 50th birthday in Feb 2020 at Gulmarg. His last two months visits have considerable

contour. Delhi is moving rapidly to implement its Kashmir plans. Politics took a backstage turn. Economics is being given priority, not only in Kashmir but also in Ladakh. So, Tapesh was assigned a new role. Delhi has struggled miserably to attract major Indian corporations to

invest in the valley. Delhi proposed two-time business investor conclaves but weak investor response forced their cancellation. In order to form new economic partnerships, Indian companies needed trust and success stories from Kashmir. A quest for economic and business partners

had begun after securing the political front. There were already lots of top and successful businessmen in custody. They were given offers against securing their releases and some even maturing well in Delhi 's favour. A arrest also helped to prevent other valley companies

from falling in line. Two industrial sectors – Delhi identified tourism and manufacturing in the first phase and the mechanism of rapid tracking was put in place to give final shape to those plans. Many partners or we might call them Kashmir collaborators have already formed an

economic alliance with Delhi, with Farooq Amin and Asif Burza as prominent among them. Farooq Amin, CEO of the largest food company in Kashmir, Kanwal Spices, was chosen to lead Indian investment in the manufacturing sector. Following the failure of investment conclaves,

the Indian government created a business forum called Jammu and Kashmir Growth and Business Forum to attract Indian and foreign investors to create alliances with leading companies. Among many of Jammu's bureaucrats and top businessmen, Amin was the only one from Kashmir to be a

part of the forum. His sponsors ranging from the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office to the Observer Research Foundations (RSS Think Tank) were one of the interesting things about the forum. Two ventures involving top national FMGC brands at the Lasipora Food Park, Pulwama, have

been allocated 250 kanal land comprising a significant portion of the property under local cultivation. Land was air-marked for similar ventures at the Shopian, Budgam, and Sopore industrial estate. Also instructions were passed to the Pulwama district administration for the

recovery of industrial land 'encroached' by the villagers at the earliest. Following the killing of three BJP men in Bandipora, several party leaders visited Kashmir including Ram Madhav and Jitender Rana to express their condolences to the family of the killed party worker Wasim

Bari. Madhav and Rana were received off-late by Tapesh and his son at Srinagar airport who are learning his father's trade skills. Ram Madhav drove straight from Bandipora to Pine and Peak Hotel Pahalgam, where he stayed for three nights with Tapesh and his family. Their host at

Pahalgam was none other than Asif Burza, the owner of the Hotel Pine and Peak. Several businessmen from the valley were invited to meet the leader during the three-day stay, and offered several deals. Asif was chosen to direct Indian tourism investments. It is learned that to

start investment in Kashmir, top hospitality and tourism brands such as ITC, Hyatt, Taj, Hotel Leela, etc. have been approached In this regard, Asif is regarded as point man.

1000s of land channels have already been established, and even allocated to non-local hoteliers in various parts of the valley. To infuse confidence with non-local investors, New Delhi appreciates Burza's position very well.

Tapesh's son Arhan Bagati

@dastgeerikariw @AmericanKoshur @khaleel56248340 @Meenwhile @tonyashai @standwkashmir @Meherr_ @CivitasKashmir @KashmiriFree @Kashmir_Forum

This is Farooq Amin and @aiburza

@lost_in_kashmir @TrathHindustans @pzfahad @QaziShibli