Migrants serve up Eid sweets in Kashmir

Seasonal workers who seek jobs at bakeries in the region, especially during Ramzan and Eid, are now staying back in the Valley for longer

Tauseef Ahmad

Sajid Raina

Amir Teli, a migrant labourer from Uttar Pradesh, sells Eid sweets like katlam and feni outside a shop in Bandipora town. Arshdeep Singh/The Migration Story.

BARAMULLA, Jammu and Kashmir: Mohammad Salim, a 32-year-old seasonal migrant from Bihar, arrived in Kashmir in 2017 seeking better wages. He found a job as a worker in a bakery and began to support himself and his family with this income. “Back home, I barely earned enough. Here, during Ramzan, the demand for workers is high and the work is steady,” he says. 

For nine years, Salim has been working at the bakery during the fasting month of Ramzan and until after Eid. During this time, bakeries in the region do brisk business, and the sale of sweets and baked goods shoots up. Today, Salim makes a monthly income of Rs. 50,000, a big jump from what he made as a daily-wage labourer in his village: Rs. 300 per day or approximately Rs. 9,000 a month.

“I work 15-hour shifts every day here [in Kashmir]. On the last day of Ramzan, just before Eid, the bakery where I work makes around 40 lakh rupees in sales,” he says. This year, after Eid-ul-Fitr on March 31, he will go back to Bihar and return to work at the bakery before Eid-ul-Adha on June 7, when the demand for sweets and baked goods rises once again. 

Mohd. Salim, a migrant bakery owner, sells fresh samosas and other items in Bandipora district.

Photo by Arshdeep Singh/The Migration Story

As Muslims across Jammu and Kashmir immerse themselves in worship during Ramzan, migrants from Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and Telangana work tirelessly in bakeries to make sweets for the fasting season and Eid celebrations. The seasonal migrant workers usually arrive at the beginning of Ramzan and stay on for a few months before returning home. 

Short-term migrants or long-term residents?

“For some, this is purely seasonal work,” says Nazir Malik, a bakery owner in Srinagar. “They come in March and leave after Eid.” Others, however, have started staying here year-round, particularly those with strong ties to the baking industry, and some end up working at local restaurants too.

At Malik’s unit, a team of eight workers starts their day before dawn. Four of them are locals, who handle customer orders and manage the shop, while the remaining four are migrants from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, who work behind the scenes preparing dough, baking bread and making sweets. During Ramzan, when the demand for these items surges, the workforce expands. “We hire at least three to five extra workers, mostly from outside Kashmir because they have the experience needed and can work long hours,” he says. 

Ravi Kumar, a migrant from Uttar Pradesh, packs baked goods in Baramulla district ahead of Eid.

Arshdeep Singh/The Migration Story

Nowadays, younger men have joined the bakery workforce. Ravi Kumar, 28, from Uttar Pradesh, says he first came to Srinagar two years ago to assist his uncle. “I used to come only for Eid, but now I stay longer,” he says. “There is work even after Ramzan.”

Ishfaq Ahmad, 38, a bakery manager in Srinagar, notes that younger migrants are more open to staying for longer. “Unlike the older generation, some of them see this as a full-time opportunity,” he says.

The influx of these younger workers has influenced the bakery industry in various ways. Some bakery owners say that greater availability of labour has kept prices stable, while others argue that costs have increased due to rising wages demanded by these workers.

“Earlier, we could hire workers at lower wages, but now competition has grown,” says Muneeb-ul-Islam, a bakery owner in Anantnag district. “Many workers demand higher pay, which affects the pricing of our products.”

But some believe that hiring migrant labourers helps to keep the prices of baked goods low. “If we only relied on local workers, the cost of bakery products would be much higher,” says Tajamul Bhat, a bakery owner in Srinagar.

Kashmir’s booming baking industry 

Migrants have been part of Jammu and Kashmir’s baking industry for decades. Estimates suggest that thousands of bakeries operate across the region, and demand peaks during Ramzan, Eid-ul-Fitr and Eid-ul-Adha. “There are at least 3,000 bakeries in the Valley alone,” says Umar Mukhtar, a market analyst from Srinagar and a member of the Kashmir Traders and Manufacturers Association.

Nazir Ahmad, who runs a prominent bakery in Srinagar, adds that Ramzan sales account for nearly 40% of his annual business. “This is our busiest time. If you walk through the markets, you can see that bakery sales have increased.”

The workforce supporting this industry is huge. While there are no official statistics about its size, local estimates suggest that thousands of migrants work in Jammu and Kashmir’s bakeries during the festive seasons of Eid-ul-Fitr and Eid-ul-Adha. A bakery owner in Baramulla told The Migration Story that even smaller bakeries hire more workers during this time. 

An official from the union territory’s Department of Food, Civil Supplies & Consumer Affairs said that the amount of business done by these bakeries during the festive seasons is hard to calculate, estimating that “more than 30-40 crore rupees are spent on the bakery items in Kashmir during the Ramzan month”. 

More migrant workers post-pandemic

Baked items on sale in North Kashmir’s Baramulla district. Arshdeep Singh/The Migration Story

However, it isn’t only the brisk business of the Ramzan month and Eid that has drawn migrant workers to Jammu and Kashmir’s bakeries. Altaf Ahmad, originally from Faizabad, U.P., has been working in Baramulla since 2021. Initially, he did various jobs before joining the bakery industry and is now a permanent employee at a local bakery. He lives here year-round and says that the pandemic played a role in this decision. “After Covid, there were few jobs in my hometown.” Meezan Salaam, a bakery worker also from Uttar Pradesh, says something similar: “I had no choice but to look elsewhere for work.”

Nazir Ahmad, a bakery owner in Srinagar, talks about how the industry changed. “During the lockdowns, many migrants left, and we struggled with fewer workers,” he says. “Now, they are returning, and new workers are also coming here.”

The pandemic disrupted migration patterns, but it also opened up opportunities. Some younger migrants took up work in the baking industry after losing jobs in other sectors. “I used to work in construction but after the pandemic, I learned bakery work,” says Zardar Habib, a migrant in his twenties. “Now, I come to Kashmir every Eid season.”

As the season of festivals ends, some of these workers are likely to leave the Valley, but most end up staying here and doing other jobs. “Everyone wants to earn money and there is no better place than Kashmir where people are humble and kind,” says Arjun Pandey, a migrant from U.P.’s Azamgarh district, who feels that the future for migrant workers in the state looks bright if things remain peaceful.

Aamir Nazir, who runs a bakery shop in North Kashmir’s Sopore, adds: “Every year, we see new faces. Some workers leave, others stay, and the business keeps moving forward.”

For many migrant bakery workers, Kashmir represents an opportunity. “We come here because there is work,” says Harish Yadav, 34, who is originally from Delhi. “As long as people want sweets and bread for their festivals, we will be here.”

A blend of culinary traditions

The high demand for sweets and baked goods during festivals has also necessitated that skilled workers are employed in the baking industry. Ishfaq Ahmad, a bakery manager in Srinagar, says that a typical Kashmiri bakery sells traditional breads like tchot, lavaas and kulcha, which are available in salty and sweet varieties. However, many bakeries have added new items to their list of offerings to satisfy changing consumer preferences. And migrant workers have brought with them the skills to make these items, which include cakes, pastries, cream rolls, coconut cookies, biscuits and baklava. 

“Historically, Kashmiri bakers specialised in traditional breads, but festive sweets require a different expertise,” says Wahid Nazir, a historian familiar with food culture of the region. “Kashmiri households have always valued traditional baked items, but with exposure to different cuisines, the demand for diverse products has grown.” 

As a result, the recipes used by bakeries have evolved over time. Mandeep Kumar, 45, a bakery worker from Delhi, says, “We bring certain techniques from home, but we also try to learn what Kashmiris prefer. For example, we make baklava in a way that suits local tastes.”  

When he first started making baklava at a Srinagar bakery, Kumar followed the traditional North Indian recipe, which used honey syrup and finely chopped nuts. However, customers found it too sweet and wanted a different texture. “So, we adjusted the recipe by reducing the syrup’s sweetness, using more almonds and walnuts instead of pistachios, and making the layers thinner and crispier,” he adds.  

Kumar also learned from Kashmiri bakers, who suggested adding flavours that locals like. So, he started adding saffron and cardamom to his recipes. It is this blending of culinary traditions by Kashmiri bakers and their migrant employees that has gradually reshaped the festive food landscape.

Still, the sweets in demand during the festive season are chocolate cakes, pastries, cream rolls, coconut cookies and biscuits. And local bakers tell us that customers spend a minimum of Rs. 3,000 on them for Eid.

Religion no bar

While the majority of migrant workers in Kashmir’s bakeries hail from Muslim-majority areas, the workforce is not exclusively Muslim. Some Hindu men, particularly from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, also take part in this seasonal migration. Saleem Ahmad, a bakery owner originally from Hyderabad, who has settled in Anantnag district, says, “It is mostly Muslim workers [who migrate], but I know a few Hindus who come here too.” 

Shabir Ahmad, a bakery manager in Anantnag district, says that hiring is not based on religion but skill. “More than anything, it is skill that matters,” he explains. “We need people who know how to make these products and that is the main priority.”

For most migrant workers though—seasonal or long-term, Hindu or Muslim—the decision to work in Jammu and Kashmir is purely an economic one. “I came here because the pay is better,” says Arjun Kumar, a bakery worker from Bihar’s Nawada district. “I don’t stay here permanently, but the work during Eid is good.” 

Edited by Subuhi Jiwani 

Tauseef Ahmad is a Kashmir-based freelance journalist. He has reported extensively on the insurgency, human rights, environment and climate change. He tweets at @wseef_t.

Sajid Raina is an independent journalist based in Kashmir. He tweets at @SajidRaina1.