Srinagar, Sept. 30 -- Multiple times a day, people in Kashmir gather at mosques and other faith centres. They come to pray, but these places also bring neighbours together. People discuss families, prices, roads, schools, illness and the problems facing their neighbourhoods. The discussion is often about this world as much as the next.

One issue now needs far greater attention: what type of future will Kashmir's young people inherit?

Unemployment has become one of the hardest economic problems facing families. Parents worry about children spending years preparing for government examinations, only to face limited openings and long recruitment processes. Young people with degrees often find a private sector too small to absorb their ambit...