Srinagar, Sept. 17 -- Kashmir needs a more honest account of how its economy was built.

Land reform changed who owned the soil, but handicrafts transformed how Kashmir earned its name in the world.

Confusing these two histories has left us with an incomplete idea of prosperity.

The Big Landed Estates Abolition Act of 1950 was one of Kashmir's great social reforms. It abolished large estates, removed intermediaries and transferred land rights toward actual cultivators.

The ceiling was set at 182 kanals, or 22.75 acres.

Historical estimates put the number of large proprietors affected at about 9,000. Nearly 4.5 lakh acres were identified above the ceiling, with around 2.3 lakh acres transferred to tillers.

That was a profound change i...