Migrant workers huddle together fear etched on their anxious faces while they wait for a train at Srinagar’s Nowgam station, fleeing Kashmir due to the recent spurt of targeted attacks.
They were among a few dozen workers who silently left for their homes today, although a vast majority of them have so far chosen to stay on in Kashmir.
Satish Kumar a resident of Bihar at the railway station said emphatically, “This has never happened even when the situation was worse,” “Non-locals workers in the worst violent days were never targeted. But now we are leaving Kashmir as killings of non-locals are happening almost every day. Everyone is terrified after these killings. I got many calls from family so I along with a few more living in Srinagar locality have decided to leave.”
This month, eleven civilians have been killed by militants, five of them are migrant workers. The targeted killings have unleashed a new wave of terror among non-locals and minorities. Another non-local who was leaving the valley said he has never felt so scared. “I have been coming to Kashmir for 40 years but never felt so scared. I saw pictures of those killed on mobiles and it has scared us and our families,” said another non-local accompanying Kumar. Some of those who had reached the Tourist Reception Centre said they were leaving as the work season was over in Kashmir and the festival of Diwali was approaching.
“I am leaving to celebrate Diwali at home,” said a non-migrant worker. Promodh Kumar, a carpenter from Uttar Pradesh said he was not going to shift due to the present situation. “I have been living in complete harmony with locals and they have been protecting me. I can’t say what has triggered the latest spree of killing,” Kumar said. During the peak of summer, according to estimates, there are nearly four lakh, non-local laborers, in Kashmir and nearly 50 percent among them are from Bihar.
During summers, migrant laborers can be seen on various streets to fetch work.
Many thoughts are rising on the recent string of attacks which is not normal, and never happened before and a citizen voiced out, “A research suggests that BJP tend to win elections if there is a riot closer to the election dates. The Pulwama incident certainly helped Modi to return to power. A lot of voters thought that Modi was the first PM to dare to attack Pakistan with the surgical strike.”
The Uttar Pradesh elections are approaching and with that, the violence towards Hindus is increasing and it seems “Hindus Khatre Mein Hain”. None of the attackers/terrorists have yet been arrested and there are no video releases as to who is doing this, so it leaves big question marks and doubts as to what is happening.
One Kashmiri said, “As the UP elections are closing in, GOI is allowing it to happen so as to black name the Kashmiris and divide the votes and win.”
One can never say. Remember Pulwama? We still have questions on Pulwama because, despite warnings from Intel that there was going to be a massive attack, the Government of India allowed empty posts on the sensitized highway of Pulwama, there were no guards there that day in the otherwise most militarized zone in the world, enabling a vehicle filled with 80 kilograms of high-grade RDX to pass through easily and after Pulwaman, Arnab Goswami, the blue-eyed boy of GOI cried with joy, “We won like crazy!”
Rita
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