Umar Farooq
With the shocking events that have unfolded in the valley of Kashmir in the month of October, the migrant workers, who had been earning their livelihood in the valley for decades, are now fleeing Kashmir fearing for their lives after some migrant workers fell prey to the targeted civilian killings by suspected militants. Many have also termed this fleeing as “Exodus of the Migrant Workers.”
The month of October, 2021 in Jammu Kashmir has brought with itself a killing spree. In about first 17 days of the month, excluding the encounters and suicides, 13 civilians were targeted by suspected militants, of which 12 lost their lives. And of these 12 deceased civilians, five were migrant laborers.
The spree began with the killing of Majid Ahmad Gojri, a resident of Chattabal, Srinagar, on October 02, who was killed in Karan Nagar area of Srinagar while on the same day, Mohammad Shafi Dar, a resident of Batamallo was killed in his locality.
On October 05, a local Kashmiri Pandit chemist from Srinagar, Dr Bindroo Lal, was killed in Iqbal Park. And within a few minutes, Virendar Paswan, a non local street vendor was killed in Lal Bazar. On the same day, Mohammad Shafi Lone, the president Sumo drivers association Naidkhai was killed in Shah Gund Hajin in Bandipora.
On October 07, suspected militants shot down two teachers namely Deepak Chand and Supindar Kour in Sangam Eidgah area of Srinagar. On the same day, a nomad named Parvez Ahmad from remote area of Rajkanh, Kashwan was shot down by the naka party of 40 battalion at Moonghal area in Anantnag after he allegedly “ignored a stop signal.”
On October 16, news of two non-local labourers namely Arvind Kumar Shah of Banka Bihar and Sagir Ahmad of Uttar Pradesh (UP) being shot dead by suspected militants in Eidgah Srinagar and Litter Pulwama respectively, came to the fore.
Also on October 17, in Ganjipora area of Kulgam, three non-locals were fired upon, of which 2 lost their lives immediately while the third was shifted to GMC, Anantnag. Raja Reshi Dev and Joginder Reshi Dev lost their lives on the spot while Chunchun Reshi Deva was rushed to the hospital. All three were residents of Bihar.
The Kashmiriyat, on Monday, travelled to the Nowgam Railway Station, where hundreds of the migrant laborers were fleeing the valley out of fear. Many of them told us that they were directed by the police to either stay in their respective rooms or in the custody of the police.
Since none of these options offered them wages, the migrant laborers decided to leave for their homes instead. We spent some time among them as they waited for the Baramulla-Banihal train which was supposed to arrive at 4:30 PM in the evening.
“We’re leaving, now. Although this is the first time such a situation has befallen us. Everyone would want to save their own lives,” said a migrant worker who worked in Kashmir for decades.
“The situation is worsening. It’s been 4 days that we’ve been sitting in our rooms. We’ve been waiting for things to settle down since a week but we’re unable to work,” said Ajay, a migrant worker from U.P. who worked as a vendor and lived at Natipora.
While talking to The Kashmiriyat, he said, “The police, for our security, has asked us to either sit at our rooms or in their custody. We’ve decided to go home instead.”
“What use is it, anyway? Because we won’t be able to work in the custody either, it’s better we leave for home,” he added. He told The Kashmiriyat that he was scared because he had brought along many companions to work in Kashmir. “So many of us work here. If something happens to anybody, who will be answerable to the families back home?” Ajay asked.
“We’re not able to work properly. There’s fear in the atmosphere. The police has barred us from working, too. Instead they’ve told us either to sit back at our respective rooms or in their custody,” he concluded.
