The recent targeted killings of Hindu migrant labourers and vendors in Kashmir have yet again exposed the old wounds of a mass exodus of Kashmiri Hindus from the valley.
Efforts taken by the government of India to open up Kashmir for the rest of the country especially after the abrogation of Article 370 is not being digested well by the Islamic terrorists from across the border. In a bid to revive the ugly gash, Pakistan-sponsored terrorists have yet again resorted to instilling fear in the local population.
From the government providing domicile certificates to restoring properties occupied by Muslims but belonging to Hindus, every step is being met with a bullet.
Finally received my domicile certificate from Jammu & Kashmir government. Encourage all others from Jammu & Kashmir who stay outside (even abroad) including exiled Kashmiri Pandits to apply. It’s our homeland. Never forget. Satyamev Jayate! pic.twitter.com/CUJSPCiZfo
— Aditya Raj Kaul (@AdityaRajKaul) October 15, 2021
Wanting to make ‘Naya Kashmir’ ‘90s ka Kashmir’ (Kashmir of the 90s), the Islamic terrorists have gunned down as many as 12 Hindus and Sikhs in the valley this month.
Migrants prepare to leave the valley
While speaking with Aaj Tak, several migrant workers preparing to leave the valley claimed that they will never return to Kashmir as they are being threatened and killed one after the other. Labourers seeking to flee Kashmir have also said that they do not have much in savings. They also said that the brick kilns where they used to work, their owners are yet to pay the salary that is owed to them.
Vikas Choudhary, a resident of Bihar currently selling golgappas in Kashmir in a statement to New Indian Express said, “We are scared. I am a gol gappe seller. Two golgappa vendors have been killed here. One of them, Arbind Kumar, who was killed in Iddgah area of Srinagar a few days back was a neighbour in my native village. Now, I am fearing for life and leaving for home.”
“It is better to go home than to risk our lives,” said another Bihar resident, Ashish Kumar, who is a labourer staying in Srinagar. “On the insistence of my family and on account of the situation, my family and I are leaving for our hometown,” he added further.
Bidding adieu to the valley, Mukesh Kumar said, “I am leaving Kashmir with a heavy heart. It is for the first time that non-local labourers are being targeted by terrorists in Kashmir. It has spread fear.”
As per a Navbharat Times report, a resident of Bihar’s Bhagalpur district Dinesh Mondal (60) also living in the valley for the past 40 years is packing his bags to return to his village. “The situation is tensed. Non-Kashmiris are being targeted now. We can no longer stay here,” he said.
Satish Kumar an ice-cream seller revealed, “Everyone is scared. Earlier the vendors were killed on the streets in broad daylight. Now they are being hunted down in their rooms. The locals are asking us to not leave but we have decided to go back to our villages.”
We reported earlier how Ravinder Kumar, a carpenter from Bihar, who comes to the Valley every summer for the past two decades left for his hometown on Sunday (October 17) morning. “We had decided to leave by this time as Diwali is approaching and we want to celebrate it with our families back home. The local people have been very good to us, but it is true that all of us are filled with fear after the killing of two non-local street vendors and a carpenter,” he said.
J&K: A group of migrant workers leaves from Kashmir’s Srinagar after recent incidents of targeted killings of non-Kashmiris by terrorists
— ANI (@ANI) October 18, 2021
“Situation is getting bad here. We’re scared, we’ve children with us & hence going back to our hometown,” says a migrant from Rajasthan pic.twitter.com/lcdUosH9eB
“Situation is getting bad here. We’re scared, we’ve children with us & hence going back to our hometown,” said a migrant from Rajasthan.
J&K signs MoU with Dubai
While on one hand, the Islamic terrorists are trying to instill fears in the locals, the government on the other hand is actively working towards the development of Jammu and Kashmir.
The Jammu and Kashmir administration on Monday in the presence of the Union Minister for Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Dubai government for the development of real estate, industrial parks, and more.
“This MoU gives out a strong signal to the entire world that the way India is transforming into a global power, Jammu & Kashmir is having a significant role into that as well,” said Union Minister Piyush Goyal at the event.
Clearly, the signs of development and normalcy have rattled the terrorists and their sympathizers from within and across the border leading to increased attacks on Hindus in the valley.
