Amidst targeted killings, J&K BJP chief requests migrant labourers to stay back in Kashmir

Amid a surge in targeted attacks on non-locals by terrorists, Jammu and Kashmir BJP chief Ravinder Raina on Monday requested the migrant labourers to stay back in the Valley as he said “one has to work together to defeat Pakistani conspiracies. His remarks come at a time when dozens of panic-stricken migrant labourers reached Jammu from the Valley to head to their native places in Bihar, Chhattisgarh and other parts of the country. Lakhs of migrant labourers usually return from the Valley before the onset of winter to escape the freezing cold, but the recent killing of five labourers in different parts of Kashmir by terrorists has triggered fear among them and some of them have started returning to their native places ahead of the schedule. Our brave Army, police and paramilitary forces carried out successful counter-terrorism operations and killed a large number of top commanders along with their associates. The stepped-up anti-terrorism operations caused frustration and desperation among their ranks, Raina said in a statement. He said Pakistan, which is sponsoring terrorism in Jammu and Kashmir for the past three decades, hatched a conspiracy to carry out selective killings, especially those of non-local businessmen and migrant labourers to trigger fear among the people and disturb peace in the region. We will give a befitting reply to Pakistan. The BJP-led government has given a free hand to the security forces to deal with terrorism and the Valley is being cleared of terrorists, Raina said. The BJP leader requested the migrant labourers from Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and other parts of the country not to leave the Valley. We have to work together in the national interest and defeat the conspiracies of Pakistan unitedly. There is no need to worry as we have demolished Pakistan in the past as well. The Muslims of Kashmir are also nationalist by core, he said. During the day, dozens of migrant labourers, including women and children, reached the Jammu Railway Station from the Valley. The situation in Kashmir is very grim we visit the place every year for a living, but have never faced such a situation, Kala Ram, a migrant labour from Rajasthan, said. Muna Ram from West Bengal, however, said he along with his group is returning to the native place as the paddy harvesting season is over in the Valley. We were putting up in the Awantipora area of south Kashmir’s Pulwama. We used to work in paddy fields. We got our wages and left, he said, hoping to return next year. Some labourers from Chhattisgarh working in brick kilns in the Kakapora area of Pulwama alleged that it was not the fear of terrorists, but the highhandedness of the brick kiln owner which forced them to leave the Valley. The brick kiln owner forced us to leave our rented accommodation on the pretext that he is not responsible if anything happens to us. He arranged a vehicle for us, but did not pay our wages for the past five months, Lok Chand said. He said they went to the local police station and lodged a complaint against the owner. The police assured us that they will take up the matter with the brick kiln owner and ensure the transfer of our money to our bank accounts, he said. Meanwhile, anti-Pakistan protests continued for the second day in different parts of Jammu against the targeted killings.