A labourer from Uttar Pradesh, Pritam Singh, was shot and injured by militants at Batgund in South Kashmir on Thursday. Singh sustained a minor injury and was immediately taken for medical treatment.
After the attack, security forces reached the area and launched an operation to look for the attackers. The attack on Singh, a migrant worker, follows the attack at the Gagangir tunnel construction site in Ganderbal district, where militants killed seven people, including six labourers and a doctor from the Budgam district.
The increasing attacks on non-locals pose a significant security challenge in Kashmir, heightening concerns about the safety of migrant workers in the region. This is the third such attack on non-locals since October 16, when Ashok Kumar, a labourer from Bihar, was shot dead in Shopian.
The rise in these targeted attacks against non-local labourers since the National Conference-Congress government took charge has increased pressure on the administration to ensure their safety.
Such attacks have been escalating since the abrogation of Article 370, with militants increasingly targeting migrant workers, further complicating the security situation in Kashmir.
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After the Ganderbal attack, Mehbooba Mufti, president of PDP, said there are reports that the local administration is pressuring non-local labourers to leave the Valley immediately. “While I understand their obvious sense of panic, asking them to leave in this manner is not a solution," she posted on X. She said asking non-locals to leave would send a negative message to the rest of the country and create further challenges for the region. "J&K recently witnessed peaceful, terror-free elections, and this knee-jerk reaction will only prove otherwise," she said.
Mufti also raised concerns that such actions could lead to retaliatory outrage against Kashmiris working or studying in other parts of India. "This might also cause outrage against Kashmiris working and studying in other states," she added, requesting both the chief minister and the LG to intervene and ensure the workers are given enough time and reassurance. The police however dismissed the reports that non-locals are being asked to leave Kashmir.
In a post on X, the Kashmir Zone Police, quoting IGP Kashmir, clarified that the reports that the administration was pressurising non-local workers to leave were false. "The Jammu and Kashmir Police is committed to ensuring the security and fostering a safe environment for all individuals to pursue their livelihoods without fear or intimidation," the police statement read. They also urged the public not to believe false information on social media platforms.