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| Another mass exodus: militants, separatists gang up against non-Kashmiri workers | | Summary punishment to thousands for crime of two, though there were two locals as well | | NIRBHAY JAMMUAL
Jammu, July 28: Amidst large looming fear and panic accompanied with mass exodus non-Kashmiri labourers from different parts of Valley, Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad has though called for a severe punishment to killers of ten year old girl but there is yet no word from the government on the terrorist threat to the labourers who have been asked to leave Valley forthwith.
Earlier the Hizbul Mujahideen had threatened the non-Kashmiri labourers to leave Kashmir Valley and now the Jaish-e-Mohammad too have endorsed the threat. The terrorist threat had come after a statement Syed Ali Geelani earlier this week in which he had said that all non-locals working in the valley must vacate as their presence was leading to "the criminalisation of the society". Rape and murder of an innocent girl by some Behari labourers triggered this trend but since then there is a summary warning to all those non-Kashmiris working in Kashmir to leave the Valley.
As the news of the diktat spread Saturday, hundreds of workers from various parts of India started leaving the valley. At least eight buses carrying migrant labourers left from Batamaloo locality of the state's summer capital Srinagar Saturday morning, while many others hired taxis for their exodus from here.
Thousands of migrant labourers from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar , Rajasthan and other Indian states are presently working in the valley as carpenters, masons, barbers, electricians, painters while others are working as unskilled labourers in both industrial and agricultural sectors.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad today visited Handwara where he met the family members of the victim and expressed his sympathies. He announced monthly financial assistance of Rs. 5000 to the family of the victim for meeting expenses on studies of her siblings.
The Chief Minister said he would consult the Chief Justice of the State High Court for designating a special judge to have the trial of the accused on day to day basis. He asked the police to make a water tight case against the criminals so that they received the maximum punishment available under the law for the crime they committed. He said no words were enough to condemn the incident.
Azad announced a government job for a member of the victim's family besides a monthly financial assistance of Rs. 5000 to meet the expenses of the siblings of Tabinda Ghani, an 8th standard student who was raped and brutally murdered by four men on July 20 while returning home from her school.
The Chief Minister denounced as negative thinking efforts to politicise the tragic incident by asking non-local workforce to leave the valley. He said those who raise such slogans should also consider its fall out as tens of thousands of Kashmiris were working and pursuing studies in other parts of the country where they could face a similar reaction. He said the workforce coming to the valley from other states could not be judged on the basis of two odd criminals involved in the case. A criminal had to be treated as a criminal and not as a resident of a particular place, he added. He said instead of politicising the issue the focus should be on awarding an exemplary punishment to the criminals.
The Chief Minister congratulated the district police chief and his team for solving the case in a record time of three days. He said the accused had confessed the crime. He said the moment he had received the shocking news, he asked the DGP and civil administration to catch the culprits within a week and bring them to book. He said the police had announced a reward of Rs. 50,000 for providing information about the criminals but on his instructions the reward money was enhanced to Rs. one lakh.
Even as the Chief Minister praised the swift action of the police in nabbing the culprits and solving the case, he asked them to ensure that there were no loopholes in the case of the prosecution so that the culprits were awarded an exemplary punishment. He said it was necessary that all the four criminals who had committed the crime receive the punishment they deserve so that no one else dared to do it again.
Of the four accused, Azad said two were local history sheeters who have cases registered against them. He said the duo had earlier faced the wrath of the public who twice blackened their faces for committing eve teasing. He said the police was seeking the antecedents from the respective states about the two non locals involved in the crime.
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