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| Attack on Biharis ahead of deadline | | Three minors among five killed, 25 injured in Srinagar blast | | Early Times Reporter
Jammu | July 25
• PPP had asked Biharis to leave J&K by Aug 10
• Valley-wide campaign against non-local workers
• Thousands of non-locals had June 2007 also
• In June 2006, nine Nepalis were killed in Kulgam
Amidst warnings from separatists and several mainstream groups, five members of the family of a family of a non-state subject labourer were killed in a grenade explosion at Batamalloo bus stand of Srinagar.
The attack was apparently pointedly targeted on the particular family of labourers. This is the first major attack on non-state subject labourers in past two years. 25 other people including Amarnath pilgrims have also been reported injured in the attack when a grenade was hurled by unknown militants on a Jammu bound bus this afternoon.
Among the slain victims of this brutal and barbaric attack are three children aged between eight and 13 years. Widespread condemnations of the brutal killing of innocent children have poured in from different sections.
The Governor, Mr N N Vohra, today condemned the Batamaloo blast and expressed profound shock over the killing of five persons including children.
Describing the blast as a most inhuman and barbaric terrorist' act, the Governor said that it shows to what extent the perpetrators of violence can go. "This lunatic act of violence has not even spared innocent children", he added. Vohra conveyed his sympathy to the bereaved families.
A Police spokesman said that five persons including three children were killed and 25 others injured in a grenade attack in Batamaloo bus stand. He said that unidentified persons hurled a grenade at a Jammu-bound bus around 12.00 noon when the group of workers was boarding it, killing three persons on the spot, the sources said. Two others died on their way to SMHS hospital where at least 25 passengers have been admitted for treatment.
Two men, who had returned from a pilgrimage to Amarnath shrine, were also injured in the explosion. They were passing through the bus stand on foot at the time of the blast, the sources said.The deceased include Khushboo and Adil, son and daughter of Mohammad Afroze, and a woman whose identity is being ascertained. Afroze fell unconscious at the police hospital when he came to know of the deaths of the children.
Senior Superintendent of Police, Srinagar, S A Mujtaba rubbished reports by sections of the media stating the Amarnath pilgrims were the target of the attack.
He said this was the first attack on non-Kashmiri labourers in more than two years in the Valley. Mujtaba said police have begun investigations into the attack and launched operations to catch the culprits. "We cannot specify the motive of the attack. We will come to know that when we nab the culprits," he said.
It may be mentioned here that in Kashmir there is a concerted campaign against the non-state subject labourers who do the petty jobs of masons, labourers, barbers etc. While the separatists have often warned these workers of leaving Kashmir Valley forthwith, among the mainstream political parties, the Peoples Democratic Party too is averse of the non-state subject workers working in Kashmir.
Just four days back, on July 20 and earlier on June 30 one Kashmiri separatist leader Hilal Ahmed War, Chairman of the Peoples Political Party set August 10 deadline for all Behari and other non-state subject labourers to leave Kashmir Valley or face action. In his recent press conference he had categorically said that no outsider labourer should be seen in Kashmir after August 10.
Earlier in June 2007, the Hurriyat leader Syed Ali Shah Geelani has issued a call for throwing all Beharis out of Jammu and Kashmir. Thousands of Beharis had to board their buses back home after two of them were found involving in rape and murder of a minor girl Tabinda Ghani in Kupwara district.
In June 2006, nine Nepali labourers were shot dead by unidentified gunmen in the south Kashmir district of Kulgam.
In a statement All Party Migrant Coordination Committee Vinod Pandit castigated Hilal War for threatening Non-Kashmiris for the past few days which was followed by a grenade attack killing five innocent labourers today which indicates that he is bent upon damaging the reputation of Kashmiris the world over.
Vinod said that though keeping Kashmiriyat intact was the pre-requisite for any Kashmiri such dastardly acts in which innocent labourers and their children were targeted was a heinous crime.
Vinod said that no Kashmiri can approve of such killings of non-Kashmiris merely because they don’t belong to this state adding this can result in severe backlash outside Kashmir putting lakhs of Kashmiris in danger. Vinod called upon the separatist leaders and other personalities to condemn the act in severe terms and asked the authorities to bring the culprits to book.
Vinod said that act was the handiwork of the organization that was not a well wisher of Kashmiris and asked people to identify such elements who bring disrepute to Kashmiriyat around the world. |
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