Rebels tell migrant labourers to quit Kashmir
Source: Reuters
(Updates with labourers fleeing, quotes) SRINAGAR, India, July 28 (Reuters) - A militant group in Kashmir has told thousands of migrant labourers to leave the troubled region within a week after two non-Kashmiri labourers were accused of raping and killing a teenage girl. Hizbul Mujahideen, a militant group fighting for Kashmir's merger with Pakistan, has not said what will happen to those labourers who remain behind. "The involvement of non-Kashmiris in criminal activities is increasing and they are also pushing Kashmiri youth to all kinds of social evils," Junaid-ul-Islam, a group spokesman, said in a statement late on Friday. "Quit Kashmir within a week." Another militant group, Jaish-e-Mohammad, echoed the demand. The rebel diktat has spread panic and many migrant labourers have started fleeing. "At least eight buses and over two dozen taxis carrying migrant labourers left from Srinagar," Mohammad Usman, a public transport operator, said. Police arrested at least six people, including at least two non-Kashmiris, this week on charges of raping and killing a 14-year-old girl in north Kashmir. Kashmir's chief minister condemned the separatists' decrees. "Those who raise such slogans should also consider its fallout, as tens of thousands of Kashmiris were working and pursuing studies in other parts of the country where they could face a similar reaction," Ghulam Nabi Azad, Kashmir's chief minister said. There are no official figures, but several thousand migrant labourers, masons and carpenters work in the state, mostly from the poor Indian state of Bihar. Dozens of migrant workers have been killed in a series of attacks since revolt against Indian rule broke out in 1989, forcing many to flee the state. "They attacked labourers in the past, I am scared and I am leaving now," Suresh Kumar, a labourer from Bihar, said before boarding a bus in Srinagar. Officials say more than 42,000 people have been killed since the revolt erupted, but human rights groups put the toll at 60,000.
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