Yet another migrant worker was shot dead in Kashmir on Thursday, this time in Bandipore. The slain man has been identified as Mohammed Amrez, who hailed from Madhepura in Bihar. He is the fourth migrant worker from Bihar to have been targeted in Jammu and Kashmir.
Amrez, who was working as a labourer, was attacked at midnight in Ajas in Bandipore. He was rushed to the hospital, but declared brought dead.
During intervening night, #terrorists fired upon & injured one outside #labourer Mohd Amrez S/O Mohd Jalil R/O Madhepura Besarh #Bihar at Soadnara Sumbal, #Bandipora. He was shifted to hospital for treatment where he succumbed.@JmuKmrPolice
— Kashmir Zone Police (@KashmirPolice) August 12, 2022
Migrant labourers have been targeted in the state previously as well. In June, terrorists shot at two migrant labourers from Bihar – Dilkhush Kumar and Guri, who were working as brick kiln labourers in Magraypora in Chadoora. While Guri survived, Dilkhush died. Another migrant worker, Virendar Paswan, who hailed from Bhagalpur in Bihar and worked as street food vendor, was also shot dead in Srinagar.
Migrant workers, Kashmiri Pandits and members of the minority Hindu community have been constantly in the crosshairs of terrorists in Kashmir, with a spate of killings taking place here since October 2021. On October 5, 2021, Makhan Lal Bindroo, a well-known Kashmiri Pandit businessman who ran two medical stores in Srinagar including one started by his family in 1947, was shot dead by suspected militants. The fact that this killing took place at his shop in the high-security zone of the Iqbal Park area of Srinagar, was also shocking. The previously mentioned Virendra Paswan was killed on the same day, along with Mohammad Shafi Lone who was a resident of Naidkhai village, and headed Sumo Car Stand, an association of taxi owners in Shahgund village in Bandipora.
Others killed include Rahul Bhat, who worked at the revenue department in Budgam as a PM Package employee, Rajni Bala and Supinder Kaur, both school teachers. The terror attacks on members of the minority Kashmiri Pandit, Hindu and Sikh communities could be viewed as an intention to divide people along communal lines. However, in May 2022, Kashmir television artist Amreen Bhat was also gunned down by suspected militants. Her killing, and that of Lone and Amrez, suggest that terrorists are not even sparing lives of Muslims in the Union Territory, suggesting their agenda might be different.
In fact, in April 2022, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) told the Rajya Sabha that since 2017, as many as 34 members of the minority communities were killed in the Valley, “in terrorist related incidents”. This included 14 Kashmiri Pandits and Hindus killed in Kashmir Valley after Article 370 was removed in August 2019. The Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai, was responding to a question by Vishambhar Prasad Nishad (SP), Chhaya Verma (Congress) and Ram Nath Thakur (JD–U).
According to the minister, “The number of Kashmiri Pandits and other Hindus killed by the terrorists in Jammu and Kashmir from August 5, 2019 to March 24,2022 stood at 14.” These killings have been reported from “Anantnag, Srinagar, Pulwama and Kulgam districts in the Valley”.
Related:
14 Kashmiri Pandits, Hindus killed in Kashmir Valley after Article 370 removed: MHA
Kashmiri TV artiste Amreen Bhat killed in cold blood
Kashmir: Migrant labourer shot dead by militants in Budgam
Killing three civilians, terrorists send a bloody message across Jammu and Kashmir