Kashmir Is Losing Migrant Workers As Militants Find New Target

Migrant workers are a soft target for militants. Militants barged into a house in southern Kashmir, marched out six men who had come to work in the orchards and paddy fields, lined them up and shot them. Five died, a sixth, who the gunmen had left for dead, survived to tell the tale that has fanned fears of further attacks on outsiders.
A rash of killings by separatist militants targeting outsiders in Kashmir has persuaded growing numbers of migrant workers to stay away, rather than risk working in road gangs, building sites, hotels and apple orchards in the region. On Tuesday, militants barged into a house in southern Kashmir, marched out six men who had come to work in the orchards and paddy fields, lined them up and shot them. Five died, a sixth, who the gunmen had left for dead, survived to tell the tale that has fanned fears of further attacks on outsiders. Migrant workers are a soft target for militants, and during the past few weeks, 11 have been killed, including the victims of this latest atrocity. Vikas Kumar Bharti, a gaunt-faced 18-year-old from northern India, has had enough of living with danger. His month-long contract building a multi-story car park in central Srinagar has another 20 days to run. “After that, I will leave,” said Bharti, a white headband wrapped over his forehead and prayer beads strung around his neck. The anxious phone calls from his family had become unbearable. He was going to Uttar Pradesh, his home state. The separatist insurgency in Kashmir began three decades ago, but the latest flare-up in violence followed Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s decision in August to take away the autonomy previously afforded India’s only Muslim-majority state.