Targeted By Gunmen, Migrants Flee South Kashmir, Leaving Unpicked Apple Crop Behind thewire.in

Less than a week after unidentified gunmen shot dead five non-local laborers from West Bengal in Katrasu village of south Kashmir’s Kulgam, it takes lots of effort to find a non-native in the area. They have all left. After an hour’s search, a local journalist helped trace Abrahim, 45, a contractor from Bihar. Abrahim, who has spent 20 years of his life in Kashmir arranging laborers for locals, sat quietly in his small, single room rented accommodation in Kulgam town. He has not been out of his room much since the killings. Normally, at this time of the year when the apple picking season is at its peak, Abrahim would have 15 people from his village with him in Kashmir. “Now I am all alone,” he said, the fear audible in his voice.

They have all left after the recent attack in Katrusu. “I didn’t stop them as I don’t want to put their lives at risk,” said Abraham. “This time the situation is entirely different in Kashmir.” Abraham is among the handful of non-local workers left in the entire Kulgam. “If anything happens again, I too will leave,”. But for non-locals like him, going back is equally painful as earnings from Kashmir help them provide a decent life to their families back home. In 1982, when 17-year-old Bismillah Khan first came to Kashmir from Bihar, he had no idea he would stay so long. He rented a small shop in Kulgam’s main market where he repaired tires. His earnings helped him save enough to get married to a girl from his home town.