E-Paper
168 Kashmiris sent home from Shimla
The arrangements were made after CPI(M) legislator Rakesh Singha staged a sit-in
As many as 168 Kashmiri migrants stranded in the Jama Masjid due to the lockdown have been sent home.
The migrants, who work as porters, were sent home in private buses from Shimla’s old bus stand. The arrangements for their return were made after CPI(M) legislator Rakesh Singha staged a sit-in outside the sub-divisional magistrate’s office.
Kashmiri porters working in Shimla are also known as the ‘camel of the hills’ for their strength and energy. ‘Khans’ have been lugging the state’s economy since the British era by delivering heavy loads to localities that are inaccessible by road.
There are nearly 8,000 Kashmir Khans registered with the police. Deputy commissioner Amit Kashyap made arrangement with the lieutenant governors in Kashmir.
The government has also made arrangements for transporting 5,000 farmers from Lahaul-Spiti who had migrated from Lahaul and Spiti during ahead of the closure of the Rohtang Pass due to snowfall on November 15.
The pass remains closed for six months a year and is thrown open to traffic in mid-May.
The farmers are keen to return to their native villages as they fear that agricultural activities will suffer in their absence. The farmers will travel in busses till Raninullah and walk for three kilometers after that,” said agriculture minister Ram Lal Markanda, a legislator from Lahaul-Spiti. The first batch of 138 farmers left Manali this morning. Farmers will walk up to 10km from Rani Nullah to reach Rohtang.
