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Kashmiri porters desperate to return home from Himachal Pradesh amid coronavirus curfew
With life under lockdown, ‘Kashmir Khans’ urge state government to help them go back home
SHIMLA: With an indefinite curfew in place, scores of migrant workers from Kashmir are stranded in Himachal Pradesh where they work as porters. Though the government has ordered the district administrations to ensure that migrant workers get essential supplies, the porters or Kashmir Khans in local parlance, are keen to return home even if it means trudging back on foot.
The Khans from Kashmir have been carrying Shimla’s economy on their back literally, delivering heavy loads to the localities that are inaccessible by road.
There are nearly 8,000 Kashmir Khans registered with the police.
ADVISORY BUT NOWHERE TO GO
“Due to the lockdown, we cannot do anything. There is no work for us here. The government should make arrangements to send us back home,” says Abdul Majid, who along with other Kashmiri porters, stays in Shimla’s Jama Masjid.
“The imam of the masjid has been telling us not to crowd this place, but we have nowhere to go,”said another Kashmiri porter.
Rajesh Balli, the president of the local Waqf Board, said, “There is a government advisory not to let people crowd the mosque in times of social distancing to check the spread of coronavirus but its difficult to relocate the Kashmiri porters at this time. They have no other shelter.”
STRANDED, ABANDONED
There are 40 Kashmir labourers stranded in Chopal from where they have been making repeated calls to the local administration, urging it to make arrangements for their food and stay.
“For the past three days, we are just stuck in in our shanties. The locals don’t want us to be out amid the coronavirus outbreak. It’s a desperate situation,” said Sherab Khan.
“At this hour, all we want is to be back with our family. If the administration allows us, we can walk back home,” he said.
Twenty-eight Kashmiri labourers are stranded in Arki. “The local contractors have simply abandoned us at this critical juncture. Where do we go?” said Chander Prakash, a labourer from Kashmir.
