By IANS
Srinagar : Syed Shahnawaz Hussain, former union minister and convenor of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) minority cell, has appealed to Kashmiris to protect thousands of non-locals working for development of Jammu and Kashmir and now under threat from militants.
Addressing a media conference here Saturday, Hussain said: “Thousands of non-locals are presently working here for the development of Kashmir. We appeal to the people to protect them and give them a sense of security.”
He sought people’s protection for thousands of non-locals engaged as masons, carpenters, electricians, barbers, bricklayers and manual labourers in the wake of guerrilla threats asking them to leave Kashmir.
Hussain arrived here Saturday, accompanied by BJP MPs Shukhdev Paswan and B.P. Shravan Singh.
The BJP team was also meeting the state governor, Lieutenant General (Retired) S.K. Sinha and Chief Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad to enquire about the measures taken by the government to protect non-locals.
Asked what steps the BJP had taken to protect hundreds of Kashmiri youth and businessmen working outside the state who were facing harassment from different quarters, Hussain said his party stood for the protection of all Kashmiris engaged in businesses or pursuing their studies in other parts of the country.
Hizbul Mujahideen, a major militant group that issued the exit diktat has made it clear that its threat pertained only to those non-locals who were engaged in criminal activities.
“All hard-working, genuine non-locals who are earning their livelihood honestly need not fear for their safety. They can continue to work in Kashmir,” a Hizbul statement said.
The Hizbul clarification had followed a statement by senior hardliner separatist leader Syed Ali Geelani making it clear that the diktat was targeted only at those non-locals who had been indulging in unlawful and immoral activities and “whose presence was polluting Kashmiri society”.