'No Jobs Here...': Kin of UP, Bihar Migrant Workers Killed in J&K Share Grief
"If we had jobs here, why would we go so far away from home to work?" asks the brother of deceased Sageer Ahmad.
"I am an old man, what will I feed to the family?" father of the deceased asks.
(Photo Courtesy: PTI/Edited by The Quint)
"If we had employment opportunities here, why would we even go so far away from home to work?" asks the brother of Sageer Ahmad from Saharanpur, Uttar Pradesh.
Sageer Ahmad, a resident of mohalla Sarai Hisamuddin of Saharanpur, was a migrant worker who had gone all the way to Kashmir to earn a living by doing wood carving work.
On Saturday, 17 October, he was fired at and killed by terrorists in Litter village of south Kashmir’s Pulwama.
Ahmed was a father to four girls and one boy. His wife too had passed away some time ago. Inadequate employment options seem to have forced Ahmed's son to travel out of town to earn a living, as well.
Ahmed's brother wonders, with this loss, how will the family continue to make ends meet? Pointing out that Ahmed's daughter too is to be married, he seeks a compensation of Rs 1 crore from the government for the slew of expenses that are soon to plummet on them.
He also asks for the government's help in bringing Ahmed's body back home.
'What Will I Feed the Family?'
Meanwhile, Arvind Kumar Sah from Bihar, a non-local street vendor in Srinagar, was also, on Saturday, shot at and killed near the Eidgah park in the city.
"I am an old man, what will I feed to the family?" his father asks media-persons. He seeks a compensation of Rs 50 lakh from the government.
So far, however, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has announced an ex gratia sum of Rs 2 lakh for the family of Sah.
Most of the people from Sah's village in Bihar live and work in Kashmir. Thus, a sense of panic has gripped the villagers since Sah's demise.
His father says that the militants had first seen Sah's Aadhaar card and then killed him. He also seeks for the upcoming cricket match between India and Pakistan to be cancelled.
Further, the father of the deceased requests for jobs for the kin.
(With inputs from Piyush Rai and Utkarsh Singh).
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)