'Indian govt treating us as if we are living in a jail'

Indian govt treating us as if we are living in a jail

SRINAGAR (Web Desk): In occupied Kashmir, hundreds of Kashmiri Hindu families living in the camps of Jammu have said that the authorities are intimidating and harassing them in the name of verification, with notices being pasted on doors of their quarters if they are found locked for a few weeks.

Families living in Jagti, Muthi, Nagrota and Purkhoo housing nearly 10,000 Pandit families in two-room tenements said the respective camp commandants start enquiring about the whereabouts of a family if it is not found in the quarter.

Many families are afraid to even visit relatives or their children studying or working outside the territory as if their residence is found locked, zonal officers of the Relief Department visit that particular building and paste notices.

“My two children are working outside Jammu and I had gone to visit my son and planned to stay there for two months. But within days, camp commandant officers visited our building and issued a notice to us. I had to hurry back to explain my position,” said a camp inhabitant at Jagti who did not want to reveal his name.

Many families whose children have been posted in different districts of Kashmir have not been spared.

“There was a similar case a few days back. A family was living inside the quarter but it was marked locked during the survey,” said Ashok Butt, who lives in Jagti.

“The government is treating us as if we are living in a jail. We have not signed any bond that we cannot leave this camp. A majority of children have moved outside Jammu for employment. This is mental harassment,” said Sunil Kumar Pandita, a social activist.