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Delhi cops crackdown on Kashmiris 'Leave town, go back to Valley' The Kashmir Times, Dec 18, 2001 New Delhi, Dec 15 (NNN) : A major, silent, secret crackdown is currently underway in the Union Capital, especially in the heavily-populated area of the Walled City against the people of Kashmiri origin in the wake of Thursday's daring attack on Parliament. During the drive, the helpless Kashmiris, who mostly come to the city during winter to earn their livelihood, have been asked to leave the town. They have been getting mid-night knocks at their rented, dingy houses in the congested houses in the dead of the night a number of times by the area cops to hear the same parody - " Leave the town as soon as possible" - Reportedly in this a major crackdown, thousands of Kashmiris in the Walled City area have been asked by the Delhi Police to leave the capital and go back to the Valley in the wake of attack on Parliament House. A few Kashmiris left within less than 24 hours of the incident, scared of getting into trouble with the police, who launched the crackdown on all Kashmiris in the city after "orders from above". However, a bulk of them are refusing to return. "Where will we go?" they ask. "We are also Indians," they plead, having spent most of their time for the last two days pleading with police officials, shuttling between one police officer's room and another. In fact a large number of them have bluntly told the cops that they will not leave. "You can kill us, but we're not going anywhere," many of them have told the local police, pleading that their woollen supplies like shawls and other items are lying in transport godowns or are on their way from Kashmir and Punjab and they'd lose all their money if they leave abruptly like this, and especially when Eid-ul-fitr is just a couple of days is away. By a rough estimate, there are over 3,000 Kashmiris staying in parts of Darya Ganj, Jama Masjid, Chooriwalan, Chandni Mahal, Ganj Mir Khan, Sheesh Mahal, Sui Walan, Chhata Lal Mian, Turkman Gate and some other places in the Walled City. And a large number of them had actually got themselves 'registered' at the local police station the moment they arrived in Delhi to avoid any harassment during their stay here. The 'registration' means they have supplied their full personal details to the police. While this is not the first time the police has cracked down on Kashmiris staying here, it is probably the first time it has ordered them to get out of the city and go back from where they have come. And the cops are not giving them any reasons whatsoever. "We have orders from the top," is all that they are prepared to tell the harassed Kashmiris. The current raids began around mid-night on Thursday and have continued almost without a break since then. The crackdown is total and blanket, and has intensified since the government pointed the finger at the Kashmiri militant outfit, the Lashkar-e-Toiba and Jaish-e-Mohammad. But most of these Kashmiris say they come here every year during this season to earn some money. And going back without making a few bucks would be suicidal since the money they earn in these two or three months of winter through sale of shawls, jackets and other woollen items is all their income for the whole of the year, on which depends the lives of their families. Ashfaq (name changed) is one of those who has been coming here regularly from Kashmir every winter for the last seven to eight years. Along with a dozen other Kashmiris, he stays in one small room rented in one of those innumerable lanes that form the Walled City of Delhi. Struggling to make both ends meet, he goes around the city selling shawls and jackets. And the money he makes from this is his only income for the rest of the year, till the next winter. "I have no work back in Kashmir. If I go back now what will I do for the rest of the year? Do they want me to take up the guns too?" he asks angrily, a sentiment echoed by his Kashmiri colleagues smoking 'hoqaah' in their rented room. ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: [email protected] EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9WB2D Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
