Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, Dec 27: Peoples Conference Chairman and MLA Handwara Sajad Lone today said that incidents of harassment of Kashmiris in different parts of the country was a “matter of national security” and posed a “serious threat to national integration.”
Addressing a press conference here, Lone said the issue should not be treated as routine law-and-order incidents, asserting that the growing pattern of harassment was “eroding the foundations of integration.”
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“If in our own country we are subjected to this kind of behaviour, then one has to ask a painful question-what is our status in this country?” Lone said, adding that the problem demanded a broader and more serious response from the Union Government.
Lone said he was compelled to speak after several families from his constituency approached him with accounts of “disturbing experiences” faced by their relatives outside J&K.
Lone underlined that migration of Kashmiris for work was not a recent phenomenon.
He said that in districts like Handwara, nearly 25 to 35 percent of the male population had been living and working in other parts of India for the past five to six decades, with many having purchased homes and built stable lives outside J&K.
“These people were ambassadors of integration,” he said, adding that ordinary working Kashmiris had played a silent but decisive role in strengthening the country’s internal cohesion.
Terming the recent official response inadequate, Lone said arresting a handful of individuals did not reflect the gravity of the problem.
“Arresting two individuals when there are hundreds or thousands of incidents is like a drop in the ocean. This is not a small matter. This is a matter of national security,” he asserted.
He urged the Union Government to act decisively against those targeting Kashmiris.
“If a Kashmiri child can be booked under UAPA merely for liking a Facebook post, what stops the Government of India from booking these rogues and thugs under UAPA or PSA?” he asked, appealing to the Lieutenant Governor to use such laws against what he termed “anti-integration forces”.
In a sharp remark on what he called misplaced nationalism, Lone said targeting vulnerable Kashmiris working outside the UT “did not amount to bravery.”
Calling for urgent political intervention, Lone appealed to the Prime Minister and the Union Home Minister to view the issue through a national security lens.
He also urged the Lieutenant Governor and the Chief Minister of J&K to directly engage with their counterparts in other states to ensure the safety and dignity of Kashmiris living there.
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