West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday said that 131 Bengal workers were being brought back from Jammu and Kashmir, says after six labourers were killed in an attack in Kulgam, Times Now reported. Those killed were from Murshidabad in West Bengal.
“Total 131 workers who had gone to Kashmir are being brought back to West Bengal with the help of state government,” she said. “They are from Murshidabad, Dinajpur and Malda.”
Banerjee again attacked the central government for the security situation in the state. The attack came almost three months after a security and communications clampdown, which was put in place when the Centre revoked Jammu and Kashmir’s special constitutional status. On Thursday, the state was officially bifurcated into two Union Territories, following which protests were held in some parts.
“The entire administration belongs to the central government, the Army and the other central force” Banerjee said. “And on that day a delegation of European Union parliamentarians was visiting the state.”
On Tuesday, a delegation of members of the European Parliament had visited the state. Opposition leaders had criticised the Centre for allowing foreign visitors in the region when Indian leaders have not been allowed to freely visit. Several Kashmir leaders such as former Chief Ministers Mehbooba Mufti and Omar Abdullah remain under house arrest.
A number of attacks have struck civilians since India abrogated the special constitutional status of Jammu and Kashmir on August 5 and imposed prohibitory orders in the state. On October 24, terrorists had shot dead two truck drivers transporting apples in Shopian district, and injured one. A week earlier, an apple trader from Punjab was shot dead by suspected terrorists in Shopian. The same day, a labourer from Chhattisgarh in Pulwama district was gunned down. On October 14, a truck driver from Rajasthan was shot dead in Shopian.
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