Kashmir migrant workers keep coming despite attacks

Migrant workers continue to travel to Indian Kashmir for higher wages despite militant threats and past attacks on labourers in the disputed Himalayan region.

An estimated half a million migrant workers enter the region each year, taking jobs in construction, agriculture, domestic work and other sectors. Many come from poorer Indian states and work for most of the year before leaving ahead of the winter slowdown.

Local media reports say at least 24 migrant workers have been killed in militant attacks across the territory since 2019. More than 1,500 people have been killed in the same period, including 219 civilians, according to the South Asia Terrorism Portal. Local media reported that gunmen killed two brick kiln workers from Chhattisgarh last month.

Mohammad Ghulam Sarwar, a 25-year-old mason from Bihar, told AFP he earns 1,200 rupees a day in Kashmir, compared with about 700 rupees in Bihar for the same work if he can find it. He said he would keep returning while he was able to work.

Business figures say local employers struggle to find enough workers for many jobs. Mohammad Ashraf Mir of the Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industry said there was growing dependence on migrant workers outside the handicrafts sector.

Security is visible in parts of Srinagar, with paramilitary troops, armoured vehicles, police units and CCTV cameras. A senior security official, speaking anonymously, said migrant workers had been targeted in the past but that security arrangements had improved.

Police encourage labourers to live in clusters and avoid going out after dark. Some workers said they felt safe, while others said they feared militants but continued to work in Kashmir because pay and conditions were better than alternatives elsewhere.