Bandipora youth working as bonded labourers for army


Mir Tariq
Bandipore, Feb 11: Residents of many hamlets in this north Kashmir district on Monday accused Army of taking youth as hostage and making them work as bonded labourers.
Residents of Dardpora, Bhutto, Panar, Veewan, Ketsan and other remote areas told Rising Kashmir, “Troops are compelling us to transport their belongings including deadly ammunition from plains to high altitudes. They also force us to remove the snow from the roads leading to their posts in upper reaches.” Bilal Ahmad Khan of Dardpora said that he and other youth of the village were taken as hostage by the troopers and compelled to clear the 15 feet snow from the roads. “Not a single penny was paid to us by the army for this arduous job,” he said.Another youth of the village Abdur Rashid Khan said, “Army is forcing hundreds of youth to work as labourers for them. They don’t pay us a single penny and also threaten us of dire consequences if we don’t work for them.”“No one listens to us. They can do anything with human lives up to any extent, if we refuse to abide their diktat,” said Khan.The parents of these youth are worried about the safety of their wards. “The army forces our children to carry load on deadly avalanche prone tracks. When they are taken from homes, we have no hope of their return,” said Sara Begum.Commanding Officer 14 RR Col Wadira termed the allegations as baseless.“This is done to malign the image of Indian army,” he said.