The murders of Hindus just trying to make a honest living are not stopping in Kashmir. Two more laborers from Bihar – Raja Rishidev, Yogendra Rishidev – have been shot dead and another, Chun Chun Rishidev, is critically injured as per Daily Excelsior.

Two terrorists barged into the rented residence of the labourers from Bihar at Vanpoh in Kulgam district last evening and fired at them. The laborers were putting up at rented accommodation in the shop of Mashooq Ahmad Dar of Gassipora.

These killings came a day after golgappa hawker Arbind Kumar Sah from Bihar was shot dead in Srinagar, and carpenter Sagir Ahmad from Uttar Pradesh was shot dead in Pulwama. With the latest murders, the number of civilians killed in targeted terrorist attacks in Jammu and Kashmir this month has gone up to 11.

J&K Police is now shifting hundreds of migrant laborers to ‘secure locations’. Officials estimate there are over 2-3 lakh migrant labourers working in Kashmir, and their exodus will badly hit the construction works and horticulture sector.

Of the 11 people killed this month in the spate of attacks on civilians, five were from outside J&K: golgappa vendors Virender Paswan and Arbind Kumar Sah from Bihar; laborers Raja Reshi Dev and Jogindar Reshi Dev from Bihar; carpenter Sagir Ahmad from UP.

After Arbind Kumar Sah’s death, Hinduphobic and financial-scam accused MSM outlet NDTV had called him “non-native”, inviting condemnation from prominent netizens.

The other 6 victims are pharmacist Makhan Lal Bindroo, teachers Deepak Chand and Supinder Kour; taxi driver Mohammad Shafi Lone, Mohammad Shafi Dar, Majid Ahmad Gojri – the last 3 killed for being suspected ‘police informers’.

After 4 Bihari laborers were murdered within days, Bihar CM Nitish Kumar finally called J&K Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha to express concern over the killings. He announced an ex-gratia of Rs. 2 lakh for the next of kin of all the three deceased in last 2 days. Coalition partner BJP requested a hike in the quantum of ex-gratia, stating that the amount was half of that given to victims of accidents and natural disasters in the state.

Meanwhile, as per this report dated October 14, the family of Virender Paswan who was gunned down on October 5 was still awaiting the Rs. 2 lakh announced by the Bihar government. Paswan’s family – he is survived by a wife, 5 daughters and 2 sons – has received 6.25 lakh announced by the J&K government, and IT major Infosys has also given them Rs. 2 lakh to ‘clear their debts’. Hindus have organized their own crowd-funding campaign to help the Paswan family, which is already matching what Infosys gave and the Bihar government promised.

A controversy had also broken out over why Virender Paswan’s body was cremated in Kashmir and not flown back to Bihar. Apparently, the J&K admin offered to fly the body to Patna, but the family did not have means to transport it from there to Bhagalpur and so chose to do the cremation in Kashmir where Virender’s brother was present.

The Bihar government’s role in this come across as apathetic. One hopes that at least now the dead bodies of the three Bihari laborers are flown to their native village at government expense, and some significant compensation is offered.

Villagers in Bihar are comparing the lax attitude of their administration and politicians to the hue and cry made in Lakhimpur Kheri which resulted in instant compensation of Rs. 45 lakhs and a government job to families of deceased Sikh farmers, despite the protestors having attacked the BJP workers’ car causing it to crash, and then having brutally lynched 3 occupants of the car.

The civilian killings have sparked fear in the valley, prompting an exodus of the Kashmiri Pandit families living in transit camps. Dozens of families, including those of Government employees who returned to the Valley after getting jobs under the Prime Minister’s Special Scheme for Kashmiri migrants, have left. As per one report, 1400 Hindus have left the valley for Jammu, although some stated they have availed 10-day-leave from their jobs and will return when the situation stabilizes.

Security forces have also launched a crackdown against terrorists and their sympathizers, 700 of whom have been detained. Police killed 13 terrorists in the last 10 days.

“13 terrorists have been killed in nine encounters after civilian killings. We have killed three out of five terrorists in Srinagar in less than 24 hours,” Inspector General of Police Vijay Kumar said. 9 Army men have also been martyred in anti-terrorist operations in J&K.