Tension in Kashmir worries migrant labourers in Himachal Pradesh

Many Kashmiri migrant labourers working in Himachal Pradesh have gone back to the Valley fearing safety of their loved ones who are living near the LoC, since tension between India and Pakistan escalated over the killing of 40 security personnel in a terror attack on February 14.

"Some people have gone back to Kashmir as their families are residing there. Shimla is a much better place. We are not facing any problem here," Maqsood, a Kashmiri migrant, told ANI.

Abdul, another migrant, too expressed similar sentiments saying, "I do not want to go back. My family keeps calling me to come back home. I am worried about my kids."

Nearly 30,000 migrant labourers from Jammu and Kashmir work in different parts of Himachal Pradesh. Of this, nearly 8,000 work in Shimla. In the past week, nearly 30 per cent of them has shifted back in the Valley.