Migrants shown the door

The Indian Express had reported on Saturday that the group, including women and children, were taken in trucks and disembarked outside the railway station on Friday night.

8220;They have been staying on the PCNDTA plot for the past few years. We tried to check their antecedents but many could not produce valid documents. Also, they were illegally staying on PCNDTA land. We requested PCNDTA to ask them to vacate the land,8221; said Police Inspector Dilip Shinde.

Suhas Divse, CEO, PCNDTA, said police requested them to evict them citing security concerns. 8220;We got a request from the Hinjewadi police on December 15 to evacuate the migrants encroaching the PCNDTA land near Kalewadi Phata. We conveyed the decision to them. On Thursday, they approached us demanding two days to vacate the place. By Friday night they had moved out,8221; he said.

Residents around the land say the migrants often collected money and food to survive and were moved out on Friday. 8220;The place where they were staying is close to the Hinjewadi IT park. After the Mumbai terror attacks, we don8217;t want to take any chances,8221; said a police officer. It8217;s not the first time that seasonal migrants from Kashmir are camping at Kalewadi region. Over the last 10 years, the city has been witnessing influx of migrants from various places in Jammu 038; Kashmir like Baramulla, Kupwara, Handwara, Uri and Budgaon. Kashmiris leave the Valley and come to the city between October and March and erect tents or makeshift dwellings in the open space in Kalewadi.

The matter had been taken up with Maharashtra government, the J 038;K government and the Union Home Ministry by citizens forums and NGOs. 8220;For the last nine to ten years, 500 to 1,000-odd Kashmiris have been frequenting the Kalewadi camp during winter. We made repeated requests to both the state governments and Union Home Ministry to find a permanent solution. But till date, the Union Government has done nothing concrete. These people are financially needy and could be easily lured by money and exploited for aiding terrorist activity,8221; said Sanjay Nahar, founder of Sarhad, a city-based NGO, which works for people in Kashmir and other border areas. Three years ago, the then IGP from J038;K, Javid Mukdoomi, had visited Kalewadi and submitted a report on the seasonal migration of Kashmiri Muslims to Pune. But no proper follow-up action was taken.

The Kashmiris, stranded at the railway station for hours before boarding a train in the evening, maintained they had documents like voter ID cards and ration cards. 8220;We don8217;t have anything against people of Pune. They have always helped us. We were flushed out of Kalewadi by the authorities and we don8217;t have money to board a train or feed our children. We are outsiders here. Once back in Kashmir, people there will treat us like aliens,8221; said Dilshad, who intends to go to some other state.

While some plan to go to Andhra Pradesh, others are yet to decide. RPF officer RR Pandey said they all left by Saturday evening. 8220;After repeated requests, they boarded the Indore Express in the evening,8221; he said.

Asim Sarode, a social activist, said Kashmiri Muslims in Kalewadi used to collect money posing as Hindus who migrated during the strife in Kashmir. But he said it is wrong to force out people based on suspicion created by regional differences or religion.