Excelsior Correspondent
REASI, Apr 18: Talwara migrants , who have been camping in migrant camps in Talwara of Reasi District, protested for the second consecutive day on Thursday as they were not provided facilities to cast their votes for Lok Sabha election in Udhampur-Doda constituency.
A large number of migrants, including females, assembled at the camp and held demonstration amidst raising slogans and displaying their voter identity slip. The protesting migrants alleged that they were not provided transportation/protection etc to reach their native villages to cast vote despite an assurance for the same by District administration.
The protesting migrants also blocked the Reasi to Talwara road for several hours and accused the District administration of depriving them from their fundamental right of casting vote. They were also demanding polling station for them at the camp. They had held similar protest yesterday.
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Pertinent to mention that these migrants, including around 6000 voters, originally hailing from mountainous areas, were settled in Reasi camps by the administration after they were dislodged from their native villages by the terrorists in 1999 and onwards.
Meanwhile, JKNPP leader Prof Bhim Singh has accused the State Government and the Union Government of intentionally depriving Talwara based migrants to cast their votes. The Kashmiri migrants from Kashmir Valley settled in other places in Jammu have been provided polling booths/facilities to cast their votes in their camps but the Jammu migrants settled in Reasi and other places were being asked to go to their native villages to cast their votes, he said and demanded from Election Commission of India for immediate intervention, assuring right to vote to these thousands of migrant voters in the interest of justice and equity.
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