Gurez (Bandipora), Mar 24 (KNO): Around 500 families of the Shina community, who had migrated from Pakistan in 1947 to Kilshay village near Line of Control (LoC) in north Kashmir’s Gurez Valley, continue to face “discrimination.”
Lumbardar of the village, Mohammad Amin Kilshay while talking to the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO) said, “We continue to live in hardship, with little to no development. Our area is deprived of basic facilities such as electricity, roads, and healthcare. Our condition has remained unchanged even 70-years after migration.”
He said that other refugee groups, including West Pakistan Refugees, across the county have received government aid but their community has been completely ignored. “We were uprooted from our homes decades ago, but it feels like we are still refugees, struggling for survival,” he said, as per KNO.
Amin said that they have been left to fend on their own without any special package.
Kilshay is a remote refugee village in Gurez, where people still rely on oil lamps and firewood. “Every evening, our children struggle to study under candlelight. In winters, we are cut off completely,” said Fatima, a resident. “It feels like we are stuck in time.”
Road connectivity is another major challenge. Without proper transportation facilities, residents are forced to carry the sick and elderly on their shoulders for miles to the nearest healthcare center.
“Every time someone falls ill, we have to trek through difficult terrain just to reach a doctor,” said another resident. “Imagine carrying a sick person through snow and mountains. It’s heartbreaking.”
“Other refugee communities have got government aid, housing, and financial assistance, but we have been given nothing,” he added.
“Why are we being treated differently?" residents asked—(KNO)