SRINAGAR In occupied Kashmir, in the wake of growing COVID-19 cases, many migrant workers who are stuck in the territory are making desperate appeals to the authorities for food and transportation. Musharraf Shareef, a worker from the eastern Indian state of Bihar, is stuck in Srinagar with a group of over seven people who have no food and money, and are fending for themselves Shareef is among many other migrant workers stuck in the territory after lockdown was intensified by the Indian government in the wake of COVID-19 outbreak. “We earn from our day labour and then eat. When you do not have any means of income due to the lockdown, it is hard to survive in such conditions. Before coronavirus, it is the hunger which will kill us,” Shareef told media. Although the occupation authorities on Sunday started a helpline to provide help and assistance to these workers, many of these are still unable to make a call as their phones have become defunct. “We can’t make a call from our phones now, we have no recharge. Only a small amount of money is left, and if we use it for other purpose than food, we will starve and die,” Muskeen Abbas, another worker told media.—KMS
