Army battles allegations of forced, unpaid labour; politicians call for investigation

 Such forced labour, locally called 'begaar' and widely witnessed during the early years of militancy in Kashmir, was believed to have all but stopped

File picture of a cordon and search operation in Kulgam district after a soldier on leave went missing. (PTI): Sourced by the Telegraph

Muzaffar Raina, TT, Srinagar, 01.10.23 : The army is battling allegations of forced, unpaid labour from residents of about a dozen villages in the Kund area of Kulgam, with politicians calling for an investigation.

Such forced labour, locally called “begaar” and widely witnessed during the early years of militancy in Kashmir, was believed to have all but stopped.

Former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti was the first on Saturday to flag allegations of forced labour by a unit of the counter-insurgency Rashtriya Rifles (RR).

The Telegraph spoke to half-a-dozen residents of the area, including sarpanches, the majority among whom said the residents were having to endure begaar. They requested this newspaper not to name them.

A village elder said some men have been tasked to load boulders from Kund Nallah onto tractors and drive them to the local RR camp.

“Others work at the camp to erect a bund around it. Dozens, maybe hundreds, have been summoned for work,” he said.

A defence spokesman denied the allegations.

“Received distressing calls from residents of Kanslo Kanda (Kanchloo, Kund) area in Kulgam about them being allegedly harassed by 9 RR camp troops. Also concerned that they are summoning young men to the army camp & forcing them to do labour work for free,” Mehbooba posted on X.

She sought an army investigation and added: “If true he (top army officer in south Kashmir) must ensure those involved are taken to task.”

The defence spokesman, Lt Colonel M.K. Sahu, told this newspaper the allegations were untrue.

“We have checked from our formations in the area (after Mehbooba’s post) and found some men were employed, provided food and are being paid,” Sahu said.

A Kanchloo resident, who claimed to have been tasked by the army along with others to “arrange” men for work, said the latest spell of forced labour had been going on for weeks. He requested anonymity for fear of being hounded.

“The trouble began after there was a blast in a village in Kund (on August 6, without casualties). Several youths from the area were detained for weeks. Additionally, they started summoning us and asking us to marshal youths for work,” he said.

“Every day we arrange men for work. They gave them no money all these days but nobody dares to say ‘no’ to them. Nobody wants money; all they want is to be safe.”

Villagers alleged the army had tasked sarpanches and other village heads to procure men for work.

The sarpanch of a Kund village said he had marshalled a dozen-odd men from his village for such work, but only once.

“They worked there for an hour only. It happened several days ago. I received a call from a man today who said he was from the army. He told me to ask these men to collect their wages for that hour’s work,” he said.

The sarpanch said he had received the call in the afternoon — about an hour and a half after Mehbooba’s post.

Of all the men this newspaper spoke to, Bahuddin Malik, who heads a local waqf committee, alone denied the allegation of forced labour. “It’s not true; I have heard nothing about it,” he said.