Kaloosa (Bandipora), Feb 19: Surrendered militants on Sunday threatened to launch an agitation against what they termed as government’s “failure” to rehabilitate them.  
 Hundreds of surrendered militants from various parts of this north Kashmir district gathered at Kaloosa here to discuss the problems faced by them.
 Besides demanding the proper rehabilitation and jobs, they demanded that “harassment they face at the hands of forces should end.”
 “There should be no politics over our plight as we have suffered a lot during past 20 years of turmoil. We demand rehabilitation and jobs,” said Maqsood Ahmed.
 “We have been left high and dry by the government as it has neither rehabilitated us nor provided jobs to us. We are demanding that all cases based on false allegations against surrendered militants in police stations should be withdrawn, ”Maqsood said. “The security agencies should stop harassing us and authorities should provide passports to us and our relatives without any hindrances.”
 “We had surrendered weapons in order to live our life peacefully. We want complete and effective rehabilitation which was promised to us,” they said. “We have to face lot of hardships to feed our families as we are struggling to survive.”
 Released militants alleged that government made false promises to them. “We have been left in lurch. We have been facing torment and harassment since the day we surrendered our weapons. We have to go to nearby Police Station and nearby camp to mark our attendance. Even our relatives are denied passport and employment.”
 They threatened to launch a peaceful agitation if the Government fails to address their grievances soon.  “We appeal Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah to fulfill his promise of rehabilitating surrendered militants so that we can live our lives with honor and dignity,” they added.

Lastupdate on : Sun, 19 Feb 2012 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Sun, 19 Feb 2012 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Mon, 20 Feb 2012 00:00:00 IST