Over 1,000 J-K workers go on hunger strike in Punjab, demand they be sent home

Nearly 1,200 workers from Jammu and Kashmir, who have completed their quarantine period of fourteen days in different camps in Punjab's Pathankot district, are on a hunger strike for the last three days seeking they be sent to their towns in the Union Territory.

They were stranded in Pathankot after the government imposed a lockdown to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus.

The workers had then been put in quarantine in seven different camps, mostly resorts and marriage banquets.

After their quarantine period ended, they refused to take meals, seeking evacuation to their home towns, officials said here.

“Though the Jammu and Kashmir government has taken the decision for their return, but we have yet to receive any communique till date," Pathankot additional deputy commissioner Abhijeet Kaplish, who is monitoring the arrangements, said.

He said senior officials from Jammu and Kashmir had also met these people a few days back and if they are taken back to their hometowns, this would be a welcome move.

The workers had arrived in Pathankot from mainly Rajasthan, Haryana and Delhi, but were stopped at Punjab's border with Jammu and Kashmir due to the lockdown in the country.