Sajid Janjua, Daily Dawnt, Dawn TV Report
Kotli/Azad Kashmir: Workers in Kotli took to the road with their donkeys and protested against the administration in a unique way
These workers, who were extracting sand from the banks of the Poonch River on the outskirts of Kotli city, took out a procession with their pack animals in front of the Deputy Commissioner’s Office and raised slogans of ‘Zalm wa Satam Hai Hai’.
A worker involved in the protest said, ‘9 of our men have been arrested at night, who are not guilty of any crime. Where should we go? Our livelihood is being snatched. Whether we rob or what we do, we will go to jail even if we rob. Now we will come to protest with our children.’
Another worker said, ‘Some people who used to extract sand from the riverbank with us earlier have now bought vehicles and trolleys and are stopping us from extracting sand using donkeys. We have been doing this work for decades. Now, by taking the trolleys directly to the river, our livelihood is being destroyed.’
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