M A I N   N E W S

For people along LoC, it’s an endless war
Jupinderjit Singh
Tribune News Service

Sultan Dhaki (LoC), September 19
After the death of her two children, Shahin Begum, 22, is struggling to begin life afresh in this village on the LoC.

Her boys —one 6-year-old and the other 4-year-old were killed before her in a round of shelling by Pakistan a few days ago. Her husband, an Army man, and she are now consulting military doctors to have another child.

When the doctors say it is possible, excitement shows up on his face, but the woman remains emotionless. She is probably wondering how she would raise this child till the next shell strikes.

The villages along the LoC have been a witness to thousands of such stories of individuals “sandwitched” between the Indian and Pakistani forces.

Villagers of Sultan Dhaki, Kamal Kot, Busgrah Dulanjha and several other areas have seen entire families being killed in shelling or by militants.

It is an endless war, a lifelong struggle for survival for thousands of persons living along the LoC. Between shelling by Pakistan and search operations by the defence forces, the people are trudging along somehow hoping that one day things would go normal. It’s not easy living here; you have to pass at least 10 security cordons to reach this village, about 150 km from Srinagar.

These people have nowhere else to go. Their lands, orchards, relatives and means of livelihood are here. They have relatives across the border. The shelling on the Pakistani or Indian side kills their relatives on either side.

The village was connected by a kutcha road with Uri only four years ago, that too because of the pressure mounted by the Army. The road may take years to be paved.

No Chief Minister has ever visited this village to see things for himself. Politicians come, but only to seek votes.

A few days ago, the Pakistani forces began an unprovoked firing along the LoC here to help infiltration and the Indian forces retaliated. However, it were the civilians who bore the brunt. As many as 23 houses were damaged.

“Fears is now a routine for us,” says the village Sarpanch, Mr Abdul Majid Mir. He said more than 105 empty shells had been recovered the morning after the fresh attack. Damage to the crop had been massive.

In 1998 the Pakis (as they are called here) pounded the village with 525 shells in one night killing many.

“We could not dare to sleep in our houses for three nights after the recent firing,” said Mr Nazirullah Khan, a village elder. All work in the villages would be finished by 4 pm, after which, we all would retreat to a strategic place behind the mountains where the shells could not hit.

Army is the saviour for these people. With civil administration allegedly ignoring the area, the Army is providing them with medical assistance, help in reconstruction of houses, communication and transport facilities.