Abid Bashir

Srinagar (NVI): With this year’s first quarter witnessing a record number of ceasefire violations along LoC in Kashmir, many people living in the villages close to India Pakistan border in north Kashmir’s twin districts of Kupwara and Baramulla are considering going to safer places.

According to the villagers living in these border areas, the frequent ceasefire violations by Pakistani troops have taken a serious toll on their livestock and property.

Given the intensity of exchange of firing and heavy shelling with weapon systems including artillery by the armies of both the countries, people living close to the LoC in Uri, Keran and Tangdhar are considering moving to safer places for the safety of themselves and their livestock. The majority of people who spoke to NVI over the phone from the villages close to LoC are sensing trouble in the days ahead given the nature of aggression on both sides of the fence.

“I have not seen such an aggression between the two sides ever before. The armies of India and Pakistan are using massive artillery as if there is a war already between them. The only thing on my lips is sacred verses (kalimah), when I see mortar shells raining on trees and pastures,” said Abdur Aziz Khatana (75) a resident of Nambla village of Uri.

Khatana said that he feels that things can go from bad to worse in the coming days given the nature of heavy firing and shelling from both sides. “Don’t know when this would end. It may go worse in the days ahead. This is my gut feeling,” he said, adding that he and his relatives have decided to migrate to town in case the situation turns ugly. “If things remain the same, we will go and camp in Srinagar along with our livestock. If we stay here, we will die along with our cattle.”

Shahzada Bano, a widow in Charunda village of Uri said that since the past one week, LoC is very hot as there is a heavy exchange of fire. “It is hard to judge who violates the ceasefire. We don’t get time to judge who resorts to firing first. But the fact is that intense shelling from both sides and their deafening sound breaks the morning silence and triggers a wave of fear among us all,” she said.

A mother of three children, including two daughters, she said that the first thing she does when there is an exchange of fire is taking all her three children in a “self-made underground bunker for safety.”

“I tell my kids not to come out. My second priority is my livestock which is our source of living. I have two buffaloes and three cows beside a dozen sheep. I lock them in the shed and pray for the safety of my children and my livestock when shelling intensifies,” she said.

She said if things remain the same in the coming days, she will travel along with her children and livestock to the Chenab valley in Jammu where her relatives live.

Many residents of Uri villages close to LoC are seriously planning to migrate if things deteriorate in the days and weeks ahead. “Things seem to be turning worse. We are considering options where to migrate—Srinagar or Jammu,” one such resident told NVI.

As per official records, since January this year, 1,630 ceasefire violations have taken place in J&K, majority of them in  Poonch, Rajouri, RS Pura, Keran and Uri sectors. An army official said that it is the Pakistan army that violates the 2003 CF pact every time. “We are always giving them a befitting response. There have been casualties on both sides,” he said, adding that “this year so far, there is a surge in CFV from across the LoC.”