Those who talk of war should spend a day with us in relief camps: LoC residents
Even though there has not been any fresh ceasefire violation by Pakistan on the Line of Control (LoC) for the last two days, fear continues to haunt people from the bordering villages in the Nowshera sector of Jammu and Kashmir.
The number of those temporarily housed in the five relief camps set up by the administration reached 2,313 on Saturday morning.
A senior official of the Rajouri district administration said 583 families comprising 668 males, 719 females and 926 children from villages like Sarya, Khamba, Anwas Bhandar, Kalsian, Jhangar and Bhawani are living in the relief camps.
He added that they are staying in the camps as a precautionary measure because the situation on the LoC is still tense.
Pardeep Singh of Jhangar village informed that since the firing has stopped for the past two days, some people visit their homes in the morning to attend their cattle and return to the camps before dusk.
“Our standing wheat crop has either been destroyed in shelling from Pakistan or is ruined in absence of it being harvested. The cattle are lying unattended. We have been reduced to refugees in our own country. Those who talk about war should come and spend a day with us in the camps,” he said.
Similarly, Balwan Kumar of Sarya village said unless hostilities between the two countries end, there will be a constant fear of being targeted again by the Pakistan army.
“Whenever relations between India and Pakistan sour and hostilities rise, people living along the border bear the brunt. We are very poor. Repeated firing and shelling on the LoC makes our life a living hell,” he added. Like hundreds of other villagers in the region, Kumar, his old parents, wife and four children have also taken refuge at a camp in Nowshera. “There hasn’t been any shelling for the past couple of days but there is no guarantee that Pakistan will not open fire again,” he said. Intense shelling from Pakistan in Nowshera sector of Jammu and Kashmir since May 11 has claimed three lives and injured 10 people, besides displacing thousands..