PAK DCM SUMMONED
PAK FIRING There are 457 villages with over 4.5 lakh population located on the International Border and Line of Control in Jammu, Samba, Kathua, Rajouri and Poonch districts
NEW DELHI: External affairs ministry on Friday summoned deputy high commissioner of Pakistan Syed Haider Shah to protest against the continued ceasefire violations and deliberate targeting of innocent civilians by Pakistan forces.
ARNIA(JAMMU): “It’s not a warlike situation, it’s a war. We are running for our lives. While we have managed to flee, there are many hiding inside their houses because Pakistan is raining bombs,” said 47-year-old Darshan Lal. Along with his family of five, Lal was seen scampering past a bridge that connects Arnia town with the mainland.
Reluctant to talk a lot, Lal said that life has become a living hell for him and thousands of villagers who live close to the border with Pakistan.
He said, “Sitting in comfort zones thousands of miles away from the border, it is very easy for politicians to give a war cry because they are not in the line of direct fire.”
A total of 457 villages with a population of 4,51,856 are located on the International Border (IB) and the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu, Samba, Kathua, Rajouri, and Poonch districts of Jammu region.
Some of the villages in Arnia — the epicentre of the skirmishes since Wednesday — are virtually in the line of Pakistani weapons. One of them is Allah, located barely two to three kilometres away from the zero line.
Hari Singh of Chachwal village said that Pakistan has not only ruined their lives but also that of their children. “Their schooling is constantly being hampered because of firing and shelling. A chill runs down the spine at the thought of losing your child but there are families on border who have lost their kith and kin. The pain and agony of losing a family member haunts you for the rest of your life,” he said.
Deafening sounds of mortar explosions and machine gun fire, with a deserted Arnia town and villages, bore testimony to the fact that things had turned ugly since Wednesday.
Harried villagers were seen running to safer places with their children and daily belongings.
Beaso Devi of Korotana said, “Farming, schooling and cattle rearing…everything on which we survive comes to a halt during such flare-ups. We lose family members, crops, cattle and houses to Pakistan firing but who is bothered?”
Beaso Devi added that people from villages in safer areas are hesitant to marry off their daughters to “our sons because they see border villages as death traps”.
Kartar Singh, a septuagenarian from Arnia, said, “On either side of the border, a poor man and his family gets killed. It should stop. For how long will hapless and poor villagers keep dying like this?”
Singh said that all his life he had not witnessed any serious effort by governments to end their miseries.
“Now they say that bunkers in houses will be constructed. I hope and pray bunkers are constructed on a war footing. At least people can save their lives,” he added.
A majority of the people also complained about inadequate medical facilities, ambulances, doctors and paramedical staff, and bulletproof vehicles to treat and evacuate them at the time of contingency.
Sitting in comfort zones miles away from the border, it is easy for politicians to give a war cry as they are not in the line of direct fire.
DARSHAN LAL, villager