Valley on the edge, fear of retaliation looms
SRINAGAR: Valley was calm but jittery, apprehending retaliation from Pakistan in J&K, after Indian Air Force fighter jets struck a terror camp across the line of control (LOC) on Tuesday.
As the news of Indian Air Force’s (IAF) pre-dawn air strikes inside the Pakistani territory broke early morning, residents of Srinagar and other major towns in the Valley were seen discussing its fallout at shops, coffee joints and offices.
“I didn’t sleep in the night as the planes were roaring in sky. Now, the people are tense over the possibility of a full blown confrontation,” says engineer Tariq Ahmad, who lives in north Kashmir’s Baramulla town, headquarters of army’s strategic 19 Infantry division which looks after the LOC in Uri, Gulmarg and Nowgam sectors.“for the residents of Baramulla, it will be the worstever nightmare if a war breaks out,” he said.
Senior journalist Yusuf Jameel, who lives on city outskirts, posted on the social media: “We’re in Srinagar. All we could hear is war planes roaring in the skies past 3am. My wife woke me up to say something is going on.’’
“We don’t want escalation. If Pakistan retaliates, it could be a full-fledged war and our state will become the main target and more civilians will get killed,” Omar
Tibetbakal, who is member of Kashmir Chamber of Commerce and Industries, said. “At the same time, we also want the Kashmir issue, which is cause of the problem, should be resolved,’’ he said. “Whether there is any damage or not, Jaish people are killed or not, the fact that IAF
entered Pakistan airspace and returned unchallenged is a huge defeat for the country,’’ wrote Zubair Ameen on the Facebook.
“Let there be war and finish this issue once for all. We don’t want to die every day,” said Asim Ahmad, a salesman at a shop in Srinagar’s Lal Chowk. “We have
never seen peace in our lives,’’ he said.however, some people said India and Pakistan should show maturity as the two countries had fought four wars and there was no end to animosity. “Let’s hope for calm. Escalation in hostilities will only bring destruction,” said Javeed Ahmad, a banker.