by Syed Shadab Ali Gillani
SRINAGAR: The civilian population has taken a huge hit in Jammu and Kashmir as Pakistani gunners shelled Poonch in Jammu region and Uri and Karnah belts in north Kashmir. While Poonch is counting its human losses, said to be at least 12 killings and more than 50 injuries, Karnah and Uri belts have suffered serious property damage. A section of the population is either in the process of migrating for the time being or has already shifted, reports reaching here said.
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“What we are witnessing is something unprecedented,” Poonch lawmaker Aijaz Ahmad Jan told Kashmir Life on the phone. “It is massive devastation, and almost 65 per cent of the population has left the town; some have gone to Jammu, some have shifted to Bafliaz, and some to Surnakote.”
Jan said the crisis started at around 3:05 am when the Pakistani artillery guns started shelling on all sides. It was Balakot first, then Salotri, then Khadimada and Kankote, and finally the town. “In the main town, we have too many spots which were hit by the medium-range artillery shells,” he said. There was shelling near the Dak Bungalow, district hospital, bus stand, forest office, and many other crucial infrastructures.
A family was on its way to Jammu when a shell hit their vehicle on the road, killing two people, including a minor.
Near Dak Bungalow, a house was hit where two kids were killed. Shells, apparently aimed at gun points located within the city, hit the civilian population and set afire the homes. Till early in the morning, he said the people were trying to extinguish the fires early in the morning while saving themselves from the shells intermittently raining on the town till around afternoon.
He said the administration is busy managing the issues, so it is too early to talk about the losses the historic town has suffered. In the Banpath area, where various vulnerable houses were hit, the population was temporarily shifted to a local school. A seminary was also hit by Pakistan, killing its senior executive.
“Unofficial reports put the death toll at 12, including two in a remote village wherefrom not many details are available, but 10 are confirmed,” Jan said. “I am told 38 are injured, but some reports put it at slightly more.” So far, two injured who were termed critical by the local hospital have been shifted to Jammu.
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Though the Pakistani gunners have been shelling border areas of Jammu and Kashmir for the last 11 days, it turned heavier after Indian missiles hit nine different spots on the other side of the divide under Operation Sindoor. Pakistan claimed they lost 26 civilians to the attacks. In the morning briefing on the Operation, top defence and foreign affairs officials said they hit the non-military installations involving the bases of groups banned in India. They released footage of the hits as well.
The situation in the remote north Kashmir town of Karnah (Tangdar) is also termed to be grave, even though there is only property damage, and people have somehow survived the Pakistani gunners. “It was an uninterrupted shelling for around four hours,” Javed Ahmad Mirchal, the Karnah MLA, told the Kashmir Life. “We have lost eight homes and suffered damage to many more, including the local mosque.” He said the main Tangdar market suffered extensive damage in the fires that were triggered by the shells.
“Pakistan started the shelling, and then our army also responded with full force,” Mirchal said. “Some of the Pakistani shells have landed in Chowkibal, where at least two homes and many vehicles and shops were damaged.”
Mirchal said the administration is doing its bit to manage the crisis. “I met the Chief Minister because I required a surgeon and a gynaecologist, and he was kind enough to pass the necessary order,” Mirchal said. “The population requires free rations so that they can manage the crisis.”
Uri was the third major spot that became the instant target of the Pakistani gun positions last night. The shelling started within minutes after the missile attack on Pakistan-controlled territory of erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir.
“The shelling was intense,” a resident who visited the spot where shells had landed said. “Shells landed in Kamalkote belt, Salamabad, Kalgi, Lagama, Paranthina, and Lagama, and there were many shells that fell in deserted spaces in the entire belt.” He said there were at least two houses that were devastated, and many other properties were damaged. At least four persons, including women, were injured by the shells and are being treated in the local hospital.
The resident said that fear is there, but the people are used to it. “There were many years of peace, but the people know how to manage,” he said. “We are not migrating at all.”
However, he said the access to the town is now being regulated, and people are not being permitted to move beyond Baramulla, Sheeri, and Boniyar. “This is adding another crisis to the population,” he said.
The peace that returned to border areas in Jammu and Kashmir after November 3, 2003, had led the population straddling the LoC to return to some sort of normalcy. Though there were tensions again between the two sides after 2019, the rival armies got into another ceasefire plan on February 25, 2021. These peace moves helped the populations become normal, start welcoming tourists and manage their lives better. These ceasefires held even at the peak of the Uri surgical attack and later the Balakote attack in 2019. Now, after the Pahalgam massacre has pushed the situation to a level where the gunners are back to business. The people hope that the border returns to normal at the earliest as continued shell exchange with devastate a vast belt.
Political leaders, including Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, Pradesh Congress Committee president Tariq Hameed Karra and former Jammu and Kashmir BJP president Ravinder Raina, condemned the Pakistani shelling on the civilian areas.
“After the inhumane and barbaric murder of 26 innocent civilians in Pahalgam, it was expected that India would use its right to respond appropriately and proportionately. I think the Government of India and the Indian Defence Forces have gone out of their way to ensure that no military and civilian targets were hit in Pakistan. They have only hit terror bases. As reports are coming, Pakistan has gone out of its way to target the civilian population. So I have taken stock of the situation and we are dealing with the situation as it develops,” said Omar Abdullah
“Pakistan’s mindlessly targeting civilian areas in Poonch, Mendhar, and Uri sectors is highly condemnable and against International conventions. We earnestly urge the government to ensure secure evacuation and comprehensive rehabilitation for affected families,” Karra said on X.
He urged the party workers to lead frontline efforts in supporting and aiding the affected communities.
Raina also criticised Pakistan for targeting innocent civilians living close to the border and said the BJP-led government at the centre will ensure proper rehabilitation of the people affected by the cross-border shelling.
