Life Near LOC Kashmir: 'Easy to die, hard to get injured'

There is no better place to feel the fear hidden in silence than in Kashmir.  Kashmir Valley is so beautiful that even the soldiers sitting on the army posts on the peaks on both sides would have thought once before setting fire.

Shaukat Kasana, a resident of Churunda, Uri, speaking to Ground report. said that "After 2003, we did not think that such a sudden firing would start." We had in mind that now there is peace. I never thought that the Pakistan Army would ever fire like this in our area.

"There was a lot of fear when the firing took place, there was a lot of fear and when we moved from here to other areas of Baramulla at around 11 pm, everyone was worried," he said.

The village came under shelling for the first time after months in the Churunda Uri area of North Kashmir’s Baramulla. According to Kasana, that day was no less than the Hour for them. He said he felt as if the war had just begun.

He added, that due to a lack of proper education, their children are forced to labour work. Sadeeq is his neighbour. He says the constant fear of Pakistani shelling has a profound effect on children's minds.

He said 'These kids can't even prepare for their exams in such a situation. You tell me how these children can compete with the children in Delhi and Mumbai schools. He added that "the mothers of this village are most worried. They spend their days and nights thinking about what will happen to their children.

Sadeeq said that children are in shock for many days, they are shocked when they hear the sound of bullets. "The kids say we didn't sleep on the bed. Take us to the front." Their fear does not go away for many days. We don't let them go away from home where they will look if the firing starts.

He further added that their voices were very loud, and the children were very scared. The three-and-a-half-year-old son fainted when he heard two or three fires. The eldest son had heard everything, he kept reciting the words.

Another villager Rashid told Groundreport.in "People in and around the village are very worried. We are too poor to go anywhere in the city. That is why they are forced to leave their lives and the lives of their children to Allah and live here. 

Asked what the situation is like in the village now, he said the situation is the same. Will not even get a chance. When we returned home after spending two days here. 

Rashid said there was panic in the village. "My child says he suffocates in the bunker. There are three or four families living in a bunker, sitting in the front lines all night, not sleeping, just sitting. They go out for three or four hours, finish their work, cook and then go to the bunker.

Last month, the Home Minister said in Parliament that Pakistan has violated the ceasefire 3000 times in nine months so far this year.

However, the construction of community bunkers in Poonch, Rajouri, Samba, RS Pura and Kathua districts of Jammu and Kashmir was completed two years ago.

In the summer of this year, this plan to build a bunker has also been extended to the Baramulla and Kupwara districts of the valley.

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