SRINAGAR: Raja Zaffar expected another bumper walnut crop before exchange of fire along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir almost became routine since the night of August 6 when five Indian soldiers were killed in an ambush by Pakistani troops and jehadi elements.
For the 41-year-old small-time farmer, the crop is the only source of income. But now he fears for his livelihood amid escalation of cross-border tensions while the harvest season is round the corner.
Zaffar did odd jobs in Srinagar to sustain his family before he returned home in remote Tanghdar village in Karnah area, nearly 180km from Srinagar, to look after his walnut farm after the India and Pakistan signed the LoC ceasefire agreement in 2003.
The end of hostilities along the LoC was a life-changing experience for hundreds of farmers like Zaffar, who could not have even dreamt of attending to their fields like they do now as the region earlier reverberated with artillery fire every day.
"You cannot imagine how the ceasefire transformed our lives. Far from cultivating our fields, we were always running for our lives,'' Zaffar told TOI from Tanghdar.
He had to walk a kilometre to speak to TOI from an STD booth, now a rare sight elsewhere in the country, but the only source of communication for a majority of people in Karnah. The remote area, one of the most backward regions in the state, has no mobile phones for security reasons due to its proximity to PoK.
The ceasefire was largely observed till the last few years when the violations became regular. The tensions particularly heightened after the killing of Indian soldiers along the LoC and mutilation of their bodies in January this year.
"We had sleepless nights then too. We feared the situation may deteriorate. But fortunately it did not. Now it is the same old uncertainty,'' said Zaffar.
Zaffar's story mirrors that of hundreds of people who suffered due to the routine exchange of fire along the 740-km LoC.
Residents say the area is not prepared to face the pre-2003 situation. Just before the ceasefire agreement, the government had started giving monetary support to residents to build bunkers.
"The agreement made officials complacent and the support was discontinued. Now if the situation worsens, people will be left to fend for themselves,'' said Asim Behzad Awan, a Karnah-resident, who now lives in Srinagar.
Awan is among hundreds of people, who had migrated to Srinagar before the 2003 ceasefire. Many of them later returned to their native place for jobs and businesses.
"My family decided to migrate to Srinagar as my education suffered as schools remained closed due to cross-LoC shelling,'' said Awan. "We are anxious about the safety of our relatives back home.''
This is a crucial time for Karnah residents, who begin stocking up supplies for the winter before snow cuts it off from the outside world for months. Residents fear the cross-LoC shelling could hamper this process.
There are virtually no medical facilities in the region and the evacuation of wounded residents in winter months is a tricky issue. Airlifting of the sick is subject to clear weather, a rarity in winters.
For the 41-year-old small-time farmer, the crop is the only source of income. But now he fears for his livelihood amid escalation of cross-border tensions while the harvest season is round the corner.
Zaffar did odd jobs in Srinagar to sustain his family before he returned home in remote Tanghdar village in Karnah area, nearly 180km from Srinagar, to look after his walnut farm after the India and Pakistan signed the LoC ceasefire agreement in 2003.
The end of hostilities along the LoC was a life-changing experience for hundreds of farmers like Zaffar, who could not have even dreamt of attending to their fields like they do now as the region earlier reverberated with artillery fire every day.
"You cannot imagine how the ceasefire transformed our lives. Far from cultivating our fields, we were always running for our lives,'' Zaffar told TOI from Tanghdar.
He had to walk a kilometre to speak to TOI from an STD booth, now a rare sight elsewhere in the country, but the only source of communication for a majority of people in Karnah. The remote area, one of the most backward regions in the state, has no mobile phones for security reasons due to its proximity to PoK.
The ceasefire was largely observed till the last few years when the violations became regular. The tensions particularly heightened after the killing of Indian soldiers along the LoC and mutilation of their bodies in January this year.
"We had sleepless nights then too. We feared the situation may deteriorate. But fortunately it did not. Now it is the same old uncertainty,'' said Zaffar.
Zaffar's story mirrors that of hundreds of people who suffered due to the routine exchange of fire along the 740-km LoC.
Residents say the area is not prepared to face the pre-2003 situation. Just before the ceasefire agreement, the government had started giving monetary support to residents to build bunkers.
"The agreement made officials complacent and the support was discontinued. Now if the situation worsens, people will be left to fend for themselves,'' said Asim Behzad Awan, a Karnah-resident, who now lives in Srinagar.
Awan is among hundreds of people, who had migrated to Srinagar before the 2003 ceasefire. Many of them later returned to their native place for jobs and businesses.
"My family decided to migrate to Srinagar as my education suffered as schools remained closed due to cross-LoC shelling,'' said Awan. "We are anxious about the safety of our relatives back home.''
This is a crucial time for Karnah residents, who begin stocking up supplies for the winter before snow cuts it off from the outside world for months. Residents fear the cross-LoC shelling could hamper this process.
There are virtually no medical facilities in the region and the evacuation of wounded residents in winter months is a tricky issue. Airlifting of the sick is subject to clear weather, a rarity in winters.
No comments:
Post a Comment