news details |
|
|
| Border people in J&K fear repeat of 1999 migration | | | Early Times Report
Jammu, Aug 24: If people, living in the border areas in Jammu and Kashmir, are worried and scare stricken they have a genuine reason. They feel upset over the way Pakistani troops have been violating the 2003 ceasefire agreement with impunity during the last three weeks.
And if the Hurriyat Conference (M) leaders are worried over repeated ceasefire violations by the Pak troops and over strong retaliation from the Indian troops they have a reason to feel so. The Hurriyat leaders believe that in case these incidents of ceasefire violations were not stopped it may trigger war between India and Pakistan making the separatists in Kashmir irrelevant. Hence the Hurriyat leaders have started using these ceasefire violations as a base for their oft-repeated plea or demand for settling the Kashmir issue.
These separatists, headed by Molvi Umar Farooq, have decided to address a communication to Islamabad and New Delhi urging them to end ceasefire violations and resume dialogue for resolving the Kashmir issue because the "Kashmir problem has remained a bone of contention" between India and Pakistan.
If the separatists try to play politics on the issue of ceasefire violations, people in the border villages, especially those living close to the IB and the LOC in the Jammu region, have been gripped by panic. Their worry is whether by resorting to intermittent but heavy firing on the Indian border posts and villages inhabited by civilians Pakistan may be recreating the 1999 situation when over two lakh civilians were forced to migrate to safer places.
Several thousand families had to live under tents and thatched huts in various are as in the sectors of Akhnoor, Samba, R.S. Pura, Poonch and Rajouri and people from Pallanwalla, Panjtoot, Hamirpur and adjoining border villages lived refugee type life in tents for several years. Those farmers, who would feed people in the Jammu region by producing wheat, rice, maize, were forced to live on doles. Many among them, including women, were forced by circumstances to work as labourers in road building projects.
It was between 1999 and 2001 that these border villagers had demanded Government help in rehabilitating them in safer areas. The Government had agreed to allot them plots plus some financial help for building small dwellings. But for reasons known to the Government the demand has not been fulfilled.
Instead of allowing separatists to play politics New Delhi should adopt firm stance against ceasefire violations by Pak troops. And possibly separatists are wrong when they say that Kashmir is the bone of contention between the two sides. Are not Siachen and Sir Creek issues a bone of contention between India and Pakistan? What about issues related to water in the light off the Indus Water Treaty of 1960? All such issues have been thrust by Islamabad on India simply to force New Delhi to grant some concessions on Kashmir.
Fortunately till today there has been no migration from the Indian border villages. But if a strong retaliatory fire from India did not silence the Pak gunners people in Indian border villages may be forced to flee to safer places adding to the aches of the Government. India needs to retaliate and on he other hand press all its diplomatic skills and channels for motivating Nawaz Sharif headed Government to prevail upon Pak Army authorities to honour ceasefire. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
STOCK UPDATE |
|
|
 |
| BSE
Sensex |
 |
| NSE
Nifty |
|
|
| |
CRICKET UPDATE |
|
|
|
|
| |
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
