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| Mortar shelling by Pakistan instills fear in Jammu villagers | | | Early Times Report
JAMMU, Mar 4: Even with the return of IAF pilot Abhinandan Varthaman, the situation is as bad as a hot plate along the India-Pakistan border. The villages near the border have faced the brunt of the tense atmosphere with unscheduled mortar shelling.
In Suchetgarh village along India-Pakistan border, mortar shells can be seen scattered around and exploded ordnance shells have pierced through walls, residents and cattle causing serious injuries.
Unlike the Line of control (LoC), in RS Pora sector in Jammu, Pakistan posts are visible barely a kilometre away.
RS Pora has faced very heavy mortar shelling and artillery firing from Pakistan troops through 2018, leading to damage and destruction.
One of the villagers, Vinod, was hit in the eye, when a mortar shell exploded in house courtyard in May 2018. The usual day was completely turned upside down as Vinod was sitting on a charpoy outside, while his family was inside. But even being inside does not guarantee safety from the shells. Splinters from one of the shells pierced Vinod father's elbows and legs.
Vinod and his father, both of whom are farm labourers, had to undergo treatment in a hospital without any government assistance.
Yet Vinod's eye has only partially recovered and splinter marks are still visible on his father's elbows.
Even the animals are not spared the onslaught, as they are tied in the open.
"Splinters destroy everything, from cattle to clothes. Four buffalos died after fragments ripped their bodies. The incident struck us like a family death. We did not receive government assistance for treatment," said a villager.
In what can only be seen as ironic, some of the boys in the village preserve these mortar shells as souvenirs.
"Our daily life has been hell amid all the tension. We support our armed forces and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. We hope the government takes strong action against Pakistan, so they are taught a lesson for how our lives have been ruined. Why should we continue to bear this attack?" asked Krishan Lal.
The situation has not improved but only worsened since then. Fear of being shelled is still prevalent among the villagers due to escalated tension between India and Pakistan.
Besides RS Pora, Kalsian village in Nowshera sector has similar evidence of fallen shells.
"When a shell hits the roof, even lantern can fall on our head and a crater is formed. People have suffered major injuries here. Sometimes, the Indian Army-post sounds an alarm so we can run to bunkers. Often, we are caught off-guard. This is a daily worry for villagers along the border," said Savita Devi in Nowshera.
While the government has the policy to compensate the victims, some residents call it 'too little, too late'.
Former DC of Rajouri, Shahid Iqbal Chaudhary said, "Government has sufficient funds and policy for shelling victims. Sometimes, at a local level, there may be an issue with the disbursement of funds but grievance gets addressed. In 2018 we compensated 163 houses."
State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) guidelines are applied for border firing incidents on J&K. However, earlier under the Security-related expenditure (SRE), grievous injuries had higher financial compensation but that reduced under the SDRF fund.
Current DC of Rajouri Aijaz Asad has confirmed that there is a government scheme to assist the shelling victims.
In case of loss of life, kin of dead receive Rs 5 lakh from the government and Rs 1 lakh ex-gratia from the state government. The victim's family is also given a job or Rs 4 lakh. In case of injuries, financial assistance is offered which depends upon the severity of the injury. |
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