When peace becomes deceptive, innocent people become victims.
Sanjiv Mathur of Kor Mathia village along the International Border in Hiranagar sector is a worried man today. A lull in the shelling created an illusion of peace and his grandparents, uncle and aunt returned to the village on Monday morning. But destiny had had other things in store and just a few hours later Pakistani guns again oozed fire targeting the village with heavy mortar bombs. Unable to move, Mathur's grandparents got trapped in their house as if the war has broken out.
"My grandparents had fled the village some days ago after Pakistan resorted to heavy shelling. There was a lull in the shelling and they returned to their home today (on Monday). But again there was shelling and they could not move," Mathur told dna.
Mathur too had visited the village but had left just 15 minutes before the cross border shelling resumed. "I have talked to my grandparents. They said they are safe inside their house. We hope by Tuesday morning they would shift again," he said.
Villagers said it is perhaps the first time that Pakistani forces have resorted to such a heavy shelling. "It (shelling) is extreme. Pakistanis have crossed all limits. Their army is not targeting the BSF posts but villages. Lights are off in all the villages. Shells are landing on houses and fields," he said.
The intensity of the shelling could be gauged by the fact that Pakistani shells are landing deep into the Indian Territory. "Earlier the shells were hitting the villages in one kilometer range. Now the shells are landing four kilometers into our territory. Situation is really bad," he said
Official figures reveal that more than 50 villages have been affected by the Pakistani shelling in the Hiranagar sector alone. District administration has put the evacuation process on hold fearing that Pakistan may target the buses to inflict the civilian casualty.
"Due to intense shelling further evacuation process has been withheld to avoid targeting of buses ferrying the border residents, However three bulletproof vans have been pressed into action at Bobiyan, Pahadopur, Manyari and other forward areas," said Shahid Iqbal Chaudhary, district collector of Kathua.
Meanwhile, the state government has indefinitely closed all educational institutions in Hiranagar and Mahreen zones in view of heavy shelling reported all along the International Border in Hiranagar sector. A government spokesman said the examination/assessment papers scheduled for this period shall be treated as postponed and fresh date shall be notified separately.
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