People shift to shelters in Jammu as fear takes over
Neetu Devi from Hamirpur Kona village said the villagers on the International Border (IB) in Jammu always bore the brunt of Indo-Pak hostilities but never backed out.
Amid heightened hostilities, people in Jammu started moving to shelters in large numbers to take refuge as their home towns and villages have been targets of cross-border shelling.
“We are away from our homes and living in discomfort at this camp. What unfolded last night, when Pakistan attacked Jammu with drones and missiles, has certainly caused fear among us. But we stand firm with our nation in this fight against terrorism,” says Ram Lal, 68, a resident of Pargwal, currently at a camp at Sahib Bandgi Ashram in Mishriwalla.
Lal, who witnessed 1965 and 1971 Indo-Pak wars, is currently at the camp with almost 300 others, mostly women and children. Lal says he has no fear for his own life, but concern for his children and grandchildren.
Neetu Devi from Hamirpur Kona village said the villagers on the International Border (IB) in Jammu always bore the brunt of Indo-Pak hostilities but never backed out.
“We are soldiers without guns. We back our forces. However, leaving homes and putting up in camps has always been an inconvenience,” she said.
She recalled how Pakistan, before November 2021, spilled blood of villagers on the IB.
“The memory of my younger brother getting killed will haunt me forever. He was hit by a shell in the house and died instantly. He was just 21 at that time,” she said.
People along the IB and Line of Control (LoC) in Kathua, Samba, Jammu, Rajouri and Poonch districts started shifting to camps set up by the government after May 7.
The government has set up camps in government schools, temples and community halls. The administration has made arrangements for food, bedding, water, electricity and buses for ferrying the border dwellers to the camps.
According to estimations, around 8,000 people have been shifted to various camps in Kathua, Samba and Jammu districts alone.
A majority of the people move in with their relatives instead of the camps.
On Thursday evening, border residents from Arnia, the largest populated town on the Indo-Pak border in J&K, rushed to camps for safety as well. The administration has set up camps in government schools in Bishnah there.
In Samba, people shifted to camps from Bainglad, Suchetgarh, Kulian, Sadoh, Regal, Chachwal, Chillyari, Chechwal, Mangu Chak and Khora villages.
They have been put up in an ashram in Thandikhui, Chichi Mata Temple, community centre at Samba bus stand, higher secondary school Rajpora and a community hall at Treli.
Chief minister Omar Abdullah visited a camp at Samba and enquired about the wellbeing of the people.
“I don’t remember that Jammu was ever attacked this way after the 1971 war. Our forces neutralised all their projectiles, but the situation has not been brought by us. They (Pakistan) killed innocent civilians in Pahalgam, and we had to give an answer to them,” he told mediapersons.
