The Jammu and Kashmir government on Friday faced an angry Opposition, which accused it on the floor of the state’s Assembly of not doing enough to stop civilian killings due to shelling done by Pakistani forces.
On Thursday, another woman identified as Zainab Bi was killed due to shelling and many civilians were injured. The government has said that according to the data available with them, 43 civilians have been killed so far at the border due to shelling in the past three years.
“We are going to permanently leave our villages as Pakistan is raining bombs on us,” said Ram Lal of Arina area of Jammu, who lives near the international border. About 500 villages with a population of over 5 lakh people are located near the international border and the LoC.
The recent use of shot range missile by Pakistan in Rajouri has rattled the villagers in the twin districts of Rajouri and Poonch. In this attack, one captain and three jawans were killed and their bunker was completely destroyed. The incident forced hundreds of families to flee to safe places.
“They promised us land, community bunkers and much more. The fact is we are living in temporary shelters with no medical facilities. We lost many villagers as ambulances reached late to ferry the injured to the hospitals,” said Darshan Lal and his wife Rama Devi, underlining the government’s failure to fulfil its promises. They live in Nowsahara sector in Rajouri.