Living in shadow of death

KARGIL, March 7 (UNI) — The entire 75,000 Shia population of Kargil district in the Ladakh region of Jammu and Kashmir has been living in the shadow of death for the past more than two years just because they defied Pakistani machinations of supporting militancy.

Caught between a ruthless enemy and an indifferent government, they have been the victims of Pakistani shelling from across the border for many years now. Two years ago Pakistani troops intensified shelling and firing making innocent civilians their targets.

Many houses have been destroyed and people rendered homeless. A number of persons have got killed by firing, cattlehead have perished, the houses that withstood the firing, have developed cracks. School buildings have been destroyed and many parents have stopped sending their children to school fearing shelling anytime.

People spend nights in specially-made bunkers but those who are not rich enough to construct bunkers, spend nights in shelters. A Majority of the population is suffering from psychosomatic disorders. Their Economic condition has worsened as they are scared to venture out.

Education has been the worst hit as schools had to be kept closed from the beginning of the academic year till date resulting in the wastage of one full year for students. The situation has been made worse by the government’s indifference.

According to Mr Liaquat Ali Khan, joint secretary of the Youth Voluntary Forum of Kargil, the "friendship bus service" between Delhi and Lahore, started recently, had raised some hopes that their miseries would end.

"But our miseries never ended when the shelling in our sector showed no signs of stopping. The day the bus service started, our people thanked the almighty and distributed nazr (gifts) at all mosques but all in vain. Nobody knows when the killer shell will come," he said.

Mr Khan who has already met Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee in Delhi, requested the Central Government to take up the issue with Pakistan or create conditions so that people of Kargil were able to live in an atmosphere that was free from fear.

He also demanded that displaced persons be shifted to safer places and wages and other allowances be given to them on the pattern of Kashmiri migrants. He urged the government to give scholarships to students who were studying in Delhi, Jammu and other parts of the country.

He has demanded alternative avenues for transport via Pahalgam in south Kashmir, like the Kargil-Pahalgam road, or another alternate road that would be safe from Pakistani shelling.

At present there is only one road link between Kargil and the rest of the country which is in the Pakistani firing range and often shelled by Pakistani troops.

Last year a convoy of buses carrying media personnel from Delhi was also shelled. However, nobody was injured. Pakistani troops often shell the road to disrupt the supply of essential commodities to the area which remains cut off from the rest of the country for six months. Some of the shells are targeted at the civilian population while some accidentally fall in the civilian areas.

Last year a mosque and a helipad constructed by the Army for carrying essential commodities, were damaged in the Pak shelling.

During his stay in Delhi, Mr Khan also submitted a memorandum to Pakistani High Commissioner in India, Ashraf Jehangir Qazi, listing the difficulties the Kargil residents were facing because of Pakistani firing and urging him to find some solution on "humanitarian grounds".

The trans-Zojila roadway feeding the Ladakh region is the main target of the Pak shelling. The defence authorities have introduced a bypass of Sankoo-Drass. However, this too, falls in the Pakistani firing range.