‘Trapped in danger zone, ran for our lives’

First person account: Tribune photo-journalist Inderjeet Singh in RS Pura

After heavy overnight shelling by Pakistan Rangers along the International Border in Jammu district, I was looking for a chance to visit the affected areas. Waiting for two hours in RS Pura town, 20 km from my workplace, I and a few other photojournalists received information that Jora farms, where the Gujjars had raised temporary sheds, had suffered extensive damage.

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When we reached there by 9.30 am, flames from the debris were yet to subside. Some desperate Gujjars were trying to salvage their valuables. Just then, DSP Surinder Choudhary arrived there, along with his men, in a Bolero. As I hastened to click pictures of the destruction around us, there was a deafening sound from across the border. Some mortar shells landed nearby. Knowing well that no help was accessible, the DSP asked us to run. Out of breath, I continued to head for our vehicle amid a shower of mortar shells. 

On reaching RS Pura, I realised we had been trapped in a danger zone. Awestruck, my limbs felt like jelly. And to say that this life-death play is a daily reality for so many in the border areas.