‘Poonch's geographical location makes it vulnerable to Pakistan shelling'
Khanna is uniquely placed to delve into the details of Poonch, having lives through two India-Pakistan wars (1965 and 1971) while being in this town.
He adds the situation worsened further after the Tashkent Agreement of 1966, when India gave away the Hajipir Pass to Pakistan.
The district across 1,674 sqkm has a population of nearly five lakh.
'Poonch city alone has over one lakh population and has Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs in almost equal proportion. However, Muslims remain a majority in the district,' says Khanna.
In 1965 war, India had captured Hajipir Pass, Hazira, Bagh and other areas, which were later given back to Pakistan under Tashkent Agreement.
'Poonch is actually a bowl shaped valley and Pakistan sits on dominating positions adjoining Ajote, Digwar, Digwar Terwal, Digwar Maldlyal, Malti, Gulpur and Guntrian areas. Betar Nullah (rivulet) divides us here. Chirikot post of Pakistan is just atop Poonch town. In Mandi, Pakistan has Kopra post on a dominating position. Similarly, in Jhallas, Pakistan sits on a higher ground,' says Khanna. 'They are visible to us and we are to them but they are on higher ground and we cant harm them,' he adds.
Former GOC of the Srinagar-based15 Corps, also called Chinar Corps, Lt Gen KJS Dhillon said Poonch, south of Pir Panjal range, has an important strategic and historical value.
'Poonch sits at the mouth of Hajipir Pass from Jammu region, i.e., western side and the other end is Uri from Kashmir side. Since Poonch is strategically located, there is a very strong presence of Indian military,' he says.
The former general says, 'Pakistan tries retaliate but can't hit Indian army because then it will be initiation of war. Therefore, it has been hitting innocent civilians and their properties. It is as good as they killed innocent civilians in Pahalgam and now killing innocent civilians on LoC.'
He admitted that there were certain areas in Poonch where Pakistan has dominating positions along the LoC.
'We also have lot of dominating heights on the LoC where if we start hitting their civilians, it will hurt them badly. But we are an ethical army and never fire on civilians. Pakistan knows that since Indian Army is not going to retaliate by firing on their civilians, they are targeting our civilians and trying to incite us to hit their civilians or military installations, which we have not done during Operation Sindoor,' he says.
Being strategically located, Poonch district has four brigades—Poonch, BG, KG and a RR-- to check any aggression by Pakistan.
According to Lieutenant General (retired) Rakesh Sharma, who served five stints in Jammu and Kashmir, Poonch town's proximity to the LoC makes it vulnerable to cross-border shelling and artillery fire.
He also pointed out the strategic importance the Hajipir Pass, a mountain route currently located in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) could have served at this time, had to not been handed over to Pakistan by erstwhile government, terming the move a 'blunder'.
The Hajipir Pass connects Uri with Poonch, south of Pir Panjal range. India gave the pass to Pakistan following Tashkent Declaration in January 1966. India had captured it during the 1965 India-Pakistan war.
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