09-05-2025
Displaced by Pakistani shelling, residents of border villages long for home and peace
Several wooden houses have been turned into skeletons of charcoal and belongings into mounds of ashes in Salamabad area of Baramulla district in Jammu and Kashmir. Residents, who migrated in the wake of Pakistan's mortar shelling on the night of May 7-8 and live in shelters, on Thursday (May 8, 2025) expressed one wish: 'The government should ensure our return to home soon'.
Zareena Begum, one of 33 families of Silikote, a village fenced with barbed wires close to the Line of Control in Baramulla's Uri, has taken refuge at the Government Degree College, Uri. The classrooms have doubled up as bedrooms for these families.
'Entire village shifted'
'Our entire village has been shifted. We were told the village was easy target and could be hit by mortars from Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK). We have underground bunkers but officials said it was not sufficient to protect us,' Ms. Begum, who heads a family of eight members, said.
She is worried about the children of Silikote. 'Every blast frightens the kids. Their school is in the village and shut now. We appeal the government to make arrangements so that we return to our homes. How will our cattle survive?' Ms. Begum added.
Adjacent to Silikote is Salamabad village, where the house of Dr. Bashir Ahmad, a local, has gaping holes drilled by mortar shells, which started immediately after Operation Sindoor was wrapped up by India on Tuesday night (May 6, 2025) . 'Around 2 a.m., shells started raining from PoK and the intensity only grew with each passing hour. My neighbour Dr. Bashir's house was shattered by these mortars,' Nadeem Akbar Khan said. Mr. Khan recalled the normal life residents of Uri were living since the 1999 Kargil war. 'Life was going smoothly. As of now, life stands disturbed. This (shelling) will not get any solution. It's poor people on both sides who die. The government should find a solution and end this hostility once for all,' Mr. Khan added.
'Nothing left'
As the intensity of shelling waned on Wednesday night (May 7, 2025), many women on Thursday (May 8, 2025) scanned through debris and salvaged whatever little they could. 'This is my kitchen. Nothing has remained of it,' a resident of Salamabad said, while pointing at a small room with black smoke all around on the walls. Blackened utensils are littered on the floor.
'I am a widow. I would earn in the day and then only eat in the evening. I have saved penny by penny to make this house. It's all gone. It's not liveable,' the mortar shell victim said.
According to official figures, 13 civilians were killed and 59 were injured in Pakistan's shelling and firing along the LoC since Operation Sindoor. All deaths were reported from Poonch district. Around a dozen houses were damaged in Kupwara and Baramulla districts.
