Manu Khajuria
Shahnawaaz died in vain. His death last winter did not affect anyone except his family. He languished for four months, in a hospital in Jammu city, far away from home and the terraced fields familiar to him, before he passed away, all of 13 years of age. Not many came asking for him when he lay in the hospital. He was seen as yet another victim of Pakistani shelling but he was more than that. He was Shahnawaaz Khan from the beautiful mountain village of Darati, in Jammu Province, with ruddy cheeks, sturdy of stock and a spirit which a 80mm mortar cannot break. I had promised to always remember him by his name and always ask the hard questions for him.
Almost a year later, an angelic fourteen month old, named Pari lies in the same hospital where Shahnawaz lay last year, with a grievous injury to her back which required a major surgery. I have thought of what Shahnawaz was doing when the mortar shell that snuffed his life out, hit him. In my mind he was playing with his friends, his last moments joyous and carefree. For Pari I do not have to imagine because she, I read, was with her cousins Rishabh and Abhi, five and seven years old, probably dressed in her best clothes for the festive occasion of Bhaidooj. As soon as these young children sat down for the ritual, a mortar shell fell on them, leaving Pari unconscious and instantly killing her two young cousins. Pari along with her injured parents is in a city hospital, having undergone a major surgery. In the images of her desolate family home which lost 4 members, one can see a forlorn courtyard, with a dusty red toy car, waiting for the return of laughter and play. Pari caught the media’s attention but there are many families who suffer in silence and many a Shahnawaz who remain unseen and unspoken of.
Jammu Kashmir is a border state and it’s been in war since the last seventy years. As per the Ministry of Home Affairs, Indiashares 3,323 kms of land border with Pakistan, which includes the Line of Control in Jammu Kashmir, besides the International Border. This border runs along the States of Gujarat, Rajasthan, Punjab and Jammu Kashmir.Of the total 3,323 km India-Pakistan border, one-third, that is 1,225 km, runs through Jammu Kashmir alone. The extensive coverage of the borders within Jammu and Kashmir gets reflected from the fact that of the 22 total districts of J&K, border runs through 10 districts. Of these, five districts fall in Jammu Region, namely, Jammu, Samba, Kathua, Rajouri and Poonch. Both the districts of Ladakh, namely Leh and Kargil areborder districts. In Kashmir, border runs through three districts, namely Badgam, Baramulla and Kupwara.
Jammu Region is seeing conflict, migration and instability, on its borders since 1947. Why has this particular Region seen and continues to see the worst, amongst India’s border areas is a valid question raised by its inhabitants. Even after the ceasefire agreements, there have only been short periods of peace. The borders have remained extremely vulnerable.The volatile Indo-Pak relations mean that the people of the border villages live on tenterhooks. Besides the four wars that have been fought on the border, there has never been security of life and livelihood even during peace times. In fact the term peace times is very misleading and does injustice to the villages in line of fire. The rest of the Nation forgets these villages on the front lines, standing between them and the 120mm mortar shells, since the last seven decades. The border villages always live in the shadow of uncertainty and fear. The only constant in their lives is different degrees of destabilisation due to cross-border tensions and fears of militancy.
Socio-psychological Impact: The social and psychological impact of the ongoing conflict is manifolds. The small joys of life are missing or short-lived. As the rest of the Nation celebrated Diwali, with five and seven year olds Abhi and Rishabh gone in a few seconds, we did not have much to celebrate in Jammu Region. With Pari having lost her Aunt, her two kid brothers, and her Grandfather, there can be no revelry. Pari is also the daughter of an Army Jawan who was home on holiday and now is recovering from leg injuries due to the mortar shell attack. Images of him, distraught and being carried physically by family members, to the funeral grounds where his Father was cremated, are heartbreaking. They are especially poignant since we as a State do not respect our men in uniform. We do not recognise the achievements or the supreme sacrifice of our Jawaans. We were not even quick to announce any monetary compensation for our Uri Martyrs. This for Jammu Region, which has men from almost every village in the armed forces, is not only demotivating, it seems to be discouraging the nationalistic spirit of the people of this region, and their age old martial tradition of service and sacrifice for their homeland.
Fear and uncertainty casts long shadows in this region affecting the psychological and mental well being of the people. The porous nature of the borders enables militant infiltrations and the many related incidents never let the residents breathe easy. When there are reports of children sitting down to give their tests as mortar shells are being fired and sounds of war fill the air, the stress levels and anxiety remain high, altering behaviours. The social interactions are affected as people avoid getting their daughters married into families living in border villages.When a mother in law and daughter in law, died in Poonch this month, leaving a young family without any elderly woman, the impact on the family structure is irreparable. When families have to relocate and there are mass migrations at least three to four times in a year, the quality of life is impacted tremendously. Villages which have windowless rooms to avoid that stray bullet and where the guns never fall silent in the not so distant horizon, the social and psychological effect is huge and long-term.
Economics of War: The violations in the last few years are known to intensify during festive and harvesting seasons. The mainly agricultural border population suffers heavy economic losses. With the firing starting just around the harvesting time, it chases away the labour working on the fields and the shells lying on the farmlands make them inaccessible. The hard work during the crop cycle which lasts 6 months, is a farmer’s labour of love and hope, but the farmer in the fertile, top quality Basmati growing areas like RS Pura and Bishnah, is never sure if he will be able to reap the crop he sows.
Effect on Education: More than 300 schools were closed in Jammu Province recently, due to cross-border firing. When children of the border villages start a new school year, they are not certain of finishing it without any major disruptions. When a border village like Mangu Chak, in Samba district, has poor transport facility, making it difficult for the children to travel to the nearest town for secondary education, it is symptomatic of the poor development and infrastructure in the smaller and interior villages on the border. The lack of of opportunity for higher education and better lifestyles is not restricted to one generation but is inter-generational.
Thesense of neglect is deep-seated in the villages around the border due to the lack of attention of the government officials, the politicians, and even their fellow citizens. Though despairing it is to see the image of Pari lying unconscious on a hospital bed bandaged, bloodied and with needles and tubes sticking to her, maybe a name and a face will raise awareness about the plight of our border residents and shake our collective conscience. A Diwali Milan organized by the Deputy Chief Minister of the State, and attended by the Chief Minister, signifying business as usual, when innocent civilians are dying because of 120mm mortar shells raining down upon them, is reflective of an indifference, which is disheartening.
The construction of thousands of bunkers as a solution to this issue, is indicative of a policy making which is myopic in vision. Rhetorics and bold statements of retaliation from the Centre has not brought any change in this decades long pattern of conflict. The patriotic jingoism and celebrations on Independence Day sound discordant to the residents of the border villages for they do not enjoy the rights, a citizen does, in an Independent Nation. A nation is responsible for providing safety and security to its citizens and it has clearly failed to do so for our people on the borders. Would we sit through this year after year in any other metropolis. Is the value of human life any less in Jammu Kashmir. The suffering is decades old, yet we cannot make it our new normal. It is a travesty of justice, of the right to live safely and the right to a livelihood.
When we call the situation ‘war-like’ we play with semantics and avoid the hard truth staring at us. We lack the spine and honesty to call it what it is – a war, and in doing so we insult and alienate those people who say’ Goli Kaara tak pujdi ae/Goli Ghar tak pahunchti hai’. People have been living in a state of war, for seventy years, in Jammu Kashmir, and maybe when we develop the courage and the sensitivity to see and call it for what it is, we may lose the apathy and work towards a permanent solution with a sense of urgency it rightly deserves.
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