Sir,
As a result of ceasefire violations and continuous heavy firing on the civilian areas in the forward villages in Poonch by Pakistan , six people including a Sarpanch and a woman are reported to have been killed and many others injured.Their houses and other buildings have been extensively damaged and people have been forced to abandon their houses, livestock and belongings and move to safer areas.Last year too, heavy loss of life and property was caused due to heavy firing by Pakistan in R S Pura sector.Schools in the affected areas in Poonch remained closed for as many as five days affecting the studies of students adversely.Indian Security Forces have also retaliated effectively to silence Pakistani guns and in the retaliatory fire by the Indian forces people living along the LOC on the other side must also have suffered.The question is as and when the ceasefire violations take place by any of the two hostile neighbours, it is the innocent people on either side of the border who suffer for no fault of theirs.It takes these people the period of a life time to build their houses and other property which is destroyed in the twinkling of an eye as and when mortars pound during escalation of tension between the two countries.The two countries ought to realise the hardships faced by the people living on their side of the border and always exercise the better option of dialogue to resolve the disputes and bilateral issues in an amicable manner and work for ensuring a lasting peace in the region so that their people can live a peaceful and fearless life.They must avoid inflicting civilian casualties by resorting to firing on the areas inhabited by the civilians.It is also time that Pakistan stopped supporting and training the terrorists on its soil and helping them to infiltrate into India to carry out terrorist and subversive activities killing innocent people.The people affected by Pak firing need to be paid adequate compensation and concrete bunkers also need to be constructed by our Government along the LOC to provide a safe shelter to the people residing in the areas falling along the Indian side of LOC.
Yours etc…
Ashok Sharma,
Flat No 4,Housing Colony,
Udhampur