Sajid Raina
Baramulla, Feb 25: The border residents in Kashmir region on Friday said that they are living their lives in the shadow of peace while hoping for further development as Friday marks the first anniversary of the fresh ceasefire agreement between Pakistan and India.
“Let’s hope and pray it remains intact,” said the border residents as they are visibly happy after the guns fell silent since 25 February last year when in a surprise development armies of both countries announced the ceasefire and recommitted themselves to the 2003 Vajpayee era ceasefire agreement.
Officials stationed in border areas of north Kashmir including Gurez, Uri, Karnah-Tangdhar say that since the ceasefire agreement came into effect, an atmosphere of peace prevailed in the border areas. “Forgetting the horrible shelling, people are on the path of progress now,” they said, adding that their demands are being met as far as progress is concerned.
“Looks like we’ve been living a new life since last February. Terrible shelling had devastated our lives in the past but the time we have been waiting for has come and we hope it will continue to be so,” said Mohammad Sarwar, an elderly local from the Bagtore area of Gurez.
Realizing that the shelling has not solved anything yet, Suliman khan a resident of Uri said that the two countries should maintain the ceasefire agreement which will continue to give us relief. “Our lives have changed a lot in the last one year. Otherwise, our days were being spent saving our own lives,” he said.
Muhammad Sultan, a resident of Karnah, whose property was damaged three years ago by shelling also termed the ceasefire agreement as a fundamental development and says their life is now being redecorated in their respective border villages. “That is what we will pray for and hope that this agreement between the two countries will last forever, ” he said.
Expressing happiness over the agreement, the local residents said that for the last several decades their lives had turned into hell by border shelling. As a result, they have lost their loved ones and seen their homes destroyed but now everything is getting better and they hope for such an atmosphere of peace to continue in the future.
“Now we requested the government to pay attention to our poor settlements which have been suffering for decades, ” they said, adding that the environment in the border areas is now quite peaceful and that’s why we want to see progress here.
Meanwhile, a senior official said that no ceasefire has been violated along the north Kashmir border this year while everything is being closely monitored. “Although many infiltration attempts were made but all of them were eliminated while large quantities of weapons have also been recovered, ” he said.
He said that border people are living a life of peace and tranquility and a lot of infrastructure development affected by the ceasefire violations has gathered pace.
