CHAKOTHI: Bunkers are being rebuilt and a blackout has been ordered, butschools and bazaars remained open on Thursday in Chakothi, a border villagein Azad and Jammu Kashmir, after a deadly attack sent tensions with theneighbouring India soaring.
Residents were worried but life was going on in the village of some 3,000inhabitants just three kilometres from the Line of Control.
Schoolchildren attended classes as usual and customers crowded the marketsand stalls of the bazaar.
Tensions have spiralled in recent days following a suicide attack in Indianoccupied Kashmir that killed over 40 Indian paramilitaries and wasreportedly claimed by the banned outfit Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM).
Shabbir Ahmed Pirzada, a resident of Chakothi, decided to rehabilitate anold bunker next to his house that was first built in 2000, when the Indianarmy frequently bombarded the area.
Chakothi has not been touched since a ceasefire was declared in 2003.
“God forbid, if such situation develops, we can save ourselves in thebunker. We are not afraid, as we have seen Indian shelling in the past,” hesaid.
Local authorities have encouraged residents in areas near the Line ofControl to take additional precautions against the risk of “mischievousaction” by the Indian army.
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“Bunkers should be constructed in areas where they don’t exist.Unnecessary lighting should be avoided after sunset and people shouldrefrain from travelling on roads located close to LoC,” the local disastermanagement agency has warned residents.
“We are scared for our children when they go to school,” said JamilaKathoon, a housewife, pointing out that the local school had been hit byshelling in the past.
“We had built bunkers in our mud houses in the past, for our safety. Now wehave houses with tin roofs, which are not safe. There will be more loss ifthere is shelling in the area,” added another resident, Zaheer Ahmed. “Weare very worried,” he said.
Others are worried about the economic consequences of the crisis.
The cross-border bus service serving both sides of Kashmir since 2005, aswell as modest barter operations implemented in 2008 as part of peaceefforts, were partially halted this week by Delhi.
“There will be huge losses to the traders… The two countries should find apolitical solution to the Kashmir issue,” said Jan Muhammad, a Kashmiritrader.
