1971 wasn't half as terrifying for shell-shocked Poonch

JAMMU: Poonch didn’t sleep a wink past midnight. In the distance, the ominous thunder of relentless Pakistani bombardment from across the LoC seemed to portend a danger that even 1971 didn’t pose.

Around 2am Thursday, when the first of the fireballs coursing through the night sky hit home, district Gurudwara Prabandhak Committee president Narinder Singh’s mind raced back to when he was eight.

“The 1971 War wasn’t remotely as terrifying as what we experienced for six-odd hours till Thursday morning. Back then, my family and thousands of others remained in Poonch through the war without fear of coming in the line of fire. This is different, which is why most residents have already fled to safer places,” he said.

At the first light of dawn, businessman Aijaz Kazmi, in his late 50s, picked up his car keys to leave for Jammu with his family. “After a shell exploded in our neighbourhood, I prayed the entire night for our safety,” he said.

As Kazmi drove through Poonch, the place looked different from the town he had grown up in. Almost all 17 wards bore the scars of shelling, which intermittently continued till around 11am.

“Shri Guru Singh Sabha Gurdwara, Geeta Bhavan and a madrassa housed within a mosque were damaged. Many shops and other commercial buildings were struck by mortar fire,” he said.

The 16 casualties in Pakistani shelling across sectors in J&K included Amarjeet Singh, who would play the tabla during kirtan at Shri Guru Singh Sabha Gurdwara, and Amreek Singh, a ragi (kirtan singer) at another Sikh temple in Poonch. A maulvi, Maulana Mohammad Iqbal (46), died when a shell hit the Zia-ul-Uloom madrassa.

Randhir Singh from Mankote village said the extent of damage was even greater in areas closer to the LoC. “This is not to say that India shouldn’t have responded to the terrorist attack on tourists in Pahalgam. Pakistan has been a thorn in the side for a long time. Enough is enough,” he said.

The Poonch administration opened temporary shelters for those displaced by shelling overnight, but they were mostly unoccupied until Thursday evening. “There is an exodus of residents, for nobody knows what might happen next,” said Vishal Sharma of Poonch town.

Jahangir Ali, another resident, said his parents lived through the 1965 and 1971 wars without Poonch being touched by fighting. “Even during previous border clashes over the past decade, we wouldn’t worry about our safety. My parents can’t believe we are being directly attacked now.”

Kazmi said Poonch needs bunkers for civilians given heightened tensions along the LoC and the possibility of the conflict dragging. “Maybe the administration should have known that we were vulnerable. Now that war is at our door, bunkers are a must.”