'Refugees in Our Own Land': Kashmir Families Displaced by May Cross-Border Shelling

Salamabad, Baramulla (J&K): Crouched beneath the concrete steps leading into his son’s single-storey house, 82-year-old Mohammad Sultan Naik had prepared to embrace death with verses from the Quran on his lips.

On the night between May 6 and 7, when India launched 'Operation Sindoor', Naik watched in horror as an artillery shell tore apart the house of one of his three sons. The explosion sparked a blaze that engulfed the house of his second-eldest son next door.

Within minutes, the two structures – a lifetime of hard work by sons who are labourers – had turned into a pile of smoking debris.

Mohammad Sultan Naik walking near one of the two houses of his sons which were destroyed in cross-border shelling. Photo: Jehangir Ali.

“We have become refugees in our own land,” Naik told The Wire at the Salamabad trade facilitation centre (TFC), a sprawling complex of cargo hubs and lodges, some 102 kilometres from the capital Srinagar in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district.

In better times, Salamabad TFC, a centre for trade between the two divided parts of Kashmir, was a symbol of the potential for improved relations between India and Pakistan.

Now, however, it has become a symbol of their animosity, with displaced families, such as Naik's, becoming its new occupants.

Over a month after the artillery strikes, the government seems to be struggling to rehabilitate Naik and the other victims who were impacted by the latest phase of the military conflict between the South Asian nuclear powers.

According to officials, Rs 1.3 lakh have so far been paid as compensation to the families whose homes were completely destroyed in cross-border shelling. But with the high cost of labour and raw material in the border areas, this amount has not been enough.

“The compensation amount is not even enough to clear the debris, let alone build a new house. Rather than helping us, the government has rubbed salt on our wounds,” said Talib Hussain, Naik’s son.

A school-going girl parsing through the remnants of the belongings of a family whose house was destroyed in cross border shelling in Uri. Photo: Jehangir Ali.

According to the Union ministry of home affairs, 2,060 structures were damaged across Jammu and Kashmir due to heavy gunfire and artillery shelling during the four-day military conflict between India and Pakistan from May 7-10. At least 23 civilians were killed in shelling across J&K, according to reports; the government has not released official figures.

A J&K administration official said that 534 structures were damaged in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district as several residential areas in the frontier town of Uri and the villages in its peripheries such as Nowpora, Gingle, Salamabad and others came under artillery shelling.

The home ministry has also announced a special compensation package announced by the prime minister of Rs two lakh for each fully damaged house and Rs one lakh for those partially damaged. “The funds haven’t been released yet,” a source said.

The Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary M.A. Baby (in spectacles) speaking with victims in Nowpora village. Photo: Jehangir Ali.

The Wire visited Uri on Tuesday (June 10) along with a delegation of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI-M) led by party general secretary M.A. Baby who expressed solidarity with the victims of cross-border shelling while demanding a special session of the parliament to discuss the situation.

“The compensation of Rs. 1.30 lakh for each family is very less considering that they have lost their homes as well as their belongings. We will take your concerns to the parliament and press the government to increase the compensation amount,” Baby told a group of aggrieved villagers in Nowpora.

However, the victims said that visits by VIPs in the past have not borne fruit. “Many VIPs came here and took photos with us but nothing has changed. How long will it take for the government to come to our rescue?” asked Mehmood Ali, whose house in Gingle village of Uri was damaged in the shelling.

Mehmood Ali showing the damage caused to his house in Gingle village of Uri by an artillery shell. Photo: Jehangir Ali.

At least 11 artillery shells landed in Kalgie village of Uri on the night between May 6 and 7, killing livestock and damaging several houses. According to officials, the splinters from one of the shells hit Abdul Hamid Khan who had a narrow escape from death while the houses of his four sons suffered damage.

The four families are putting up at the Salamabad TFC along with other border residents whose lives have been uprooted following the artillery shelling. Each family has been allotted one room with an attached bathroom but there was no water supply when The Wire met Khan’s family.

Tanveer Ahmad Khan poses outside his room at Salamabad trade facilitation centre which have been allotted to the displaced families. Photo: Jehangir Ali.

Khan’s son Tanveer Ahmad said that he was putting up in one of the rooms along with his wife and four children, one of whom used to go to school before the family got displaced, “The school is about six kilometres from here and I can’t afford to pay the bus fare,” said Ahmad.

Ahmad said that his two brothers had last year taken a Rs 15-lakh bank loan with which they purchased around 30 goats. He said that all the goats died when an artillery shell landed on their shed.

In peaceful times, Ahmad worked as a daily wage labourer which was enough to meet the household income. He said that it has been a daily struggle for the displaced families comprising nearly three dozen members who are putting up at the TFC building.

Ahmad said that a 500-litre storage tank on top of the building runs out of water in the morning and the families have to fetch drinking water on their own from a brook every day. For the victims like Ahmed whose houses have been categorised as “partially damaged”, the government has paid Rs 6,500 in compensation.

Ahmad dubbed the compensation a 'cruel joke'. 'The artillery shell blasted away the roof and front of my house, which is why we had to move here. What can I do with Rs 6,500? I can’t earn wages because there is no work around here at the moment. It's a struggle to even find milk for my youngest. I am on the verge of begging,” he said, tears welling in his eyes.

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