Ghulamullah Kiyani;
The population of Azad Kashmir has been under attack by Indian shelling, firing, cluster and toy bombs for the last 30 years. On the other hand, the border population of Occupied Kashmir is also forced to live a miserable life due to thousands of landmines and wire fencing laid by the Indian Army. Thousands of landmines have been laid by the occupying Indian Army under the guise of controlling the infiltration of Mujahideen in occupied Jammu and Kashmir. Hundreds of innocent people have been killed and maimed due to the detonation of landmines laid by the Indian Army. Two and a half lakh kanals of land and thousands of residential houses came under the wire wall. But to date, India has not provided any compensation to the land and homeowners. The worst affected is the occupied Poonch district where 143,643 kanals of land has been cordoned off due to Indian wiring and as a result the land has become barren. The ceasefire line has literally become a nightmare for the human population because while millions of kanals of agricultural and non-agricultural land have been affected by the fencing on the border, thousands of houses have been lost. There are also those who have been affected by it and the people living in these houses have either vacated them or even if someone is living in them, their life has become indigestible because they are under siege all the time. The only way out for these houses across the barrier is through the main iron gates built by the occupying Indian army, which are closed before evening and open only after 9 am.
No one raises their voice against Indian atrocities. Human rights activists and civil society are all silent. During the Congress rule, the Home Ministry had sought a proposal on the recommendations of the Standing Committee of the Indian Parliament to provide compensation and safe havens to the people living in the Indian-occupied areas. A resolution was also passed in the former Legislative Council of Occupied Kashmir. It was also announced in 2013 that the people living in the vicinity of the Cease Fire Line would be shifted to safer places where they would be provided plots of 5 marlas of land so that human lives and property could be saved during the shelling. However, it was later said that instead of providing separate lands, the population should be provided common shelters in their own areas. So that the border population does not move and they can save themselves in case of emergency. Later, it was announced to build 20,000 community bunkers at an estimated cost of Rs 1006.25 crore. India is currently constructing these bunkers in different districts in the areas of the ceasefire line. But the population of the ceasefire line is protesting against India every day. Media reports say that settling the border population in community bunkers is not a solution to this serious problem. The areas where these people live are under constant shelling.
The entire area is engulfed in landmines laid by the Indian Army. To date, hundreds of people have been killed or permanently disabled by landmines. Death hangs over the heads of the civilian population all the time on the ceasefire line and a minor mistake can prove fatal to them. The problems and difficulties of the border population can be gauged from the fact that people have been deprived of their land by India and they have lost their farming. Secondly, they are not getting any compensation for this land. So where will these people go? This is not a general situation but It is a serious problem and no one has a solution to it.
Laying landmines in other countries of the world is a violation of international laws and a serious crime but India has got the freedom to kill the people. If given a chance, let the world know about the issue of Indian landmines in occupied Kashmir, illegal wire fencing on the ceasefire line, shelling Kashmiris. The border population needs to be freed from landmines and wire fencing. Not only that, they should be compensated for the land that has been affected by the wire. They need to be protected from landmines in India so that they do not die as a result of uncommitted sins. Focus on the problem, the better it will be and the more it is delayed, the more devastating the consequences will be because Pak-India relations can never be said with any certainty. And if they continue to rise due to Indian bigotry and anti-Muslim policy, then the border population will have to bear loss.
