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Villagers along LoC rejoice as cross border firing comes down

People living along the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir have always been victims of cross border firing and shelling. The Pakistani military and terrorists routinely attacked border villages . To address this, a ceasefire agreement was signed between the two countries in 2003 despite which shelling continued to happen. The number of attacks had been on the rise since 2006.

However in 2019, the India’s Narendra Modi led government scrapped Article 370 and 35A that granted special status for Jammu and Kashmir and the state was divided into 2 territories – Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh, to which the Pakistan strongly objected. In response, there have been more than 5,000 ceasefire violations from the Pakistani side in the past year alone.

In this context, an agreement was reached between the Directors General of Military Operations of the two countries to fully comply with the Ceasefire Agreement from the night of February 24. Since then, cross-border raids have ceased. Infiltration across the border has also stopped. People who lived in fear of being bombed and shot at any moment, are now at peace. Children are able to go to school without fear. Men and women are taking care of their business..

After a long hiatus, in the villages adjoining the Poonch and Rajouri districts, weddings are being held with festive spirit. Absence of any firing and bombing for the last 46 days has given the people along the LoC a new hope.

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