Introduction: Kirni village is at a distance of some 20 kilometers from Poonch town near LOC in Tehsil Haveli of district Poonch of the state of Jammu And Kashmir. On the other side of the border is Forward Kohuta of Pakistan Administrated Kashmir. In last 60 years of India Pakistan conflict Poonch district is one of the most affected parts of Jammu and Kashmir. Last twenty years of indo-Pak tension has not only claimed many lives (especially in border regions) but also made lives of thousands of people miserable. Death by shelling, anti personnel mines and firing is common in most of the towns near LOC.

Background: I was a part of group of activists, teachers, students and lawyers visiting Poonch Rajouri and other border areas as part of our trust building activities in the state of Jammu and Kashmir. We wanted to know the condition of the people who have been shifted from their villages and relocated at different camps or cluster colonies created by the administration for this purpose. Kasba village is one of the cluster colonies established by the authorities for migrants from different Hamlets of Kirni village.

We went to Ziyarat Saiyain Baba Miran Baksh. After Friday prayers at the Ziyarat Mosque we made our downward journey towards Kasba village. The reason for going to Ziyarat Miran Baksh first was simply to reach the village at the time when we could see and meet people at Kasba. The villagers have to go back to their fields every day and stay there till evening therefore it is not possible to see them during the day. They come back in the evening to their relocated one room houses built by them from the compensation granted by the government. We were stopped at the check post near a bridge where the road from Poonch goes towards Kirni village and another towards Ziyarat Miran Baksh. On the left side of the road is a bunker in which some soldiers and policemen on duty stop the travelers for checking and identification.

As a routine we were also stopped at the check post while coming back from Ziyarat and not allowed to move towards the Kasba village. At first the soldiers refused to allow us to move beyong this point for security reasons. When we introduced ourselves and assured them that the brigadier and superintendent of police were informed of our visit, then they insisted that the road is not in good condition and is prone to accidents. After a brief argument we assured them that we were not journalists then they allowed us to move at our own risk.

Interaction with villagers: I must say here that the road was really in a bad condition but somehow we made it and stopped at some distance from Kasba village. We walked uphill towards Kasba village for about 10 minutes. The first thing we could see was a small provisional store on the right side of a road under construction. Within no time we were joined by a flock of people carrying food items in gunny bags on their shoulders walking towards the village. I enquired from the villagers about the Sarpanch and Nambardar but there was no response to query from these men. During my conversation with the people carrying heavy burden on their shoulders we were able to get some information about the village .And just after this, we saw few people including a woman on the roof top of one of the Kachcha Houses. We approached them and introduced ourselves. Though people at first were looking at us with suspicion but gradually this suspicion and mistrust changed into hope and frustration at the same time. They started pouring out their hearts and shared what they have gone through during 20 years of turmoil, especially last 8 years.

One of the villagers Qadeer Hussain S/o Mohammad Din said that in early 2001 villagers of almost all villages near LOC were ordered to shift to the different locations identified by authorities for security reasons. It was said that regular mortar shelling from Pakistan has made it imperative for the army and local administration to take this drastic step. However, authorities could not provide required land and funds for relocation. The government did not have necessary funds for such huge displacement so they gave up the project and villagers continued to move temporarily and came back to the village after few weeks of wandering.

According to another villager Mohammad Hussain Qasmi , the villagers of Kirni and Balakote were made to migrate from their houses and shift into the temporary housing provided to them at Kasba village after few months of this incident. All the villagers of Kirni were kept at Bandi chechiyan school building and ground. The villagers moved to this place and on the assurance of the authorites that this migration is temporary and they will be sent back to their villages soon after the situation improves. According to villagers there was no shelling or firing going on at that time moreover no incident of border firing has been reported since Kargil war in this sector. The villagers were given barren piece of land at Kasba village and asked to build their houses, in spite of the land not being fit for housing. There was no aid or grant from the government for 110 families forcibly shifted to Kasba village from Kirni alone. Unfortunately only cases of 84 families were forwarded to the government for making compensation and grant for construction of temporary shelter at Kasba. The government of India sanctioned Rupees 163 lacs (RS.16300,000)as grant for construction of temporary shelters for migrants of Kirni. However, only 84 families were given grant for building shelters at Kasba. Some of the families like that of Mohamed Rashid S/o Mohammad Din were given a piece of land for four families and Rupees 50 thousand for construction of 4 houses. 14 families have been given 50,000 rupees each and 28 families have not received even a single penny till date.

The state administration has constructed three small buildings for being used as community centre, Aangwadi centre and dispensary for new settlement of Kasba however; these buildings remained locked for unknown reasons.

Land for construction; the land given to the villagers is the most dangerous and vulnerable site in the area. It is located on a slope near LOC fencing. The area is prone to landslides and flash floods. The lower ridge of the mountain is prone to floods. In fact, the lower area was washed away last year due to heavy rainfall in area luckily there was no loss of life or property. M. Azim had constructed a house with the grant received from the government but unfortunately the house was completely destroyed due to a landslide. Ghulam Din S/o Karam Din could only raise four walls of the one room house but couldn’t complete it as he was not given grant for construction by government.

Daily life of the villagers: Daily life of the villager is an ordeal. Every morning family members have to go to the house and field in Kirni village. They stay there till evening for doing farming, cooking and taking care of their livestock. Then in the evening they have to return back to the Kasba settlement before 6.00 P.M for night stay. Villagers on an average cover 3 kilometers of distance from Kasba village to their actual place of habitation at Kirni. If any one dies in the evening in his/her house, the dead body is to be brought back to the Kasba village and keep there for the night then again it is to be carried to Kirni village graveyard for burial next day. Even the dead are not allowed to be left behind at KIrni. Villagers are given a special border card and every day while going to the village they have to deposit the identity card with the soldiers deployed at the fence gate. In the evening while coming back they have to collect back their identity cards from the gate. One villager Mohammed Rashid once forgot to get back his identity card from the fence gate. According to him the army raided his house at 2.30 in the night and searched every nook and corner of the one room house alleging that militants were seen visiting the village. Then they ordered him to show the identity card, when he told them that he had forgotten it at the gate he was taken into custody and tortured till next morning. His identity card was returned with the warning that he could be killed for losing this identity card.

Women are given special tokens at the gate and they have to deposit the token at the time of coming back to their temporary shelters at Kasba settlement. In almost all other areas near LOC fencing is at zero point however, interestingly the fencing in this area is some 3 kilometers inside Indian territory before the zero point. Mohammed Hussain S/o Mohammad Din has 4 children his wife Hamida Bi has not been able to carry her children to the house as a result the produce from the field was so less that they could not manage and her two children 16 months and 3 years old could not visit the house since their birth. Children in this situation are the worst hit and the silent victims of the conflict. They cannot play like normal kids; they have to either stay at Kasba village or travel to Kirni village for one or the other reason. They have no time for studies. There is no school nearby . A road sanctioned some 25 years back to Kirni village is still under construction and now cannot be built beyond Kasba setlement. According to Qamar-u-din people are suffering from many psychological and heart diseases. We are caught up between LOC and fencing. He said “this time we have Assam rifles posted in this area which is much better than earlier battalion of J&K light infantry force”. They were abusing us every day. Forced labour was very common and sometimes even teachers were forced to work for them as labours without wages. The timing for the gate was also not fixed, it was always at the mercy and sweet will of the soldiers. They were beating and abusing villagers and mostly closing gate at 4.30 in the evening and opening at 7.30 in the morning. The late coming people were always punished sometimes beaten with gun butts.

We met a girl, on seeing so many people around her she started crying, it took us quite a while to console her and make her believe that we are not soldiers or informers of security agencies. Her mother Misar Jan W /o Qayyim Din said “we always live under threat. Our heart beats with the gunshots or foot beats of soldiers”. We cannot keep our children here for the day what will they do or who will take care of them? We cook our food at Kirni village and bring it back with us so that we can have it for dinner. There is no rest, we are always in rush, morning towards our homes and fields and evening towards our shelters. Whe asked why don’t you cook here? She replied “how can we cook here without firewood and chulaas? We have everything there.

Illegal mines: The use of anti personal mines may have been banned in other parts of the world but in this village people are still dying due to anti personal mines kept under the fields near zero point. The area is clustered with anti personal mines. Many villagers have lost their lives and many have been rendered handicapped by these mines. Some of victims of anti personal mines in Kirni village are M. Shabir S/o Qaayim Din Kirni, who died due to APM, Jamal-ud-Din s/o Gami Kirni lost his left leg, Ahmed Din S/o Fakir Din, Habiba S/o Bodhiya, Mohammed din S/o Wazir din,Ghulam Hussain S/o Shah Wali are those who lost limbs due to APM. This is not the only tragedy border shelling and firing by Indian soldiers has also caused death of people in this village. Sharifa Bi w/o Mohammed Sharif died in Pakistani firing, Ghulam Mohamed s/o Mir Ali killed by army during night curfew when he was outside his house, Gami S/o Aalim Din and Bagh Ali S/o Palla died in Pakistani shelling the worse thing is that none of the families of victims have received any compensation or ex-gratia relief. Few people have received Rupees 5000 to Rupees 10,000/ as compensation from the army brigade.

Earthquake: on 8 th of October 2005 this entire region rocked with an earthquake measuring 7.6 at Richter scale. Jammu and Kashmir was the worse effected. The houses in the Kirni village were partially destroyed in the earthquake. The chief justice ordered and constituted LOK ADALATS for the speedy disposal of compensation claims but his village was not even assessed for the loss. The stand taken by authorities was since the villagers have received grant/compensation for their houses therefore they cannot be given. The letters issued by LOK ADALATS were not even answered by the state administration and the victims remained without any assistance from government.