Ceasefire decision sparks hope among displaced residents of Uri sector

Baramulla, May 10: Displaced from their homes for the last four days, the ceasefire announcement has lit a spark of hope while smiles are visible on the faces of the shell-shocked families living in makeshift shelters and scattered camps. Much needed relief swept through the temporary rehabilitation centres in the Baramulla town on Saturday evening as the news broke of the ceasefire agreement between India and Pakistan.

Over a dozen villages of Uri sector had witnessed days of intense cross border shelling which claimed the life of a woman and left 19 civilians of Uri injured. In the Baramulla town, marriage halls, local schools and religious seminaries were transformed into makeshift shelters to accommodate the influx of fleeing families.

Thousands of people from the Uri area of north Kashmir’s Baramulla district had left their home following severe shelling from across the border since last few days. The Baramulla district administration, as well as local mohalla committees has worked around the clock to ensure food, water, and shelter for the distressed residents.

At the Government Women’s College and Baramulla public school, both currently housing over 600 displaced individuals, the atmosphere turned emotional after the ceasefire was announced.

Nasir Hussain, a resident of Kamalkote Uri, said, “This announcement is a ray of hope. The magnitude of shelling this time was terrifying, we thought we would never return to our homes.” Mubashir Ahmad, who fled with his family and is now living at the women’s college, echoed the sentiment. “The explosions had shaken us to the core. We've left behind everything, our homes, and our livestock. But this ceasefire has given us a new lease on life,” he said.

Still, there remains a note of caution in their joy. Many, like Mubashir, fear a repeat of past violations. “We've seen ceasefires fail before. But something about this one feels different, maybe because it came after two nations were at the brink of full-fledged war,” said Feroz Ahmad, another Uri resident. As night fell in Baramulla, the displaced residents of Uri had the hope that this ceasefire would hold, that tomorrow, perhaps, they could begin their journey back to the homes they were forced to abandon. "Home is home," said Mubashir, “I am waiting for tomorrow’s dawn to see it again.”

For Zahoor Ahmad Pathan from Duwara village in Uri sector, announcement of ceasefire has brought a sigh of relief.

Four days ago, he shifted his family to a makeshift relief centre in Baramulla town after intense shelling was reported across the borders.

Even though he shifted his family relief shelter, Pathan decided to take shelter in the basement of a mosque in his village along with his neighbours. "For the last four days I have been visiting the relief shelter to meet my family and go back to my village in the evening. I have spent the last three nights in the basement of the mosque," Pathan told Greater Kashmir. But the news about the announcement of ceasefire between India and Pakistan, Zahoor Pathan is hopeful to take his family back and unlock his house which has been deserted for the last four days. "The moment we heard about the ceasefire, I along with my neighbour friends shifted to a residence of our neighbour and started preparing meals for us. We cooked our meals like this after four days," Zahoor Pathan said. "Now, I will also bring back my family and live here in our village," he said.

Like Zahoor Pathan, other displaced families are also hopeful to join their families. "The ceasefire announcement has brought relief to all of us. I cannot believe that I will again join my family and live in peace in my village," said Tahira, a high school student who is putting up at a temporary relief shelter at Darul-uloom Sheeri. “The loud bangs of the intervening night of May 6 and 7 still haunt me," she said. Shahjahana, mother of two daughters displaced by the cross-border shelling breaks down while narrating her ordeal. "We have witnessed destruction at every turn and endured bombardments. We want to see a bright future for our children. Our happiness was snatched away by cross border shelling but now we are overjoyed to hear that both countries agreed to a ceasefire. It has come with new hopes of our survival," she murmurs.

The displaced families of border villages said they are peace lovers but they still bear the maximum brunt of border tension as they become the first casualty. “We are peace lovers and don’t want to witness this destruction again. We appeal to both countries to engage in constructive dialogue once for all so that we don’t have to flee our homes in the middle of the night," said Tahir Ahmad, a resident of Uri. Five families of Uri have taken shelter at a temporary accommodation in Drangbal Baramulla, offered to them by a Javed Ahmad Khan, a local resident of the area.

"The announcement of a ceasefire has come with new hopes of our survival. We are happy to shift to our homes and live with our family and near ones in peace," said Shafqat Hussain a resident of Batgrah Uri.

"Our houses were not damaged but we shifted to safer locations out of fear after intense shelling was going on across the border. We were five families and took shelter here at Drangbal," he said.