Residents of Neelum Valley in ‘Azad Jammu & Kashmir’ are reportedly up in arms over renewed terrorist activity in their area which used to be the staging post for terrorists entering Jammu & Kashmir through the 1990s.
A local civil society organisation `Press for Peace’ claimed that a large number of women protested last weekend against recent activities of some banned jihadi groups in the Neelum Valley. According to the PFP, the women also approached the Pakistan Army in Athmuqam – the district headquarters of Neelum Valley – and urged the officers to stop the “militants” from crossing into the Indian side of Kashmir.
Their main fear is that terrorist activity in their area would once again adversely affect the relative peace that has held on both sides of the Line of Control since 2003 ceasefire. With memories of regular crossfire along the LoC still fresh, their fear is that the presence of jihadi organisations in the area would adversely affect their lives.
During the Eid-break last month, Pakistan said three of its soldiers had been killed in an unprovoked firing from the Indian side while India claimed that it was foiling an infiltration bid in which one jawan lost his life.
Though there were no reports of these protests in the local media, the BBC reported about news trickling in from Neelum Valley of a spate of protests by locals fearful of being once again caught in the crossfire of Indo-Pak rivalry over Kashmir.
