Jammu: Ever since the shelling from Pakistan severely hit civilian areas, leaving 13 people dead and several others injured, not a single non-governmental organisation (NGO) has reached out to the people in distress.
Only a few affluent individuals from the district and volunteers of a local NGO offered some help on the first day of shelling, when the majority of deaths occurred and people suffered injuries.
“This was the time when NGOs from the rest of the country and Jammu and Kashmir should have reached out to the people of Poonch and offered help at this point,” said Tanvir Ahmed, a local. “These NGOs only come when things are smooth, and they work according to the set goals, and when the time people are in dire need of help, they are nowhere in sight,” he claimed.
Now, religious organisations have also appealed to the non-profit and other welfare organisations from outside to help the people in need.
“During Friday prayers yesterday, the Imam of Jamia Masjid had appealed to NGOs to come and help people who need their help. This was the time when people from other areas should have offered help to the people, as only help from the government will not be enough to rehabilitate everyone,” Muhammad Ikhlaq, another resident of Poonch, said.
People believe that when a natural calamity hits any other area, people, irrespective of their faith and belief, come forward to help, but no one has shown any mercy towards Poonch. “Our is much more than a natural calamity, and our people have been killed and injured without any fault. Rather, the entire country is silent on our pain," Tanvir added.
Some local groups and individuals offered their little help when injured people were evacuated, and a few arranged vehicles for people to move to safer places, but when a proper rehabilitation package is needed, people from outside keep mum.
It was on the intervening night of May 6-7 when Poonch town and other adjoining areas and villages on the Line of Control (LoC) faced the brunt of the shelling from the Pakistani side, after which the majority population fled from the area in search of safer places. More than 200 structures have suffered extensive damage, whereas scores of others have also been damaged and need repair. After the ceasefire came into being, people returned to their homes, but a fear still exists that if talks fail between India and Pakistan, things may deteriorate again.
The fear is so high that few people have again left for Jammu, citing word of mouth that the ceasefire between the two countries is only up to May 18 and it hasn't been extended yet.
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