A Year After Operation Sindoor, Poonch Can't Even Bear The Sound Of A Firecracker

By Amir Tantray

Poonch: The sunset of Wednesday, May 6, sent a grim reminder to people of Poonch of how difficult a similar night was for them last year after Operation Sindoor was launched, and they were made to go through the agony.

The next morning had brought no respite for them as only death and destruction were witnessed by this scenic border town, where people of all the communities live peacefully, despite practising different ideologies.

After Indian forces launched Operation Sindoor and dismantled the terror network deep inside Pakistan on the intervening night of May 6-7, Pakistani forces resorted to an offensive against the civilian population, targeting the Poonch town.

Not only Poonch town, but all three major towns of Poonch district, Poonch, Mendhar and Surankote were targeted with heavy artillery shelling. The first death was reported from Mendhar town on the morning of May 7, but within a few minutes, Poonch town witnessed the worst ever destruction in its history when shells landed deep inside the civilian areas.

From Madrasa to Gurdwara, temple to missionary school, every installation came under attack. Homes of the people were not safe, and within a few hours, the entire Poonch town was vacated, and people either shifted to their ancestral homes in rural areas or migrated to Surankote, Rajouri and Jammu to save their lives.

But before that, 14 people were killed in the district and out of them, 11 were killed in Poonch town only. Irrespective of religion, caste and creed, the shells coming from the Pakistani side targeted everyone.

More than 60 people were also injured, and a few of them, who were critically injured, were shifted to either Government Medical College (GMC) Rajouri or GMC Jammu for specialised treatment.

As the Indian armed forces will be celebrating their victory during Operation Sindoor on its first anniversary, the people of Poonch are remembering the darkest period they have gone through.

Talking to ETV Bharat, Sardar Surjan Singh, whose nephew Amarjeet Singh, a retired soldier, was killed, said that the wounds are still fresh and they can't forget their loved ones who laid their lives for the country.

"We live close to the hospital, and when it all started during the intervening night of May 6-7 last year, we were inside the hospital to help people. On the morning of May 7, around 6:45 am, I went home, and at around 7:30 am, a shell landed on our house. The debris of the roof also fell on me, but a few splinters hit my nephew, and he died," he said.

"The martyrdom of our loved ones has done one thing. Earlier, Pakistani forces used to fire shells every now and then, but after last year, not a single shell or bullet was fired by them, which is a kind of victory of our forces and a result of martyrdom of our people," Surjan Singh added.

Life in Poonch has returned to normal, and there is hustle and bustle in the market, but that normalcy seems fragile. People have a fear in the back of their mind that if the same situation arises again, what will happen to them.

Ikhlaq Mehmood, a social activist of Poonch town, believes that people have not forgotten what happened to them last year. "It is still fresh in our minds as it will be remembered by our generations to come. Nothing of this sort had happened to Poonch town ever, and last year, it sent shock waves to everyone when they had to leave everything behind and run to other places to save their lives," he said.

"Even today, a small sound of a firecracker brings back the fear among the people. The things are so fragile that people will not hesitate to leave their homes if both countries come face to face again," he added.