MUZAFFARABAD: Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Prime Minister Raja Farooq Haider paid rich tribute to the civilian population living along the restive Line of Control (LoC) for braving unprovoked ceasefire violations by Indian army with indomitable bravery and resilience as one more civilian was wounded in Indian shelling on Sunday.

“The way the people living along the ceasefire line [LoC] are putting up in the face of unrelenting ceasefire violations by the coward Indian forces is unparalleled,” the PM observed during a visit to Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahayan Hospital, Muzaffarabad, where he had come to inquire after the health of the India shelling victims from Neelum Valley.

“In fact, it’s because of this valorous population that the enemy does not dare resort to any misadventure across the dividing line,” he added.

On Thursday, a young boy was martyred and 14 others, many of them children, were injured after Indian troops resorted to ruthless shelling on civilians in Sharda in the upper belt of Neelum Valley. Elsewhere, five other civilians were also wounded the same day.

“By using medium artillery, mortar guns and cluster munitions at the defenceless civilian population on our side of the divide [LoC], India not only commits breach of the Nov 2003 truce agreement with Pakistan army, but also of international laws and conventions,” PM Haider said.

“For such unabated crimes against humanity, India must be held accountable by the international community and relevant global organisations.”

Mr Haider warned that increasing Indian aggression at the LoC on a daily basis was posing a serious threat to the regional peace.

Man wounded

Ceasefire violations by Indian army continued in different areas even on Sunday, officials said.

In Neza Pir sector of Haveli district, 42-year-old Mohammad Ikhlaq was injured after being hit by fragments of a mortar shell. He belonged to Doba Bhedi village, police said.

According to Syed Shahid Mohyiddin Qadri, the secretary of civil defence and the state disaster management authority, the latest ceasefire violations had pushed the civilian death toll in the current year to 44. Besides, another 228 civilians have suffered injuries.

Mr Qadri said some 50 houses had been destroyed and 369 houses and nine shops partially damaged in Indian shelling.

Published in Dawn, October 14th, 2019