18 civilians killed, nearly 2,000 structures damaged in Pak shelling in J&K: BJP

Jammu: As many as 18 civilians lost their lives and nearly 2000 structures, including residential houses and commercial buildings, were damaged in the indiscriminate shelling by Pakistan Army in four days from May 7 along the borders in Jammu and Kashmir, the BJP said on Monday.

Leader of Opposition in Jammu and Kashmir Assembly, Sunil Sharma, undertook a 10-day tour of the border areas along the Line of Control and International Border along with four MLAs -- former ministers Sham Lal Sharma and Devinder Kumar Manyal, Narinder Singh and R S Pathania -- on directions of the party’s central leadership and submitted a detailed report along with recommendations for rehabilitation of the affected families.

“Pakistan is famous for its cowardly acts and targeted our civilian areas after our armed forces carried out Operation Sindoor to destroy terror infrastructure on May 7 across the border in retaliation to the April 22 Pahalgam terror attack,” Sharma told reporters at the party headquarters here.

“Fourteen of our civilians lost their lives in Poonch, two in Rajouri and one each in Uri (Baramulla district) and Jammu in the indiscriminate Pakistani shelling,” he added flanked by other members of his team.

Sharma said that in addition, 1,500 to 2,000 structures – mostly residential houses – were damaged along with heavy loss to livestock and the agriculture yield in the border areas.

“Operation Sindoor was the reaction of our forces to the act of terror that left 26 persons, mostly tourists, dead. The precise and targeted action brought Pakistan on its knees, but the terror supporting country resorted to indiscriminate attacks on the residential areas on this side of the border,” he added, reiterating the government’s resolve that Operation Sindoor has only been suspended and any act of terror in future would be considered as an act of war.

Sharma, who is also the general secretary of J&K BJP, said that his team visited all the shelling-hit areas, including Hiranagar, Suchetgarh, Arnia, R S Pura, Chamb, Planwala, Akhnoor, Rajouri, Nowshera, Poonch, Mendhar and Surankote in Jammu region and Uri in Baramulla and Tangdhar in Kupwara district of north Kashmir.

“The 10-day tour culminated the day before yesterday and was witness to heavy damage to structures on the ground besides the loss of lives and the livestock and injuries to many. Despite facing the brunt of Pakistan shelling and incurring losses, we found the border residents satisfied with the response of the Indian forces. They were happy that Pakistan was brought on its knees,” he added.

Assuring proper rehabilitation of the shelling victims, Sharma said the Home Ministry has already started the process of providing more underground individual and community bunkers to the border residents and the local administration has already started the process for which the border residents expressed their thanks to the government.

The BJP leader said Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah have already announced one government job for the next of kin of those who lost their lives in Pakistani shelling.

The file of each case has already been prepared and submitted to the General Administration Department for approval, he added.

Sharma further said the Centre has also provided Rs six lakh to families of each deceased persons and adequate relief to those injured, while the Jammu and Kashmir government has also announced an ex-gratia relief of Rs 10 lakh to each of them.

He said that the highest 690 structures were damaged in Pakistani shelling in Poonch followed by 524 in Uri area of Baramulla.

“Some 1,500 to 2,000 structures – both residential and commercial – were damaged in the border areas. The J&K government can only provide Rs 1.20 lakh under the SDRF norms, but we have recommended a special package in our report to help border residents to rebuild their lives. They will get the money through direct transfer benefits in their bank accounts,” Sharma said.

“The BJP is committed to the welfare of the border residents and will ensure that they do not face any problem,” he added.