J&K students in West Bengal recount families’ ordeal near border amidst conflict
Times of India | 13 May 2025
KOLKATA: Amidst the tension between India and Pakistan, elderly parents and family members of a research scholar from Jammu and Kashmir, who is doing his PhD at a state-aided university in Kolkata, were spending sleepless nights inside a seven-metre-long and three-metre-high self-constructed bunker at their home in Chitterkote in Karnah Valley at the border town Tangdhar, barely a kilometre from the Line of Control (LoC).For the last couple of days since May 6, Khan Zahid too has been living with anxiety and fear. He travelled from Kolkata to Delhi and from Delhi to Srinagar to reach home but could not move towards his village on May 7 because of the terrible ceasefire violation by Pakistan.He could not travel back to Kolkata as airports were closed down too. Zahid is now stuck in Srinagar. "I wanted to see my elderly parents and meet my younger brother after eight months and wanted to stay with them in these difficult times, but I am unable to travel to my village as restrictions are imposed on travelling due to security reasons. Coming this far and being unable to meet them is tearing me apart," he said.The PhD research scholar, whose area of research is on the borderland people, shared, “My home is hardly a kilometre from the LoC. It is also very near to the Pakistan air space, hence my family had been living in a fearful condition for the last couple of days. They were facing artillery shelling every night and surviving in violent conflict. At least 60 people, including my family members and neighbours, mostly children, women, and aged people, were taking shelter at our home in the bunker from 7 pm to 7 am. Though the intensity of shelling and drone attacks has subsided to an extent, the situation is still tense. There is a palpable silence in the entire village as people are trying to cope with the trauma,” said Zahid. He shared that in his ‘town’, most people are vacating their homes, and houses have been damaged due to artillery firing and shelling at night. "It is only the families with livestock and cattle, like ours, who are unable to move out. It is such a helpless situation that my family members have lost all hopes and are resigned to their fate," said Zahid, adding, “Whenever there have been such conflicts, it is the people residing on border spaces who pay the heaviest price.Sitting away from the war-torn land, one cannot fathom the sufferings and the trauma of encountering death and despondency each moment. We do not want this war to prolong. We want peace to prevail so that we can live in our homes. People of borderland in Jammu and Kashmir also have the right to life and right to home, as we too are the citizens of a democratic nation.”Jadavpur Universityhas quite a few students from Jammu and Kashmir. A student hailing from Anantnag said, "There is anxiety for my family's safety. Though ceasefire has been announced, there is a constant fear. Though we have been going through this for decades, this time it was scarier. For consecutive days, there have been blackouts and there was panic among everyone whether they will be alive if they venture out. Whenever such a situation arises, it is always the common poor people of Jammu and Kashmir who suffer the most." He shared that one of his friends lives in Rajouri and a mortar shell fell very close to his friend's house. "He was so scared. His parents have called him and asked him to come back to Rajouri, saying that they will go through this as a family. 'If we die, we will die as a family,' his parents told him."