Battal Sector, near LoC, was a significant place for us, encompassing the villages of Sanari, Manjiari, and Dhop, where people from these villages used to bring wood for fuel and, most importantly, it was the source of water for us. It was a crucial place, serving as a livelihood for hundreds of households in these villages, as the availability of water made it conducive for the people to raise livestock extensively.
The Pakistan Army initiated efforts some time ago to restrict civilian access to this area, gradually completely closing it off. As a result, almost 90% of the people sold their cattle, which was a major source of livelihood for our people. They were deprived of wood as fuel, and the water lines from this area were also completely destroyed.
People suffered immense irrecoverable losses, and recently, the Pakistan Army has handed over this area to the Indian Army without any conflict or resistance, which was until yesterday our pastureland.
This tactic of the Pakistani Army is not limited to just the "Battal Sector". In places like Dharamsal, Mahendala, and Tatrinote, which were under our people's use, they prevent people from going there and later hand them over to the Indian Army.
Witnesses to this are the thousands of people from Battal, Mahendala, and Tatrinote.
Mahendala Sarout, which had a cricket ground, had numerous people playing cricket there. Pakistan Army also handed it over to India. In Tatrinote, a significant place near the river where people were making their livelihood from sand and stones, also faced the same fate.
All these places were handed over to India after the Simla Agreement, which until forty years later, were given to India, as India has asserted its claim on the actual LoC. And these places have been acquired by India in the past five years without any war.
The actions of the Pakistani Army don't end at handing over lands to India. They have made significant efforts to deprive our entire region of mobile and internet services.
The mobile tower in Mandhol, installed many years ago, has been shut down by the Pakistani Army. If the youth had access to internet services here, many educated youngsters might have been engaged in online businesses. But the Pakistani Army seems determined to obstruct any means of livelihood for our people and is ensuring that our sources of livelihood are handed over to India, converting them into visiting points.
I wonder if any sensible person would say whether livelihoods are essential for us or visiting points.
While the Pakistan Army makes laws to uphold their dignity, when such anti-people actions are taken, will people respect them? Due to recent Indian posts and handing over our extremely valuable lands to India, there is further resentment and anger among the people against the Pakistan Army.
