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Village that once used to be pounded by bombs near LoC to host fest in Pir’s name
Only a few years ago, shells landing in the middle of the village was a common sight; the incidents would happen while Indian and Pakistani soldiers exchanged fire near the village
Nambla village located near the Line of Control will host Jashn-e-Rustum on Sunday, a festival named after the renowned mystic Rustum Pir.
Only a few years ago, shells landing in the middle of the village was a common sight. The incidents would happen while Indian and Pakistani soldiers exchanged fire near the v\illage.
Pir is celebrated personality in the village and even the army has named some of its pickets after the mystic. On Sunday, the army is expecting almost 15,000 people at a village meadow, which was out of bounds for the locals because of the shelling.
“Since army has been organising programmes in the Valley, a decision to hold a programme here was taken,” said a senior army officer who among the organisers for the event.
“The tents have been erected and all arrangements are in place. Besides local cultural presentations, some prominent artists and actors from the Union Territory will entertain the audience,” the officer said, adding that the event is aimed at bringing Uri on tourism map.
Uri sector in north Kashmir’s Baramulla district is in the line of fire whenever tension escalates between India and Pakistan. Villages such as Balkote, Nambla, Silikote, Hatlanga and Churunda become targets for shelling and villagers are been forced to migrate to safer places.
In the past two decades, more than a dozen people have been killed in shelling and firing, and hundreds have been injured in Nambla.
But with peace, in some form, returning, villages close to the LoC are returning to normal lives. Fields that were abandoned are being revived.
“The event is a welcome step. In the past, people were afraid of visiting Nambla. There is a sense of change now,” said Irshad Ahmad, who lives in neighbouring Garkote village. Another villager Yasir Iqbal said the situation has changed, especially after the ceasefire between India and Pakistan in 2021.
