A statue of a martyr at Ramgarh village in Samba district. Tribune Photo: Inderjeet Singh

Sumit Hakhoo

tribune news service

Jammu, September 19

As the terrorist attack on an Army camp in Uri, close to Line of Control (LoC) in Baramulla district, on Sunday added another chapter to the 27-year-long insurgency in J&K, it’s also a brutal reminder of the sacrifices of hundreds of soldiers from the Jammu region who fought and died in the proxy war since 1989-90.While local lore revolves around tales of war and valour about soldiers who were martyred in the line of duty to defeat terrorism supported by Pakistan and its proxy radical Islamic groups operating from across the Line of Control (LoC) dividing J&K, hundreds of families have lost their sons and fathers due to indecisive approach of successive governments towards militants and their supporters in the state. Agriculture has been the main occupation, but dusty hamlets have produced brave soldiers.Moving along the highway and interior villages in Rajouri, RS Pura, Akhnoor, Samba, Kathua, Vijaypur and Hiranagar, the countryside is dotted with memorials (shaheedi samaraks) for the fallen soldiers, price being paid by ordinary people to fight terrorism.Though villages have tried to outwit each other while building war memorials by installing the statues of martyrs or creating huge gates depicting the pictures of soldiers at the entrance of their hamlets, but resentment against the government is growing for not doing enough to strike on terror sponsors.“My brother is serving in the Army and destruction caused by Pakistan during shelling on our village was the main motivation for him to join armed forces. Every village has a martyr in this belt,” said Shamsher Singh from RS Pura, close to the international border.It had been a tradition of a sort for villagers as families have served the armed forces for generations. Right from the time of Maharaja Gulab Singh, founder of the J&K state, plains of Jammu have been the breeding ground of warriors who fought in Hunza, Gilgit and Tibet to consolidate the Dogra rule in J&K and other war theatres during WW I and WW II. Since 1947, when Pakistan imposed a war on India to occupy Kashmir, people of Jammu have thwarted its efforts.“Valour and honour is in our blood, but sacrifices of our youth should not go vain. How much sacrifice the country’s leadership want before they wake up and take a decisive action?” said Gurdeep Singh, a farmer from Samba, whose son is serving in the Army.During the last two decades, people living along the international border and LoC have suffered heavily due to cross-border shelling and militants who infiltrate from Pakistan. However peasants have become part of the Village Defence Committees to track the movement of terrorists and have successfully succeeded in killing several groups of militants on several occasions. People act as eyes and ears for security forces in the hinterland.