KNB NEWS DESK
Srinagar 11 September (KNB): Mesmerising hilly terrain with a human society living within a close range to Line of Control, even though deprived of basic necessities as Administration fails to recognise their importance, remain highly dedicated towards their dream of a developed society with the only helping hand lent to them by the Indian Army.
Around 150 Kilometres from Kashmir capital Srinagar, Machil Sector falls in the north-west part of the valley’s Kupwara district, which is bound by the Line of Control (LOC). The sector is some 56 Kilometres away from the nearest town of Kupwara and remains land locked for more than 6 months in a year.
Life in Machil is not an easy one, lack of basic facilities has constantly been a massive hindrance in the overall development of the people, society and poses a critical question towards the Jammu and Kashmir administration’s claims of development for all.
With around 16000 populations, which include Pashtuns, there are around 9 Halkas in the sector, out of which all the villages except (to quite some extent) ‘Machil Village’ remain deprived of the basic facility such as electricity supply, proper road connectivity, communication, Health and Educational establishments.
The people of these villages are dependent on Indian Army support in almost every aspect of life, who constantly train and educate them about the ways of civilised living.
As per the locals, after completion of basic school education, children are given opportunities to work by the Army. Most of the young ones fail to continue their studies further due to economical and lack of educational infrastructure.
Recently, the Army had organised training camps in the sector, in which youth from several districts of Kashmir participated. Young ones from Machil as well took part in the camps, which provided them an opportunity to learn and develop their skills in different activities.
However, when it comes to academic learning; schools and the Internet are a vague concept for the youth of the villages. Despite the world now being called a global village; digital divide between the Machil sector and the rest of the region is evident as online learning, social media, etc. remains alien concepts to all the students and people in general.
Talking about their future, students from ‘village Dudi’ told news agency Kashmir News Bureau that they don’t see any promising situation for them in the sector in coming years.
“Cellular connectivity is only in Machil village, rest of the areas (villages) are destitute from such privileges and when it comes to our future, there is none,” a student said.
Residents of Ring Payeen village, which lies just a Kilometre away from LOC, told news agency Kashmir News Bureau (KNB) that they only know the world within Machil and do not have any idea about the livelihood of their district, let alone life in Kashmir.
There is no mode of communication and travel between the villages of the sector. People have to travel by foot for hours to meet relatives, know about their wellbeing. At times, one doesn’t even know about the passing of another for days. Students remain deprived from the basic technological skills and academic education.
Full of scenic beauty, dense forests and rich wild life; nature has been kind to Machil but LOC being few Kilometres away, have always put the locals of the area at risk and cost many their lives.
In 2019, two people lost their lives amid cross border shelling in Thali village—where major population belongs to Pashtuns community— of the sector and several locals sustained injuries.
The victims told KNB that only the Indian Army has provided them assistance after the shelling incident but alleged that district administration failed to take any positive step towards the people of the community.
People from the border lying villages of the sector said that after the shelling incidents, work to establish community bunkers was initiated but never really completed. “Are our lives that cheap?” a local asked.
Life in villages located closer to the LOC has been full of risk for years but since the ceasefire agreement between India and Pakistan in February 2021, the atmosphere around has led towards peace and a sense of security has sustained for months now in the Machil sector.
Government of India has always stressed upon the development of all and it is crucial to bring up the lack of developmental progress of such border lying areas, which is a matter of absolute concern.
Future of this nation depends on the young and those living in villages closer to LOC should be provided platforms, infrastructure, and intellectual resources to learn and contribute to the success of the nation.(KNB)