Caught in the Indo-Pak cross-fire, villagers near LoC pray it doesn't get worse

Mendhar: Caught in the India-Pakistan cross-fire are villagers living close to the border. CNN-IBN's Arunoday Mukharji travelled to the Mendhar sector and found that it's not just army trucks and soldiers in fatigues that one sees along the Line of Control but local villagers as well, who've lived there for over 40 years, sandwiched between the politics of two nations.

At a village there, CNN-IBN met two poor farmers Mumtaz Khan and Ghulam Hussain. They eke out a living also by working as daily wage labourers. Making matters even worse for them is the repeated ceasefire violation across the border. There is nothing lacking, though, in their hospitality. "We don't have any option we have to stay here," Mumtaz says.

As diplomatic and political tensions between India and Pakistan escalate, daily life for the likes of Mumtaz and Ghulam isn't much different. Their only friends in the remote region is often the Indian Army. Ghulam Hussain says, "We know beyond that there is the Army and they won't let anything happen to us."

It\'s not just army trucks and soldiers in fatigues that one sees along LoC, but local villagers as well.

Mumtaz, Ghulam and others, though being equal citizens of India, often don't get an equal voice and it's easy to see why - since they live on the very edge of the Line of Control, far away from the hustle and bustle of daily life.

Also See

• Pak repeats its demand for neutral third party probe into firing at LoC
• LoC remains tense, Indo-Pak ties may be hit
• Kashmir violence may turn 'ugly': Hafiz Saeed

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