Sunday night imprints fear psychosis among border dwellers

It was apparently a night of horror in Arnia village of RS Pura sector in Jammu district, situated five km from the International Border, when Pakistani troops resorted to high calibre mortar shelling on the civilian areas, leaving five dead and 34 injured.
"It was a night of horror. We wont be able to forget what happened with us last night. We all were fast asleep, when we woke up with a deafening thud and saw blood oozing out of our bodies," said 42-year-old Sudesh Kumari who was undergoing treatment at the Government Medical College and Hospital (GMC&H) in Jammu.

For 70-year-old Bira Devi who in the past has witnessed several conflicts between India and Pakistan, including the 1971 and the 1965 war, says that attacking the innocent civilians was a norm for the Pakistani side.
"We have always been the sitting ducks on fire. The Pakistani side always attack the civilians in the area and we become the worst sufferers," she said.
The villagers who were injured in the last night's heavy shelling in Arnia say that they become the victim every time the hostilities between the two countries increase.
"We had to go to safer places several times in the past as well, but this time the firing was unprovoked and we were not given an opportunity to save ourselves," said Joginder Singh, another injured civilian.