Kashmir residents feel unsafe despite India-Pakistan truce

DW (English)

In Indian-administered Kashmir, residents living near the Line of Control have been facing a tough choice during the recent outbreak of conflict: to shelter in place or to evacuate. DW hears from villagers who chose to stay and some who chose to go.

Transcript

00:00When we heard about the tension, we kept the tension in 10 days and kept the tension in our Kampur.

00:18It could be a lot of tension in any time.

00:23Bunkers like this one provide a lifeline for Kashmiris living near the line of control,

00:35a de facto border dividing Indian and Pakistan-administered parts of Kashmir.

00:40Many of the bunkers here were built in response to previous conflicts in the heavily militarized

00:44region.

00:46The contested territory has borne the brunt of hostilities between the two nuclear-armed

00:50neighbors for decades.

00:51During the most recent outbreak of fighting, bunkers such as these provided a place of

00:58safety from the artillery and drone attacks in Jammu and Kashmir.

01:21Latif has made sure to stock his bunker with essentials and supplies for the entire family.

01:28Latif's bunker means he feels safe enough to stay here.

01:35Latif's bunker means he feels safe enough to stay here.

01:39even during intense fighting.

01:54But his experience is the exception.

01:56During the latest outbreak of conflict, nearly 90 percent of people in the Uri Administrative

02:05District fled and were evacuated to other parts of Indian-administered Kashmir and camps for

02:09safety.

02:23No one is inevitable.

02:26No one is in peace.

02:28No one is in peace, no one is in peace.

02:31No one is screaming.

02:32The time is in peace, no one is in peace.

02:35As of May 12, 2025, a U.S. brokered ceasefire between Pakistan and India

03:04two days earlier, has appeared to halt.

03:07Authorities on both sides say there has been largely calm along the line of control and

03:12that some residents are returning home.

03:19Latif remains sceptical.

03:21He plans to keep his emergency bunker well stocked far into the future.

03:25In 2011, as we were in the city, we thought that we will not have to stop.

03:32We were working with the world and working with the work of the world.

03:38We had to stop and stop and stop and stop.

03:43We will stop and stop and stop and stop.

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