While an eerie silence prevailed on the International Border (IB) in Jammu on Thursday, the Pakistan Army opened another front on the Line of Control (LoC) in Rajouri where an elderly person was critically injured in the shelling.

The police identified the man as Mohammad Misri (60), a resident of Lam village of Nowshera near the LoC.

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Deputy Commissioner, Rajouri, Shahid Chaudhary, said that the critically injured person has been rushed to the medical college at Jammu for treatment.

An officer of BSF said that after nine days of shelling by Pakistan Rangers in the districts of Jammu, Samba and Kathua that has claimed 12 lives and injured more than 100 people, the IB remained silent on Thursday.

Meanwhile, expressing deep concern over the increased incidents of ceasefire violation on the border and resultant deaths, CPI(M) leader and MLA Mohammad Yousuf Tarigami on Thursday urged the leadership of India and Pakistan to follow the tenets of 2003 ceasefire agreement in letter and spirit to defuse the situation.

“The shelling and firing on both sides of the border has only resulted in killings, destruction of property, closure of educational institutions and displacement of thousands and thousands of border dwellers. The violent approach will neither benefit India, nor Pakistan. And such approach always has a devastating effect on the people of J-K,” he said.

“It is tragic that the civilians on both sides of the border are losing their lives for no fault of theirs. Hundreds of lives are lost due to hawkish posturing by those in power in both the countries and it is unfortunate that no serious efforts are made to restore peace and normalcy on the borders. Apart from this, precious lives of the armed and border forces are also lost in frequent skirmishes described as border actions by the rulers on both sides, which also lead to disturbance of daily lives of the people,” he said.

He said that the ceasefire agreement signed between the two armies in 2003 was biggest gift for the people living on both sides of the Line of Control and International Border in Jammu and Kashmir. However, unfortunately, he said, for the past some years, ceasefire violation on the border has become a daily routine giving nightmares to border residents.

Political leadership of both the countries should start an immediate structured and sustainable dialogue to find a solution to the problems, Tarigami said.

The leadership of both the countries must utilise the resources for the wellbeing of the millions of poor people living in India and Pakistan, he said.