BANDIPORA, Jammu & Kashmir: In a temporary camp almost 90 km west of her village in the Gurez valley in north Kashmir, 53-year-old Raja Begum sat hunched on a thin mattress, wearing the same clothes she had on three days ago.

Her knees throbbed as she remembered when heavy shelling began at around nine in the night on 8 May, one day after India struck targets inside Pakistan, and Pakistan responded by shelling border villages along the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K).

“It was a terrifying sound,” she said. “People were so scared—one could have urinated inside the bunker.”

Gurez Valley is a remote Himalayan region in J&K’s Bandipora district, 125 km from Srinagar, next to the LoC. It is home to the Dard Shin people, who speak the Shina language.

Once a gateway to the ancient Silk Road, Gurez remains strategically significant due to its proximity to the LoC. In 1999, it witnessed the first artillery shelling in the Kargil War. 

At least 21 civilians, including children, have been killed in India, mainly along the LoC in Poonch in the Jammu division of J&K, between 7 and 10 May, nearly 300 km southwest of Gurez, where no one died, but residents said about 100 families fled. 

Article 14 cannot independently verify this information. 

Five soldiers were also killed between 7 and 10 May. 

Twenty-six people were killed in the terrorist attack on 22 April in Pahalgam, a tourist spot in Pahalgam, which triggered India’s strikes on terrorist positions inside Pakistan two weeks later. 

While addressing the nation about the terrorist attack and the four-day-long war-like situation between India and Pakistan that ended in a ceasefire on 10 May, Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not speak of the civilians killed and injured in the border villages.

The mainstream media has barely questioned why these villages were not evacuated before the first strikes into Pakistan. 

Article 14 has travelled along the LoC to report stories (here and here) of those who died, those who lost homes and those on the frontlines who endured the trauma of the four-day war with Pakistan.

Not Enough Bunkers

As flares lit up the sky and everything went dark, Raja said she and her family rushed to a mud bunker the residents of Dawer village had built 20 years ago.

While the roads and building department have built bunkers for the border villagers, these are not enough. To protect themselves, locals have to make bunkers at considerable cost. 

The government is reportedly constructing 42 bunkers, each accommodating 100-200 people and costing Rs 10 lakh. While visiting border villagers on 13 May, J&K chief minister Omar Abdullah promised more bunkers. 

One road and building department official told Article 14 that 49 bunkers have been built in Gurez, and 20 more would be constructed in the area. 

Residents said they had built 20 bunkers. Article 14 cannot independently verify this information. 

The 2011 census recorded a population of 37,992 for Gurez tehsil. While some locals said the population has increased, others said there has been significant migration of people looking for better economic opportunities elsewhere. 

Raja Begum’s son, Showkat Saleem, 29, a writer, said he was thinking about the writing drafts, journals, and notes he left behind. 

“There weren’t enough bunkers to accommodate everyone,” said Saleem. “Out of that fear and panic, people fled.” 

Bunkers are typically dark, trench-like shelters where civilians take refuge during artillery shelling. Cramped and often without ventilation, these spaces are barely safe for pregnant women, the elderly, or the disabled. 

Raja said she bundled up with sweaters and socks in the cold, damp bunker.

“There was no ventilation inside, and the bunker walls shook with each round of mortar shelling,” she said.  “It was suffocating. I was gasping. I asked my son to open the door slightly to breathe properly.”

Raja remembered the year 2001, when her neighbour, Jabbar Ahmed Magrey, who was 22 at the time, was hit by an artillery shell. The explosion caused a severe head injury that wiped out his memory and kept him bedridden for many years.

“He didn’t leave home out of fear this time,” said Raja. 

When the shelling stopped, Raja and her family stepped out of the bunker after two nights, weary and shaken. 

They left for the temporary shelter in a village, Watpora, in the Bandipora district on 10 May.  

Her other son, Ghulam Ahmeh Sheikh, 31, stayed behind with a few hens.

Before leaving, Raja told her son, “If things get worse, eat them to survive.”

‘One Child Inside Me, Another Outside’

When Article 14 visited on 11 May, a day after the ceasefire, about 120 people were at the camp preparing to return home.

In a cramped room within the displacement camp, 32-year-old Waheeda Begum sat silently, her hand softly placed on her swollen abdomen, her son dozing beside her, sharing the tight quarters with six family members. 

Seven months pregnant, Waheeda left her home two days after the shelling began. 

“I was scared for my unborn baby,” she said. “One child inside me, another outside. What if something happened to me in that bunker?”

Waheeda said the bunkers in Gurez are dug deep into the ground and accessible only by ladders. She said they were cramped, cold, and perilous for someone in her condition. 

“I stayed outside the first night. I was in pain. The bunker was too risky,” she said.

The next day, with help from relatives, she made the long journey to Bandipora

‘Never Had I Seen a Bunker’

In Markoot village, which has a dense cluster of houses and is next to an army base that is often targeted by Pakistani artillery, 18-year-old Asmat Yousuf was preparing for her exams when the shells hit.

“The room darkened suddenly,” she said. “I heard a loud sound. My mother rushed in and said, ‘Wear your warm clothes. We have to go into the bunker.’” 

Yousuf said she clutched her mother’s hand tightly. “I was crying. My chest hurt from fear.” 

Her mother, Noori Begum, 42, had lived through many such nights, including during the Kargil War, but she felt more terrified this time.

“Asmat got chest pain from the shock,” Noori said. “I was scared she might faint. I didn't know what to do.”

Asmat had walked past the village bunker several times, never imagining that she would take shelter in it one day.

Asmat said it was a low, mud structure partly buried underground that locals had repurposed as a kitchen garden. Flowers had just begun to bloom after the long winter.

That night, it became a lifeline.

Her father was away in Bandipora for work, which added to her anxiety. 

“I kept thinking—what if something happens to him before we see him again?” she said.

‘Living With Death’

Families were evacuated from villages along the Line of Control in Gurez— including Dawar, Markoot, Chorwan, and Kilshay.

In addition to the 120 people at Watpora, Bandipora, 40 more people were at the camp in Pazalpora village. 

While the government arranged free transport for the evacuation, many residents, including the sick and elderly, chose to stay behind because they did not want to leave their homes. 

Many of the displaced people were elderly and children.

Among them was 77-year-old Abdul Ahad Khan, from the village of Kilshay, who fled even before the first shell landed.

“We just left our livestock and homes behind. There was chaos,” Khan said. “Even if we return tomorrow, the fear will stay with us. Some patients stayed behind—only Allah knows how they’ve survived.”

Raja Begum said she felt trapped.

“We are surrounded from all sides,” she said. “Our village is right on the LoC. There’s only one footbridge to escape—and even that is within firing range.”

Though officials confirmed the ceasefire was holding as of 10 May, residents say the psychological wounds will linger far longer.

“Even after the ceasefire, we still live with the threat,” said Saleem, her son. “Living on the LoC means living with death. There’s no warning. No real protection, and no end.”

(Ishtayaq Rasool is an independent journalist based in Kashmir. Aakash Gulzar is a documentary photographer based in Kashmir.) 

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