July 02, 2008	Wednesday	Jamadi-us-Sani 27, 1429

MUZAFFARABAD, July 1: Around four dozen women staged a peaceful protest in Neelum valley on Tuesday against the “growing activities of some militant groups” which they feared could harm the truce along the Line of Control, residents and official sources said.

The protesting women, led by Chand Bibi, Sarwar Jan and Afsar Jan, travelled from Athmuqam, some 80 kilometres to the northeast of Muzaffarabad, to a nearby army camp where they also staged a symbolic sit-in before being assured by the military officials in an hour-long talks that their concerns would be addressed, a journalist from the area told Dawn by telephone. Following which they returned home, the journalist said.

The protesters demanded of the military authorities to maintain peace and restrict the militants from operating in the border areas in general and Neelum Valley in particular.

The women pointed out that since some incidents of ceasefire violations along the LoC had been reported lately, they anticipated a threat to the peace in their area as well.

“We have already lost our hundreds of kith and kin (in cross border shelling) in the most difficult times we had ever seen between 1989 and 2003. We offered each and every sacrifice for the country’s defence and we will continue to do so in future but we cannot become the fodder of any fruitless (proxy) war,” Journalist Amiruddin Mughal quoted the protesting women as saying.

The army officials did not allow the local journalists who accompanied the protesters inside to cover the talks between the two sides.

They assured the protesters that they would maintain the peace in valley at all costs and none would be allowed to undertake any activity which could jeopardise the peace process.

However, when contacted assistant commissioner Athmuqam Mir Afzal told Dawn that the people had mistaken “test firing” by the Indian troops in their controlled area as “preparation for cross border shelling” which was why they had got panicked.

“There is no tension at all along the LoC and this has also been told by the military authorities to the protesting women,” he said.

Like the rest of the areas straddling along the LoC, Neelum valley was also a scene of death and destruction caused by artillery fires for nearly 14 years until Pakistan and India struck a ceasefire along their marked and unmarked boundaries in Kashmir in November 2003.

The valley women, led by Chand Bibi, Afsar Jan and Sarwar Jan on January 21 and Feb 15, 2003 had also staged rallies in a similar fashion to press Islamabad to take measures for stoppage of cross border shelling in their area.

Meanwhile, in a related development on Tuesday, residents of Neelum valley from different walks of life have also established Neelum Peace Committee to keep up truce in their area and struggle for it at every front.