Uri(Kashmir): "I used to travel to Karachi and Rawalpindi via Uri before 1947. Nothing has changed since then. Everything looks the same except the huge presence of army. It is a very underdeveloped area. No tourist visits this place" says an 85 years old taxi driver from Srinagar Gulam Mohammed.
He is right. Uri has not seen any major development after Independence. Except a few new houses, most houses look very old. As a local resident says, "time stands still here".
Uri is strategically very important for India. From here, the Pakistan border (Line of Control) is just 12 kilometres. The river Jhelum enters Pakistan from India near Uri.
The entire Uri area is fortified and the Indian Army has had a huge presence here for over 50 years. But, even during the height of terrorism, there were no terror attacks or major incidents in Uri region. It remained peaceful all through the turbulent 1990s.
There have been hundreds of ceasefire violations by the Pakistani military and cross border shelling across Uri region. It has even claimed many lives.
But, there was no visible terrorist activity. The daring attack on an army camp at Mohura near Uri on Friday by the Pakistan sponsored terrorists in which more than 23 people including 6 terrorists have died has come as a huge shock for the local people and the Army.
They did not expect this. Even though Uri is so close to border and Srinagar-Muzaffarabad highway is the lifeline of the region, terrorists stayed away from disturbing the peace here.
According to old timers in the area, during 1990s, Kashmiri terrorists used to cross over to Pakistan for training across the border near Uri. They used to take the same route to return home to launch attacks across Kashmir valley.
Since Uri was the most vital link between two countries, militants stayed away from engaging in any activity in the area. They did not want to attract the attention of the Army by disturbing peace in the region.
It remained like this for twenty years. But, Friday's attack seems to have changed that.
Three villages within 10 kilometres radius of Uri- Lagama, Bandi and Dyari still have a sizable population of Kashmiri Pandits. When IBNLive visited them just two days before the attack, they claimed that they are safe and happy there.
Talking to IBNLive after the attack, a local leader said, "we are shocked by this attack. Did not expect this. It shows the level of desperation among the anti-national elements who want to derail elections at any cost. But, we are not scared. We will fight back".
A well respected, senior journalist in Kashmir Bashir Ahmad Soffi also feels that Uri attack is really disturbing. Talking to IBNLive, he said, "I don't know how and why it happened. It is surprising and a matter of great concern".
The Army has several battalions posted across Uri. It has been using the most sophisticated equipment to keep a strict vigil on the border. The highly skilled terrorists managed to sneak into India evading detection to launch a daring attack. It has exposed some major loopholes in the security system. The red faced army is now trying to find out what went wrong.
Uri is mainly an agrarian economy. There are no tourist attractions. Even though the place is so beautiful and can be developed into a major centre of adventure tourism and eco-tourism, the government is not doing anything because of its strategic location.
The local Congress MLA and Minister Taj Mohiuddin is seeking re-election and has a good support among his voters. He has promised the local people that incidents like Friday's attack won't be repeated in future.
A 17-year-old boy from Uri said, "We have a huge army presence in the area. It gives us a sense of security. Since there has been no militant activity in the region, we were free to move around. Hope, the situation won't change now".
An extremely backward place like Uri is crying for the government's attention. It wants development. The people of Uri want employment. They were hoping that after this election, the government would do something. They now fear that the government focus may shift from development to security after Friday's attack.
Uri is voting on December 9 (Tuesday). When IBNLive visited them two days before the attack, most voters said that they would vote. Last time, Uri had registered over 80 per cent voting.
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