A year later, two schools in Jammu and Kashmir, which bore the brunt of the four-day conflict between India and Pakistan in May last year, bear witness to the cost of war, tragedy and trauma and face a long road to recovery.
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With Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) on the other side of the nearby hills, Christ High School in Poonch is finding it hard to bury the memories of war. “Who would want a war that leaves children dead? In the quest for justice for the victims of Pahalgam, the list of civilian deaths has been added. War exposes the vulnerability of human beings,” Father Shijo, the school principal for the past seven years, told The Hindu.
Three students — Zain Ali and Urwa Fatima, twins who were in Class 5, and Vihaan Bhargav of Class 8 — were killed in Pakistani shelling as they tried to move to safer places between May 7 and 11. They were among the 21 civilians, including five children, who died on this side of the border during Operation Sindoor, which was launched against 25 civilians, including 25 civilians dead after the cowardly attack, 25 civilians. in Pahalgam.
“The parents of two Class 5 students were evacuating them from their native village when they were hit by a shell. The third student was on his way to Jammu in a vehicle when shrapnel from a grenade exploded and hit him,” said Mr. Shijo, recalling how Poonch town was hit by shelling for at least two days. “I have never seen or experienced anything like this in my life,” he added.
On Thursday’s first anniversary of Operation Sindoor, staff at the 1,500-student school held a silent prayer for the dead and visited both families for a memorial service, but avoided any formal event on campus.
“We did not involve the students in any reminiscence because it would recreate the scenes. It took more than four months for the students to recover from the trauma. We had to arrange for local NGOs to counsel and chat with the students to calm them down. Last year, we also invited the parents, many of whom broke down while sharing their ordeals, to relieve them emotionally,” said Mr. Shijo.
The school had to club classes and close rooms where the students who lost their lives were studying. “Students were not willing to study in the same class, especially classmates of the deceased. Every time a cracker sounded, the students got scared. They lived in fear for many months,” Mr Shijo said.
The school experienced a major power outage during the war and relied on water from its borehole. In addition, shelling shattered window panes and damaged the roof. “We rebuilt. We actually have an underground space, but it only holds 200 people,” he added.
About 141 km from the Poonch school, another school in Pulwama district tells a story of loss. The school was damaged in the blast, but as the nature of the blast is still unknown, it is not on the list of compensation for those who have suffered damage in the conflict and have been given relief funds. A two-storey high school building, Madrasa Taleem ul Quran, in Pulwama’s Wuyan was hit by an unidentified aerial object before sunrise on May 7. Local residents said the administration did not provide any compensation for the loss or reveal the cause of the explosion that tore through the school building.
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“I heard on the morning of May 7 that the school was hit. I rushed to check the damage but was stopped by the security forces. Later I saw that the computer lab was completely damaged. It took the brunt of the blast. We got the child safety certificate from the education ministry only after we first dismantled the building. It was not safe. But no compensation was given,” school coordinator Shabir Ahmad Sheikh told The Hindu.
Last June, the school had sought financial assistance due to a loss of ₹23 crore. “The school has been hit by some aerial object. Finance department officials have visited the school and assured to provide financial assistance as soon as the damage estimates to the school building are provided,” the letter said.
Mr Sheikh said all plans to expand the 350-student school had failed to take off due to war damage. Local legislator Waheed-ur-Rehman Parra also wrote to the government for compensation but to no avail.
“Critical infrastructure such as the school building, computer and science labs, sports equipment, CCTV system and smart digital board were damaged in the incident. I strongly recommend that financial assistance be given to the institution on priority. The school serves the local community with dedication and plays a vital role in providing quality education,” Mr. Parra said in a letter to the administration.
As the nature of the explosion is yet to be determined, the school is awaiting reimbursement to upgrade its infrastructure.
Published – 07 May 2026 18:56 IST
