A message in Urdu and English—“military area, you are being watched, armed response to trespassing”– on boundary walls of the Badami Bagh Cantonment has left the residents living in the vicinity fear-stricken.
The residents of nearby areas– Indira Nagar, Batwara, Shivpora, Iqbal Colony, Pandhrethan and even Sonwar–said the message is unprecedented in the 70-year history of the garrison, which houses the headquarters of the 15 Corps.
Such a message was not painted on the walls even after the deadly attack on 3 November 1999 in which 10 soldiers were killed by fidayeen militants.
“I am 70 years old and I can’t even walk properly now. I was amazed to see such messages on the boundary walls,” said Abdul Aziz, a local resident.
“During evening hours we would avoid travel on the stretch and if travel was unavoidable we would take extra caution. We have never had any major issue with the army here. Our area is managed by the BB Cantonment. I believe such messages could have been easily avoided,” he said.
Nisar Ali, a frequent traveler from Pampore to Lal Chowk said these messages have created scare among commuters.
Defence spokesman in Srinagar Colonel Rajesh Kalia said the message is meant for trespassers, not for common people, as caution.
A source in the army, however, said the message is one of the measures the army has taken in the wake of militant attacks on forces’ installations.
On 6 March 2017, chief executive officer of the BB Cantonment asked the post master of the 60-year-old post office at Batwara to vacate the building immediately for “security reasons”.
Badami Bagh cantonment residents scared by wall messages
